FIGHTING SHIPS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2255, 15 September 1914, Page 7

FIGHTING SHIPS

THEIR WORK IN WAR TIME CLEARING FOR ACTION The control and management of fighting ships in war time is a complex business,, much of which is veiled Irom tfio ordinary landsman, but some of , its broad features were- outlined to a Dominion representative by a Naval Reserve officer whom he encountered yesterday, battleships in port receive their active- service orders, the first result h a sweeping clearance of- everything that can possibly be regarded, as un- ; . tecessary hamper; Everything inflamniable or capable of throwing splinters if struck by a shot, if it. can possibly be dispensed with, is sent ashore. Noth-, ing is spared from tho gun-room piano to the lower-deck mess-tabies ■ and seats. Only one boat- is retained in 'each ship and gangways,. wooden ' bridges, and uiiything else of the kind on deck, together with spars and other gear, share . tho common late.' . Woodwork practioally disappears from'the ship, and she gees'to sea , * naked iron hulk, furnished with •' little 'else than human being's,' machinery, ■• "and' guns, and other apparatus-of slaughter. Tho seamen's tamniocks , - are retained, but are kept .. stowed. r ' On .active' servico' the--,men eleep beside their guns, or\ at -their, stations, and eat their mealsi as best they can, squatting on.the decks. •■Tho chests of those who •■'own them havo, of course, gone ashore with the rest ol the lumber, and officers and men nlike are reduced to : the barest necessaries. ■■ - ■ . Oolng Out to Sea. •:■ ■ . A battle fleet nowadays does not go to sea in stately procession as was the fashion until a century ago. / Thepossi- .-/ bility of running a whole fleet into a trap set by some wily enemy is one that does not appeal to the naval intelligence, aud the danger is avoided as far as possible'by splitting the risk. As' the fleet leaves port it scatters in all directions, single ships .or little groups- of two or- three taking their own direction. When they have made a sufficient offing the ■■ ships proceed ■with all possible haste to a common rendezvous, the- location of. which has boon confidentially communicated to their captains beforehand by means- of coaled orders, to D* opened at sea. The lfhole procedure, of course, is designed to guard against any attempt to interfere with the fleet or take it unawares before it has reached its appointed.station. \ , --■ ;. ■■• • ~ :■■

Preparing for Battle. ;' In peace time a warship, although steam is kept up at all times, may djsponse with 'some- of her boilers, but as soon as the war-call-lias bounded, every furnace Tis stoked and a. full head _of eteam is maintained. , ' In preparation for actual battle, the anchors are taken inboard," the bulwark rails or chains; and stanchions ar£ jettisoned or laid on the deck, and chahv cables are''swathed round the barbettes which house the big guna. Bringing the anchors on 'deck is a precautionary measure in case ramming should be'resorted'to. In that" event a battleship's anchors over her bow might .damage her more/than her opponent. Owing to the great Tange and tremendous striking power of, big guns, however, it is unlikely that ramming will be attempted savo under abnormal conditions, such, ): for instance, ae a fleet encounter in'a fog of the kind that often npon ,the Nbrtli Sea. . Needless to-say, the. possibilities of an encounter in; , th^o''circumstances are fearful. The object; of wrapping the .chain-cables' Touiid.rthev barbettes is. to protection- .afforded, by 'tiie, arifimr'; " .Tiio'".direci"invpact' ;of a . -slieU lipon the. armour, even though the missile failed to penetrate, might have very serious offects upon! ;tho gun-crews inside. -.'■-... V -.

Stark aid -unlovely as she is in outward appearance, the battleship internally, is a marvel of intricate mechanism, including eome of the most delicate devices which havo Tewa-rded human inventive genius and research. The brain of the ship is the turret, above and behind- the forward barbettes, where the captain takes his-station in action and from which'he. exercises a general control over the manoeuvring and gun-firo of his ship.' He is in touch with'the flagship and the other. vessels of his .fleet, through his signallers... and by 'means of wireless telegraphy, _and the /turret is. in direct communication with all departments.of the ship. ;Thr'eo ih-r "dependent mean? of commiinicatipn are available—telephones, spfeaking tubes, and electrical signals' which . transmit directions from indicator to indicator. In the heat of a battle the electrical signals would probably be inoet valuable, since the noise of firing-would interfere with the use of-telephones and .speaking tubes. As regards communication with the Admiral and the rest of. the fleet, the wireless equipment is supplemented by the semaphore and, flags, all of which can be worked from the cover of tho turret. In ordinary circumstances no mau is allowed to show himself' on deck whilo, a battle' is in progress. Spare men shelter in the Hiveou-decks or man the fire-hoses which are kept in readiness throughout the ship, although, as has been indicated, the risk of fire is-everywhere reduced to a minimum. • Gunnery and Engines, Apart from ! the general supervision .exercised by the captain, the. ship's guns are directly controlled by a gunnery officer,- who is stationed with his assistants in some comparatively' sate place in the bowels of tho ship. To this point are transmitted the report of range-finders and observers, and the necessary corrections in elevation and deviation are worked out and transmitted to the barbettes. A vastly important department of the ship, ono upon which n.!] others depend, is the engine-room. Here has a large staff of officers and mon -under his control, some of-them serving the main engines' -used ;, for propulsion, arid others the separate plants used in generating power to be transmitted to the'different parts'of the ship, including the barbettes.- For--the engineers and their working staff the battle is a detached and distant affair, its din at times drowned in the noise of their engines. It is their-fortune to carry out a series of engrossing tasks very difforent from 'those allotted to the gun. crows overhead, a.nd they may,go.through a battle knowing very-little about its changing fortunes, -unless, indeed, .a shell should penetrate the vitals of their ship, and thoir fate is likely to be terrible. Heroes are' needed in every department of a fighting ship, and not last in the engineroom, and stokehold. In a modern battleship, with a creiy of about one thousand mon, a considerable proportion of the number are told o(f for duty in the engine-room and stokehold. On such a ship there will be between two and three hundred. ■ Fighting Rower. The fighting power of the- ship centres in the barbettes, in which tho big guns are placed. Each barbetto is an armoured cylindrical tower, extending right down to and covering tho nwiijadine, below the water-lino, from which the guns are fed. Enormous as are the guns and projectiles, so many mechanical aids are employed that manual labous is reduced to a minimum, tiu iroaiu 3[ims puc.i" c uo anquq Tho actual gun-crow consists of' about four men to each gun, but others are employed in controlling tho power-lifts which convey 'ammunition to the amis. In each barbetto there is a ■ positionfinder (for determining the- range), which is operated by an officer. Attached to each gun there is a compressed air apparatus which clears' the boro

of fumes and flame before tho breach is opened for another load. Lacking some such device, the men in tlio barbette would be stifled. Naturally, the wear and tear on the big guns is terrific, and the estimated life of a twelveinch gun is thirty rounds. ..The number seems small, but by .the time each of the twelve-inch guns'of a battleship has hurled thirty projectiles, weighing one thousand' pounds apiece, at an enemy's ship, it is' likely that the issue of the battlo in which she is engaged will havo been decided one way or the other. The guns of tho secondary armament, havo, of course, a longer life, and the small artillery carried as a defence against torpodoers and similar craft is good for an indefinite amount of firing. Generally' speaking, a battleship, having survived a fleet-action, would be under the necessity of returning to her depot to have her big guns fitted with new inner tubes. In addition; apart' from any damage inflicted by the enemy, she would probably bo more or 'less injured by the concussion of her,own firing, and stand iu need of repairs. ' Some of the big guns might not last oven for thirty rounds, and others might get away a few more, but in'.any case the life of the inner lining of the gun is strictly limited.

j Torpedo Attack. With guns at their present stage of development, and having an effective range of several miles, an , uninjured battleship stands in comparatively little danger from torpedoers in a fleetaction. ■' Theoretically, modern torpedoes have an effective- rango of about aOOO yards, but this 'does not apply to the case or ships in rapid motion. Enterprising torpeßoers might risk a dash in such circumstances, hoping to inflict dainago atltlie cost ot almost certain annihilation, but if they did their torpedoes would have to be discharged at close range—inside half a mile—and tho combined movement of target and attacker would niake it very difficult to score a hit. In any case, it is iniprob..jib that a torpeduer woufd get anywhere near' - an uninjured battleship in > the day time without being' blown out 'of- the water. At night, or in foggy ■weather, on the other hand, tho small craft havo to contend against searchlights having a range' of several miles, and against others of their own kind. Probably the activities of torpedo craft against big ships will be' principally confined to attacks on those, which are wholly or partly disabled, and are unable to keep moving. It is principally in view of .such possibilities that warships of the larger kinds carry torpedo nets, formed of strong steel mesh, which are boomed off from tho side of the ship. Modern torpedoes-: arc furnished with cutters designed to cut through the mesh of the net and so enable them to reach

their quarry. ■'''._ Thsro is a popular belief that when a battleship.goes into action her bulkhead doors are closed, and the men in the various sections battened down so that in tho ovent of the ship encountering disaster they must. infallibly be drowned. This is not the case, but it i3i a;fact that in .the event of a shell penetrating any of the compartments the necessary' closing of bulkheads might iitvolvo tho drowning of -survivors in a particular section of the ship unless they made, a rapid exit. Coaling at Boa. Apart from. actual battle, the men of tho Navy.have much arduous work to perform on active service. The old style of blockading an enemy in his ports by parading up and down before his harbour mouth has departed for over, but such a-duty as that'of 'blockading 'the German lleet still 'means' keeping the sea in all weathers wider circumstances involving considerable . labour and no little- hardghTp^Sucli' ; ob T seMticin. of'tlfe enemy as tho'circumstances permit is relegated to air-craft and tho smaller naval vessels, : the big'fighting shins remaining'at a distance; Onoiof the most irqpoitant tasks to be performed by- the men of the blockading fleet is that of coaling ship. Official reticenco is maintained as to. the-details of the operation, but it is known that under methods devised by Admiral Sir Percy Scott the British warships' can coal at sea) in a very brief space of time, while steaming.at the rate of twelve knots an hour. . ■■;..-

A HISTORIC CAMP NAPOLEON AT BOULOGNE. . The story of Napoleon's preparations for the invasion of England in 1.805 and of the manner in which he actually employed the hugo army assembled at Boulogne is told byMr. E. G. Marks in tho Sydney "Sun. ■ Boulogne and Calaisj as the world knows, are seaports α-i the 'French side of the narrow strait which separates tho adjacent shores of France and England. Within the last few days we have heard that the French have abandoned Bou.logne, and that a strong body of Uhlans is pushing on to tho historic .town. .

lii 1805, when Napoleon was gradually attaining the. zenith of his power in Europe, ho conceived t'he idea of the invasion of England by moans of flatbottomed boats, and no less than 400 were constructed. That year'saw also Nelson's greatest 'victory—Trafalgar— nnd before he annihilated the French and. Spanish' fleets he had forwarded contemptuous messages to Napoleon's camp at Boulogne, saying, "If Napoleon had 4000 of those flat-bottomed boats to cross the Channel instead of 400, the result will'be the same; our fleet will blow them out of the sea!" Napoleon had had experience of Nolson. When he led the French Army into Egypt in 1798 Nelson followed the French fleet, under Admiral Bruers, and after Napoleon's army had barely been landed, emaslid it up in Aboukir Bay, Admiral Brueys going down when the flagship L'Orient blew up. j Napoleon's camp at Boulogne consisted of 320,000' troops, tho veterans of •the Italian and' Egyptian campaigns, and the heroes of Marengo. J.nto those troop 3 he had breathed his invincible epirit of determination.- The Boulogne camp for many days provided one of the most gorgeous and resplendent episodes of the Napoleonic legend. Called to tho camp were not only the flower of the French Army, but the Emperor there held court, surrounded in all his Imperial splendour by the groat dignitaries of the palace of the Tuileries, including Talleyrand. It was at Boulogne that tho great distribution of eagles took place. Seated on a magnificent throne, encircled by tho marshals of France and other great dignitaries, Napoleon distributed oagles to various regiments of the army ._ Each regiment, upon being presented with the eagle, swore a solemn oath that it would never surrender it ,and that the consecrated eagle of France would always ho the rallying point. where the battle raged the fiercest. Tho regiment which lost its eagle in battle could never take its accustomed place until it achieved some deed of prowess worthy of its former glory. Napoleon was awaro of every device that appealed to the omulous heart of the soldier. Oil the day following tho distribution of eagles at Boulogne, Napoleon distributed Crosses of tho Legion of Honour to privates as well as marshals of France. As soldier after soldier marched to tho throne of the Emperor for the coveted honour, Napoleon was often heard to say, "Eemember, the meanest soldier of m'y army in his knapsack carries a marshal's baton ; merit' alono must prevail." In tho midst of the splendour of the Boulogne camp (thrice moro splendid than the Meld of the Cloth of Gold), Napoleon, with tho rapidity of thought, broke up the camp, and marched his army of 320,000 into Austrian territory to once moro break the power of the haughty ilapsburgs, who' had joined Russia in the Third Coalition against him. He marched his Army of England in seven army corps, under Mar-

shals Lannes, Bernadotte, Marmont, Davoust, Soult, Ney, and Augoreau. The cavalry was assigued .to Murat, whilst Marshal Bessieres was in command of the Imperial Guard.

Napoleon marched tho army"'from Boulogne with incrediblo speed, crossed tho Danube in flood, anticipated the junctioning of the Russians with the Austrians by no less than 18 days, surrounded Mack, the Austrian coniman-dor-in-chief, at TJlin, before ho could strike a blow, and forced him to capitulate with 42,000 men, the greatest capitulation up to the Franco-German war, when Bazaino surrendered with 150,000 men at Metz.

__ Napoleon's great strategic march to Ulm (declared by military scientists to bo the most extraordinary in history) led to the battle of Austerlitz—Napoleon's most famous victory—against tho Austrians and tho Russians, and his en. try into Vienna. On leaving tho Boulogne camp, Napoleon remarked to Marshal Murat, his brother-in-law: "Joachim, 1 will put a ring of jiron round these Austrians; I will beat the Austrians and the Russians before Vienna; L will enter the Austrian capital; and I will bo back at work in Paris before the .jDtid of 40 days." He kept his word; ho accomplished everything lie told Murat he would .do, and he was back in the Castle of tho Tuerillies in 38 days after the breaking up of the Boulogne camp; haying marched soveral hundreds of miles; crossed the Danube in flood; make Mack surrender with his army; fought the battle of Austerlitz; and returned to Paris practically master of Europe. Thus ended the exploit of tho Boulogne army, originally intended for the invasion of England, and now-the German Uhlans, we are told, are threaten-, iug to trample oij tho. very ground where Napoleon distributed his eaglos and the Crosses of the Legion of Honour. RED CROSS MEN AND NURSES THE EQUIPMENT FUND. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Walmate, September 14. Waimate, in response to the Governor's appeal of fourteen days ago for funds for the equipment pf 4000 British Red Cross men and 100 nurses already at- the front, held a Hospital Saturday on Saturday, organised by the A'mbulanco Association, and realised £137.