THE MECHANISM OF WAR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1722, 12 April 1913, Page 13

THE MECHANISM OF WAR.

j: ° MODERN THEORY OF < BATTLESHIPS < & BATTLE CRUISERS. . ■f=°==' TOLD IN fOPULAM FORM. ' .=>°.=== i;' ' J

hug^ n id™MnLme?trivin"^nothi^^??t;?i IC H?M/ o flr^ e 4.? ro^Uo ' : i'^! 1 °L ® an <l war is the machinery in a state of motion. Until there is war, therefore, thero is nothing on earth more unproductive than an army or; belted ship. It is this neither an army, nor-a belted' Riiinnnn nmfifo ln i l9 is • 6 0 soods, tho accursed of political economists, and all who deny the quo of existence to those unable or unwilling to render for it the quid of fruitful labour.' And It is a 6 ecialist and p . pr ° wably<lotornmet y _nmo years out of every (hundred. , judge by * he'wiggl'mf? l an^°^teti^no^ 6 tlmcn"n,^ eman M f °n whioli is spasmodic. Death, normal and natural, not machine made, has a steady output quite sufficient for the ordinary demand; indeed, in excess of it if one may "Death! death! who tent t whosb uoors tne brim Packago is. delivered. ■ I oall!" . oen i , I never ordered it! Oil, open it not in this house; and you, good doctor, allmy worldly goods are thine if thou wilt throw it forth; and you, reverend man of religion, wait in a handy room until pointing lonely U rooms^and' 3 dark r 'brfdges^nd P river^bai^ e 'at"n^ht™?"/iS j r^ inary time3 > and the citizens resent the frightful jolt it gives, "and would have none of it: only a few pale, desperate wretches eend and order it, apfrom me, A? Arc They ordainJhat machinery should, be built and maintained to manufacture and distribute the Grim Parcel to their enemies. "Do B and C, cantankerous folk, differ appoint for the purpose; Thavft nt Wf thi* t -t m ni " Well, they shall be blind and callous to me for ever, but impotent—for I will land them on the Parcel. At least not X, but a man or a ship that I shall Hence machines for death th t f tnismuch of Jupiter Olympus in me that Lean kill. Let B and C beware how they glower and run shouting at me!" . ; • . • touch will set them nfo 'oi rl jj n ",'. m , m enso quantities of useful fuel, and thousands of parts composed of the best metal in the land, are kept polished and idle awaiting the day when A's angry i . , " ° , the Snpenjatural Stuff which man has called his own, though it is no more his own than the sun, and tho rain.-LiNESMAN, "The Mechanism of War." ■, ■ f

pagan that! , Even from - ll' .• •. the., brilliant; pen of "Linesmiui," even from - a daring soidier—one of Buller's linesmen .Who was ■ first | "Tip" in the death run on 'Pieter'a . hill—it is nearly , Wo are not all pagans; we ore not all primal men. ;' We-do 'not desire to unwrap that horrible. Parcel, unless we see some one unwrapping it for us.. We are only a little, clause in the great policy , of National' Insurance, and this is the first stroke of our signature on the last sheet : of, the jrolicy'form..' : • Does-'one'.'.quarrel * with 'the jet of the fireman?a .hose? ': It is -certainly rough on'the'fire.,- .'But, then,| the firo .has no tjpht to be.', . .. . i More and moie,. during the last month, everyone must have figured' it . all' out £hat way.' ' '' " ' V It-was the night before. , ■■ 7. To-morrow one of ■ the, earth's great pin rafts.'.was- to' come. It .'would straighten up its gaunt:grey length on the harbour, marks when off the Pinnacles.:, would,pass in on about , one-fifth of its. mighty, boiler power: would leave tho white sands by Seatqun on the port hand,- and-the ;bronze greens and- tho. neutral tints of the'Eoha'.Bly. bush on« tho ctheri'woidd fetch'the ; dull nose, of Hals.Well a point or two on tho .'quarter,, and then the tenoring voice- of the officer on the bridge'would coo to the. (juartei;anaster at the wheel. "Starboard foah !" F'Stabbord four it is, sir!!' says the'quarifot'.oycrything on the ibridges nf'' '-'"(iiftP.-iT ' <i~r

ried for eaoh of the twin-terrors 111 the .n re^s .is doubtful whether they will be permitted l to see the interiors of the* turrets. Certainly not, unless the nre control and range indicators on the walls have been previously removed,- for, to see these and understand them, would be to put BaowN and. Jones, in possession of a service secret which foreign would .givo thoysands*to buy. Certainly, too, they will be denied admission to, a little circular cage on the masfc,.just,over the forward funnel, where 11 jl' i # niost formidable Olympian in all ship—the "spotter"— making his observations from a very sulphury Olympus indeed, half frizzled and fried by funnel flame, half choked by smoke. He 13 a x swift-man of algebra and trigonometry .this spotter j --can chase an? unr V n i . -'through the wildest flights ot.algebraio symbols, and can juggle with i co-tangents, and cosines more deftly than any vaudeville strong ".mail ever did with heavy weights on the stage. i ®P°ttcr person—'this mail ,of sines and cosines—is the very personification of concentrated Death. In his hands reposes the whole grizzly Parcel, and it is he—or, at least he and the admiral—who must deftly unlace its strings, and dash the, whole of its ghastly contents in the lace of the enemy at once. The battle may last two days or more, but it is (as it wag at Tsu-shima and as it will always bo with latter-day war rafts), the nrst half-dozen broadsides that count for modi: And the very first of-these broadsides must/be, like Freischutz in the German legend, "aimed by the Fiend." We, shall /focus -New Zealand better, if by some flight of fancy,' by some yrild rub on Aladdin's magic lamp, it, could be conceived that onf> of the proprietors—you, or I, or Smith—were lutch-tprked on board of her in somo re'sponsible position with nothing better to _ guide us than the '• tiriie'-honoured naval • instruction to "carry "on, that is all the_ instruction that the cub officer gets. _ How long-could wo carry on without b.e- ----? jJißiouiid-out for. the harmless iraposters that wo "are? " :> ' A? an . Ordinary bluejaoketjat'Ss. Od. a would have, our eara split the first -timo that we wero engaged in the turrets for (Knowing our deficiencies) wo would keep our mouths shut and our eara open ns all raw hands do: And that is just the thing that we should not do. Practised "Jack," who attends to tho ■ tray which brings up the 830 shell, keeps Ms mouth wide open, but carefully staffs his ears with cotton woll. As chief gunner or chief ,bos'n'we would be liable to mako anything from JGIB2: to .£219 per annum, but tlie_ sharp eye of the commander "(which, by the way, is not the captain) ■ would see through us in five minutes, and that, would end our littlo reign. As a junior deck officer or junior engineer we might caTry on for half an hour; as commander, perhaps two days; as captain, possibly a fortnight. It seems, then, that the higher wo climb on the ladder of .naval rank the longer, wo might carry on. How long could we-reign as admiral at .£5 a'day? Tho Index Expurgatorius of tho things which an admiral may do, or may not do, is no very extensive one. There are only about three ways of -sailing that awelnspiring string of, leviathans which men a '.j ee '- or ordinary, roaming about the wide spaces of tho ocean in peacetime column of divisions is a very handy way: thOre is little:.danger, when all aro spread out this way, of one ship ramming another, (and thus creating a firstclass naval scandal) on some raw, day when the grey mantle of the fog blots out each Behemoth from its fellow-ship. But pray do not bo caught this way should it ever com'o to the red day of battle! Whip them out of that danger- ' ous formation ' oil the instant if 1 you value ■ your ships and tho lives of the men in them, and form them up in' Indian file, in single line ahead—with ' two cables interval between each and her" nekt astern. . ' Besides these two formations there is ' what is called "bow and quarter line," but all three are so simple that all educated civilian might perhaps master thciu in half an hnur. 1 Could anything be simpler? 'It seems so easy and (when tho pay of JES a day is considered) so lucrative, that ono is fain to wonder how it. happens that the clamant voice of the Socialist has not yet, demanded that tho State should see to' it every worker should be forthwith made an admiral. 'Behold then tho very inexact science of naval warfare, dabbled in, on tho Actual day of. battle, by some very inexact civilian admiral such as Smith. Conceive too the morning of battle—a filib blue liazy morning, ire will suppose, with the gulls and mollyhocks asleep on the water. Out "in tho haze on the beam tho funnels of the fleet cruisers are smok. ing. Thcv are watching the still unseen, but fast approaching, enemy and — "rnp— rap—rap—splutter"—tho wireless messages are coming in. Every five minutes tho wireless operator's assistant descends to Admiral Smith's , cabin with v somo new word and, Smith will do well ' to read theso with attention. "They mean to fight, sir!" tho flaw lieutenant in the cabin casually and gaily remarks, "They are coining un n courso parallel to us, so it will be a plain beam action—the simplest sort of action you know." "Um—yes, 'spose so," replies pool Smith, who now realises that he )s • ill . for' the .hardest half-hour's thinking ho ever did in his life. It will bo good for Smitli if long ero this he had had sufficient foresight to order two things; first, that tho order of steaming shall be the order of battle, tho heaviest, deadliest, nastiest ship in front and the rest following in, succession in order of hitting power. In fcuch ease oui brave new brittle-cruiser New Zealand would be stationed very far down the line, and somc-ilhing of ihe type of Oenturion or King George V up at the top. In tho second jilace Smith would liavei already communicated to each cantain somo such message ns this: "In tho likelj event of a beam action arising, and tho hostile fleet maintaining-a courso parallel to ours, it will bo the endeavour of each ship in the line to concentrate her firo (as far as circumstauccs permit) on tho enemy's van." Another wireless communication for pool Smith. "JJnoniy in sight—CO cables distant on starboard quarter," it states. Tl; is time for Smith to. go on deck. Tt. is desirable that lie should be at his post when tho interval diminsiliM to | in cables, the range at which the diabolio

"Wonder which particular" pair of rivets in her I own as an individual taxpayer," chortled the humourist. . A car rolled in, caught up these people, and rolled onward into the gloom; Only a plain patriot was left sitting "on the bench. ". ' , And then, as it seemed, the little Crimson Gods of Bealism lifted up their voices, and spoke to this plain citizen. "Ji'riend," they 6eemed to call, "she is, you know, a little , behind the times. Her belt is only an egg-shell, compared with the belt of 'the United States "Oklahoma," or Germany's "Kaiser." Then, too, her hitting powers is relatively email. She has only/eight big guns, mounted on what is, now considered to be a deck plan a little.out of date —the echelon, system. The patriot-gasped.. "What is the up-to-date way of gun-mounting?" he asketf. The Red Gods were quick to answer: "Centre-line system," they said, . "that, ; and nothing" else." , , ■ "British invention,.l suppose?", hazarded the patriot. The Gods of Eealism gloomed pessimistically. ''No-o," they said. "No." "Italy—Colonel Cunniberti—was ■ first. Then the United States began in 1908 to put Colonel Cunniberti's idea into shape with.the battleships Michigan and South Carolina. H.JI.S. New Zealand couldn't foot, it with. these, you know." But.the poor patriot had already wrapped both arms round his .ears and fled. "Hey!" called >fhe Bed Ones, "Don't run! Wo will' oxplain! She has speed , anyway, wondrous groupings of boilers, and you can'tget everything if you have to lead ffunnels up through the decks in inconvenient places in ships where tho boiler power',is paramount. .You can't

CUTE CONTINENTAL IDEA.

. Austrian 1 battleship Viribus Unitis. All turrets on the modern centre line eystem, and . three guns to each. turret. Tlie guns have an unobstructed field ot tore on either .beam, and the bow and stern attack amounts to no less than naif ; tho total hitting power.' Armour, as shown by blackness of shading, is formKlable. The drawback of this-type is that the hvo middle turrets, are raised bo high that the ship might readily capsize- if holed on the water line.

of the earth's gun rafts is done in figures ~~tho course in points; the speed in revolutions. And now thb big purveyor of annihilation is heading squarely for the City.; "Let go, port and starboard anchors!" The cough and bark of chain resounds, through the hawse pipes on the instant;- She is liere. ■ It was the nighl before, and the little Bed Gods of Eealism' who,. we may suppose, 1 -(Iwell on' the ritlgfe back of Pencarl'OW: ahd 'Karori, were 'watching the ,city eommcd with pin-point jets of light,; and cKaunting their ovcniug hymn derisive of men. ' They, do not know that, the new as old •'when .the newer things arise. That the order- changes, and they must ; go' when, tho well-head dries, Or that newer ships aro oat on the 6ea ,; when the newest inventor tries . V . ; The night .befofe! l'erhiips 10 o'clock.. ■The usual crowds lined tho car-waiting 6heds under; the arc lights. Touched by the solemn .enthusiasm' whibh follows a British ship, or a British' army, like a pillar of firo.by iiight and a cloud by day, many "were no xloubt thinking of the' majestic lump oT'monochrome which was to'come in past Peucarrow',to-morrow. '• .-"She coat JiaiiUl) a foot,'' purred tho land f agent, who had ndver dreamed of City frputages on a scale; so grand as that. "■£9o at ton," mused marine engineer. .He made a rapid calculation as to what tho. Maunganui and Mah'cno cool per ton of ' displacement. Surely, it could never, havo.been a fraction of that. ."A snorter!" thought, the schoolboy.

The patriot was then - far round the nighest corner. ' But ■ it' is ill moralising thus, on the eve of a red-letter day. . The' intense interest of men in the kind'of war which tho times have called into this grim old, silly old world of ours—machine-made war, hydraulic, electric, and pneumatic war, with searchlights and projectors as bis as suns, with dynamos in place of standards, and geometricians doing duty as admirals—the intenso interest of men in all this, and tho pride and proprietary interest of the million Browns, .Joneses, and. Eobinsons who own tho. big-Gift Ship will hardly brook one lolling them that tho hoofs of Inveiitioii liavo sped so fist, over'tho track of Time since 1911 that shp is now already a little behind the times—no genuine Hounhynnyni .but (as. the Dreadnoughts of 1913 go) rather a midget. What care'BROWN and whether her guns aro mounted on tho centre line plan or-not' so long as she can'efficiently and swiftly unwrap the Parcel of- Death for any oncomer, or any massed alliance of onco mors—Fritz or Hans, Jacques or .Pierre, Ivan or. other Muscovite. Ijniii, Uriu, or Togo—in fact, "let 'em all come,"'and, the more the merrier. So serious, indeed, is Brown or JONES over Dreadnoughts,, and such-like,' that ho loves ,them' just-as li<S loves his "brigades" and "divisions" in a mere land war. It is 'the Navy, however, and blue water which catches him most round the heart strings,. Here and now 11.U.5. New Zealand— second-class world's gun raft—is to be revealed to tho glad eye (and glad hand) of BROWN and Jones, and they will no doubt learn much. They will, of course, not be allowed to invade the topedo flats, nor tho shell rooms, in which eighty ro.unds of first-class annihilation aro car-

ONE OP THE BEST.

• United States battleship Oklahoma. Turrets on the centre, lino; beam fire «11 grins; end-on firo veryiheavy. Ship also carries largest size in naval f?uns vet.afloat.' These are of uo less than 11 inches calibre. Armour is indicate by the. very Wack shading. It covers a. very wide area of tile *idc, and is the thickest in tho lrorid. A matchless ship if efficiently handled,

orchestra of modern naval battle is apt to strike up. On deck' lie 'notes that everything is perfect. Each little bit of woodwork has been hosed, and wetted, and drenched for hours. Every stanchion, and even some of the ventilating cowls, have been lifted ont of the sockets and laid flat, and the gaunt line of grey Behemoths steams on, ominous in its nakedness. Even round the ■. base of each turret is spread out a row of Boyer hammers and a perfect machine shop of artificers' tools in case some projectile should jamb tho iturn-table, and call for tho services of the

e understand it. As soon as 1 altered course all the lulroy patent danger indicators were booming and gonging, and blaring, y giving loud and characteristic warning d that one. turret was bearing on. another 9 turret, or on a mast or funnel or sornee thing.'; . Having assimilated this idea wo arrive L . at the wholo theory of Dreadnoughts,t and,' more especially, at the cardinal' modem idea of mounting all heavy guns on what is called the centre-line system. Fighting is a very venerable uastime, and, like the amusements of all leisured _ people, it seeni3 'to. grow refined and complicated in proportion ; to its age.. The - Krupp plate and the gun form a typical couplet in the epic of national existence. The public, the proprietors, when they board New Zealand, more eagerly than ever Nelson's boarders swooped, . cutlass in mouth, on to the deck of some stricken "Frenchman," may or may not speculate as to which bolt or pair of rivets they actually "own" as individual taxpayers, but they, will at least realise tliat the Goddess of War, when she invented her great game to amuse humanity, spared no pains to make it interesting. . The "owners" will be permitted .to roam round ' Clyde-made telemoters, patent standard binnacles, turbine • rotors as high as two men, gun - sighting tele-' scopes and periscopes, capped projectiles, fans, circulating pumps, air compressors, and what not, but if one of 'the "owners" should paiise. for a moment to think over what it all means in prestige and money jj 9 n ?turally be concerned that a fleet of his country's gun rafts should always be entrusted to a Beresford, a beymour, *a Hornby, or a Wilson,: and never, never to an incompetent Smith. : ! 'f h , at is «"lmt the whole world, and tho wholo world's naval constructors, aro rhinking about, too, and have Ikcii thinking ever since 1908, for tlie whole world jg painfully conscious that the bright genius for- manoeuvre of such • adiiiiraft as; &»••'£. K. ! Wilson, or Heira- ' clioiro logo, .is rare, while plain Smiths are as tho sand grains at Lyall Bay-in-numerable. ~ So tho world's present .problem in ' naval construction is to design.- ships 3 whicli bristle with all-round firo, and can > never bo caught, out of position. Tho deck plans and side elevations of tho " various ships, w'hich appear on this page, wiil help the ordinary citizen-owner to ' understand matters. i Glance over tho deck plan of Britain's ? rsl ; Dreadnought which was completed in 1906. One notices tliat she has fivo ■ turrets, and, of these, three turrets are s mounted on the centre-line of the ship. i J. no other two are what may be termed i wing turrets, and it is these which cause the ■ trouble. , If the enemy—who will henceforth bo referred to as "tho target" —Should show up on either beam, only four turrets out of tho fivo can fire. The fifth is blocked by the superstructure and funnels, and thus no less than 20 per cent, of tho ship's tremendous gun power is wasted. ' • T J}® sacr jg ca 0 f g Un p oW£r is tho inoro glaring when tho bow and stern fire is looked at. The turret second-to-aft is a "waster" whether tho target happens to bB ahead or. astern. Ahead it can only hit tho superstructure and funnels; astern it is blocked by tho turret on the quarter deck. For fire straight ahead of tho ship it seems, at the first blush, as though six guns could bear on the target—tho for' ward- turrets • and the two wing turrets. This, however, is only' mythical, for a very short study "of the plan will show; that tho training arcs of tho two wing turrets are so restricted that,- if they turn only a frabtion inboard, they must' hit cither the superstructui<o or tho forward turret, If the Dreadnought ever has to fight something lying ahead of her, fifty per cent, of her 'hitting power will bo out of action. .As an."all round" ship therefore sho is something of a failure, though a good admiral could, of course, .do wonders with her. The Dreadnought, however, was built in a hurry, the desiro of her designer (Sir Phillip Watts) aiid of the British Admiralty being to build her, and launch her, before any other nation could follow 6uit. It was only a year or two afterwards that men began to realiso her defects. Tho upshot was the system of mounting <• all turrets on the centre-line. Tho idea dawned almost , simultaneously on tho naval. constructors of Britain, America, \ and Italy, Especially Italy, for Colonel Cunniberti, chief director of naval con- i sh'uction for that country, is> known and ■ respected by naval designers tho wide • world over. Colonel Cunniberli'g ideas were at onco thieved by Austria, and found their com- ( plcto expression in (he battleship Viribus i Unitis, tho deck plan of which figures second on this page. It is a splendid arrangement of guns. All turrets are on the centre-. ' line, and each turret mounts not two 1 guns, but three. It. will bo seen at once ■ that every gun can boar on either beam, ; while the two middle turrets are so raised J that both the bow and stern fire is much more formidable than that of tho British ' Dreadnought. But'there is no such thing as perfection * in Dreadnoughts, and, if ono typo of them . gains in one respect, somothing lias to be 1 lost elsewhere.' No British naval constructor yet has been bold enough to put t three guns in ono turret. The apprehon- J sion is that ft would bo giving too many hostages to fortune, for a single unlucky > shot (landing squarely on tho turrot) might knock out a quarter of the ship's hitting power by a 6ingle blow. Even tho device of elevating two of the turrets of Viribus Unitis, so that tliey can firo over two others, tends to mako her top heavy, and, if sho happened ito be holed on the waterlino ana Shipped a couplo of hundred tons of salt water, sho mipht very readily capsize. The sagacious slow British idea is best indicated by tho dpek plan of tho battleship King Georgo V, which is the third plate on tho page. Here again tho centreline system ol' gun-mounting is adopted. It will lio at once noticed that tho middle turret is a "waster" for either bow or stern firo, but all puns can bear on either beam. It is noticeable, too, that she carries two gihis less than Viribus Unitis, but this is easily compensated for by tho fact that her ten guns aro of i:i.s-iuch calibre, which connotes considerably moro hitting power than the twelve 12in. picces mounted on the Austrian. Further, for reasons whicli are important, but difficult to explain in an ordinary newspaper article, sho is a comparatively stable shinThe fourth ntii.H' allows tho beet Germuu idea—the battluship Kuihor— and per-

BRITAIN'S FIRST DREADNOUGHT:

H.jriS.. Dreadnought Guns are not that 20 per cent of the ship's fire is was the wing turrets cannot fire. Bow or Armour on various_parts of tho ship of shading on . tlio side. At its thicl plating.. This was'thought to bo very wonts, it has now been Outstripped.

are still lying between him and the enemy. To fire at one is to hit both. Ah! Er—uin. "Yes," replies Smith. The fighting ships are : momentarily slowed, the'cruisers "whacked up," and tho wonderful' "gridiron" movement is performed. The,cruisers are soon on the safety side of the line of battle. "Close tho line up to one cable interval?" again suggests the flag captain, putting the right word into Smith's gaping mouth for the second time. "Yes," answers Smith, though wondering why. He lias no doubt forgotten that lie has already instructed his captains to

chief artificer 'and his gang on- deck.-' Up abovo' in tho tons the spotters spread out their switchboards, are clickling out dot and dash, dash and dot, down to two young men in a room far. below, the ■ water-line, who, armed with a, book of. range tables and some sheets of paper, are working out tho last- cosino or co-tangemt on a range which is already as Rood as found. Down further below, very far down below, under electric light, tho torpedo stuff have, laid one, of-the long- steel fish in each of the impulse, tubes, and only abide 'the time when the indicators, will tell them when to 'loose off." In tho turrets courageous, gentlemanly, honest "Jack"' is standing'by the breech blocks' with his mouth open as wid<j as he knows how, and his ears stuffed. Each man is achieving tho* impossiblo which is to appear and to bo "quite ordinary liko" when Hadoa threatens. Out on tho beam, as Smith passes on to the bridge, mighty blotches of smoke and smudge aro being hit up against tho blue by hostile funnels, for the enemy is plugging on toientei the dread radios. At cables every turret may bolch.' Smith turns his insouciant brow towards the furiously smoking enemy, and meets tho littlo breeze blowing from their side, and ; then (perchance) -becomes conscious that ho has already committed a first-class blunder... He is engaging—he* never thought it before—to leeward with the wind blowing down his gun muzzles. .Mare, backs': and explosions in tho - turrets! Does he invite , them? He has certainly doiurhis best to bring them on for, as it was in the days of Nelson, Dreadnoughts still prefer the weather gauge 'though for very different reasons. .buckily for poor Smith, and infinitely more ?6 for tho-whole fleet of gun rafts, oven this has been foreseen by ono of tho engineers, and tho chief gunnorv officer tho Victors patent, air blast is ready to l'oar outward through ithe born of cach gun, the canvas collars are on, and

; on centre line system, the result being is ted on either beam, as one or other of : stern fire not quite sogreatas it looks, i is indicated by the kest it is 11 inches Krupp cemented r thick in 390G, but, in tho race of arma-

;concentrate (as ijl gool text-book warriors : should)'-on (ho-enemy's .'van', and this is what the flag'captain is driving at. :• "Bang!" , A silence. And again "Bang ..." Smith manfels a little why anyona should, have taken it on himself to open the firing without direct signal from tho flagßhip. "Bang!" / Smith notices that one of the light guns on the ship is smoking. It is only tho spotter getting ofl two or three trial shots to mako suro that his tangents and cosines have worked out. aright. "Range 7849' yards," swoops down the message from the fire control people. Smith pauses;' coughs as impressively as 1 he knows how; takes a pace or two; endeavours to look wise. "Range 7710 yards." Tho second message. Only a minute after the first! Smith mops his head. "Range 7600 yards, sir!" What? Only thirty-eight cables? They may open at any minuto now. How is the fleet bearing by, the compass? What is its angle of approach? That'is for' Smith to settle. That is really why admirals commanding Dreadnoughts aro paid ,G5 a day. "Range 7500 yards!" ■The range-tak=rs are beginning to wonder what sort of person Smith really may be. An incompetent? A very desperate sort of genius? They cannot tell, .but' they at leas;; know that the "real thing" will dawn ill 30 seconds, and tho fleet angle, pro tern., is all wrong. What is Smith going tj do? Plainly Smith must .now assert himself as a stage-manager, of Dreadnoughts in battle, and if ho cannot ? . Plainly, then, it is time in the general interest of the fleet that Smith were picked up by tlie heels and dumped overboard, and, not to prolong tho phantasy further, let us do that with Smith at once. Genius is something of a black swan.

GERMANY'S BEST DESIGN.

Battleship Ivaiser Turrets NOT-mounted on the modern centre line system, and some ot flip beam fire therefore masked. This was delibentelv done for special reasons explained in the letterpress. The heavy ehadine connotes an exceedingly formidable strake of armour over tho vitals There is nothing like it in British designs. Very steady gun-r.latform in a sea

the air in tho turrets has been pumped up to something more than ordinary atmospheric pressure. AVas there ever'such a soft job as being 1111 admiral at £a a day ? Smith does not know. lie climbs tho bridge to face tho Supremo Half Hour. Once there lie discovers that, iis far as his "job" is concerned, hardly anything matters except the two or three words of command which ho will presently be expected to give. Ho may, if ho pleases, wear his Stars and orders and decorations as Nelson did at Trafalgar, or a canvas rig as Togo woro at Tsu-shima, or plain dungarees. Anything in dress will do for hardly a sottl is thero to notice. Moreover, ho may stay on tho bridge or go inlo the conning tower just as he pleases. It is simple death in any case if tho right shot arrives, and, in the matter of comfort in death, there is not much to choose between direct impact and indirect codcussioti. "Shift, <the cruisers out of the road, fir?" suggests I lie flag captain. Smith liecouics vaguely conscious that his faithful scoutt, lib eyes of tho fleet,

A Nelson, a Togo, a Tronip, or a Blake is not produced in every naval war, and naval war is the very kind of war in which ouo fake tuovo ruins all. Togo has left it on record that, in performing the deadly operation of "crossing tho T" l>y cutting across tho bows of Admiral itod.iestvensky's IU-et; he only said two word?. Ho directed his fleet to "port" and then to "port" hgain, and the trick was done. Tho. Battle of the Sea of Japan 1.1,. pays,. but it was practically decided in the first 30 minutes. It is the jii'st six or seven broadsides which settlo tlie result and the whole duty of an admiral is to seleci; tho of approach and to open lire on a suitable compasswaring.- Togo had nearly 70 heavy guns al>lo to boar on tho target almost al; once. poor Rodjestveusky could only boar eight or ten. That is why admirals like Smith aro futile, and, if (as; our little phantasy goes), we could only rcscuo him from the water info whicli wo have just dumped In in, and hear his lir.-t nn»j vcrmoii of his first and h.4 trialVs an ;idmirni, h«i niiphl, 'jirj'hr,|fs, uiako «wir I euoh admusiuu u« this: ''Bleat if I could 1

haps tho good British patriot will conJ' l ™ up a broad smile over the fact that HER turrets, at least, are not all on tho centre-line. It is unwise to smilp prematarely, especially if you do "not know tlio deep wisdom of tho Teuton. : In tlio first place, Germany pins much more faith to her men than to her material, and she confidently expects that no German admiral will ever bo caught out of position on the day of battle. As to tlio nature of the' likely enemy, there can bo only one—and there is, perhaps, no need to specify which one. The German constructors know that, if it ever oomes to war, the German string of battleships will be caught between two lines 'of British Dreadnoughts, and will have to fight to port and starboard simultaneously. Viewed in this light,'tlio, deck plan of tho Kaiser will suffice, but what of her armour? In all the plans given the varying thicknesses of armour is indicated by tho blackness of • tho shading, and, compared with Kaiser, no-British battleship can show anything like it. The fifth plate shows tlio most formidable battleship in the world. It is tho United States battleship Oklahoma. Tho shading, on the side-elevation shows a belt even thicker than that - of Kaiser -it is almost ono long blotch of 'black from stem to storn. Her turrets aro all on the centre Line, and, wliilo tho Italian. Austrian, and German guns are-only of 12-inch calibre, and those-of-tho-best British 15.5-inch, tlioso of Oklahaink run to fourteen inches. A monster, surely! Our friend "Uncle Sam'' is doing things handsomely as far as battleships go.:' Lastly, - what of - H.M.S, New-Zealand,' which, figures in-the fifth plate?" It-seems that her bow and stern fire is small, and the Learn fire, of the two middle turrets can only be trained over a restricted arc. Moreover, she has only eight heavy guns, and these are not turreted on the centreline. What points then docs slio, possess? Well, sooth to say, it is hard work comparing battleships' with battle-cruisers, and_ New Zealand is only a battlecruiser. What a ship'loses in 0110 re-

BRITAIN'S BEST BATTLESHIP. ; '

Battleship King George V. Turrets ,on thomodorn contro lino system, nil puns being able to bear on either beam. Bow and stern firo heavy but not so ticat (proportionately) as in tho Viribus Unitis. Armour indicated by black- •' nossos m Blading. Tins ship mounts tho now British 13.3 in. gun; Not water line capsize as Viribus Unitis if seriously perforated on tho

spect she gains in another, and- "our Dreadnought" lias,' at least, a mighty good pair of heels, not (bo it noted) for running away, but for "hanging 10n.'".., Designers of the world's gun rafts have always found it difficult to jjivo battlethe formidably, deck'plan of battleships for the grouping of engines and boilers and funnels (in relation to tho positions of turrets and guns) calls l'or a set of engineering . impossibilities, almost as great as the geometrical impossibility of squaring the. cuclo.

minutes to seven, apd' lasted' (at intofyalß), throughout tho day,' tho last;' r volley being. fired , pt, half-past sis. As a rule :.eaoh: volley, or. salvo, consisted of four'l2-inoh" and four 8-inch shots. Tho New Hamp. shiro was specially fitted with two extra crow's nests on tho two fire-control, masts.; These wero to accommodalto tho fifty-five ofiicers who had (for tho purposes of the' practice) been assigned to as' Two ohiokens and a cat wliich, wertv placed in separate compartments, on'.this'• ship were, as it turned out, about,tho tlio only things which escaped'destraov tion. ' , ■ V , • '' Before firing'began, Mr. Meyer, Secre. tary of tho United Slates Navy'Depart-' mont, wont on board itho San Marcos, and inspected her. Ho gave minute instruction as to tho "lay-out" and location of certain range-finders which had been purposely left on board. Tlioso were placed in two or three places, such a? the turrets ,and tho bridge, so that tho effect of tho various concussions on these delicate instruments could bo tested. Tho representatives of tho press were informed, by- letters addressed to each roporter present, tliat itho Department did not desiro to have any matter printed as to tho work of tho spotters. The letters also added .tlialt -"it was not 'the' objcct of tW firing': to.Jiit' the vcssolVot..every to' l give. tlio . spotters'ilra'ctico in dctcrnlihlftf"the fall of tho.'projectiles/'in: mupv'-'' 1 ing tho mean point'of impact froin' oiW" point to another with regard to tho tav- ! * get, cerredting each salvo by tho one that/ has • gono before." - I ■ • r firing was continued on March' 22.-and''' at tho closo of tho, volleys Marcos," lay deep in the mud, with" tho, ivKter ' half-way between the'gim and berth docks.'' One of itho masts was cut through abbuj;

GUNS & HAVOC.

MODERN TRIAL IN PEACE TIME. > Havoo that can be wrought by . 6ivch '"guus as those carried ■ by H. 11.5. Now Zealand, is strikingly .shown' by : tests which have been .'carried out during the last two years, Tho most 'notable of these trials was that carried out by tho United States authorities in Chesapeake Bay 011 March 21 and 22, 1911. Tho target used was the old battleship San Marcos (formerly tho Texas). Tho Sail Marcos carricd steel armour of a-maximum thickness of 12 inches. The ship selected ito conduct tho attack was tho United States battleship Now Hampshire, which is; possibly about the equal of H.M.S. New Zealand in ' aggregate hitting power, though the calibres of. tho guns on botli ships differ considerably. On March 21, twenty volleys wero fired from tho New Hampshire's 12-inch and 8inch guns.' The firing took place at ranges varying from five miles -to seven miles and a half. The day was clear and ideal for the test. The firing began ait twenty

half-way between tho deck and tho lighting top,, and tho other, mast was knocked to pieces, Tho principal . damago in.;' ilioted; in' tho second- day's firing -was tho demolition of 'tho oonning tower or br.ttlc- .- control station, .tho side of. .whichowas,,)! blown out. All tho fire-control .and other - fittings in tho coining, tower,wero Itran'By... formed into a. twisted mass: ' 0f:. steej;. ! Along both sides of tho ship■were largof rents in, tho armour. ' Olio shell-, went": clean itlirougk the-San Marcos, tearing-'a",,; path ajiout two feot.-wido. DummiesJ'.re- 1 - presenting sailors, were cveryfrhero"de-;0 molished. _ A raging firo insido, caused by ■ an explosive sljell, mado it impossible' after tho first day's firing, for tho obser-" vers to go below tho main deck.-, • «>r' it was said 'that all tho damage dono . in the two days could havo been; inflicted' in fifteen minutes if all tho, ;shl}t,V'ha4 ! been liral with the' intention,- of mnkihg'' hits, instead of providing practice;' fbi".'' the spotters. ' . - ,■" Tlis' official account of tho firing issued:;, 'by the Secretary of the .Navy, contained the following passage:— I The-San Marco? • was a'total loss very sliortly- after the ■ firing began. There wero soon a dozen . places whero holes from four to six feet in. diameter went-right through from side to side, cutting away decks, beams, bulkheads, slauchions, aud armour as if | : hey had. been mado of paper. Tho underwater hits, of which there were a [treat;, many, did the most damago. and tjiofacfc ; that tho vessel sank and subsided on (lio mud at _ tho second salvo of high cs3plo>-' sivo projectiles, prevented mauy fires'that' would otherwise havo been started. A3 it ; was, wo hod a roaring furnace on tho.friin 1 deck in two different places, and in tho conning tower, which tho 'two firo tuis got : under control after an hour's effort. Thero was not ct, single halyard, or any oilier moans of communication, left: The chart' houso was a ma.ss of splinters alter, itho' first projectile, and tlio decks wero'cuc" throueh as if an enormons pair'of shears' . had dono tho work. Ono or tv.'o £nivo3 from any Dreadnought' would-accomplish!., tho samo destruction." -I

OUR OWN DREADNOUGHT. •; 1

Battle-cruiser New .Zealand., For' reasons explained In the letter-'' press it is difficult or designers to fit tho centre line of ui ljattle-cruisejs of h«m dLsplacemont. Now Zealand's turrets are nlacisd'tir what is torined tho echelon eysloin. 13nd-on five moderate; 'beam firo of (lie two middle turrets restricted. Her ti'muy card is licr speed, wliicli i< mueli greater than ui the other types shown. ' m