TORPEDOES AND GUNS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2235, 22 August 1914, Page 6

TORPEDOES AND GUNS

Pkobably a large proportion of the British people look-upon such refinements, of modern warfare as tho torpedo and tho submarine mine

with as little favour as their stalwart ancestors, wedded to the use of bills and bows, and other simple weapons, looked upon the advent of gunpowder and the musket. It is certainly true that in British countries simple gunnery holds a very much higher place, in popular regard than the more modern aids to destruction 'which advancing knowledge has placed in the hands of the nation bent on war. No doubt innate conservatism is at'the bottom of tho sentiment which, regards tho torpedo and the , mine as upon the whole less: creditable instruments of warfare than ships' and guns.. The naval gunners of to-day are tho lineal descendants of the men who laboured with handspikes and tackles on the sixty-four pounders of Nelson's time, and their weapons too, are. in the right line of'descent, but the torpedb and the mine represent a flank attack upon established warlike'institutions. .Their successful manipulation depends in most cases rather upon • cunning and stealthy skill, than upon the straightforward qualities of valour.and endurance which enabled British sailors to lift their nation ,to the highest place among sea Powers, but there are times of. course when the torpedo can only be used by taking great, risks, and facing'almost certain destruction. The prejudice against some modern 'innovations in war, though untenable as a guide to practical policy, has a good deal to commend it. It rests at bottom upon a preference for fair and open conflict as against striking a secret blow' at an unsuspecting enemy. For people who take the conservative view in these matters there is a certain amount of comfort in facts which have been brought to light by. the present' war and con : llicts which have preceded it. It has been demonstrated pretty clearly that air-craft have not yet established a claim to be regarded as formidable instruments of destruction, and that the submarine mine is at best an uncertain agent of offensive or defensive war. The torpedo is commonly regarded as havine a more established position in modern naval warfare, , but it seems'quite possible that even its efficacy may have been overrated. It is.nearly filty years since fhc first Whitehead torpedo was brought 1.0 llic test, but it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated .that it is capable of rivalling the gun as a weapon pf naval wor, Tho torpedn in use at'the Uuw oi the Husso-Japauesc.

War had a maximum diameter of 14 inches, -"and an effective range of seven or\,eight hundred yards. The actual results of torpedo attacks in that war are hard to ascertain, but it is believed that they fell far short of expectations. Big guns at the period had a battle-range of from 3000 to 5000 yards, and in nearly every case in which a'torpedo sank a ship, she had been already crippled by gun-fire. Japanese destroyers 1 sank the Russian battleship Suvoroff but she had been battered and crumpled by gun-fire and left behirid by her consorts. In tho same war a .Russian cruiser fired one torpedo into the Japanese transport. Sado Maru, and went away assuming that tho transport had received • her deathblow. Hours later the crew of the Sado _ Maru managed to tow their ship inshore and beach her, in spite of two great rents in her hull. At tho present day torpedoes are .much larger and havo a greater effective range than at the time of the EussoJapanese War, and the development of tho submarine has opened up new possibilities, but the weight, rango, and striking power of guns have also forgely increased, and various measures have been devised by way of protection against torpedo attack. Nets can only be used when ships are stationary, but many modern ships are strengthened enormously against torpedoes by a special armour-sheath-ing around the magazines below the , water-line and by. being built with compartments, unpierced by door or opening. With the big guns now in use battle "could bo given at twelve thousand yards range, and it still N seems quite - possible that these enormously powerful weapous may decisively determine the question _ of naval 'supremacy. in the immediate future. But in any case though Britain is splendidly equipped with ships and guns, she does not depend solely upon the success of her battle fleet. It the torpedo is to prove superior to the gun, Britain can load the navies of the world as completely in torpedo craft, light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, as she does in battleships.