A MONSTER MONITOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 225, 17 June 1919, Page 5

A MONSTER MONITOR

THE LORD CLIVE •" GUN RANGE 31 MILES Oue of the warships that took part it the famous surprise attack en Ostend was Lord Clive. Ships of this type—broad, shallow, and very heavily armed, and of moderate speed—are after the original Monitor that played :k great-part in the war between the North and' South'.; The type is specially suitable Jor coast defence, and also for atare planned Rt no great distance from their base, and in circumstances where speed is a factor of secondary importance, Of the new monitors Lord"Chvo"and General Wolfe are the most notable. Each in addition to a pair of 12in. gnus forward, carries a single ISin. gun mounted" behind a giui-shield aft. Tliis tremendous weapon takes a projectile weighing 35001'b., and.it has a range of 31 miles. Curiously enough, the gun can be trained on the starboard lieam only, and with very few degrees of lateral bearing at that. The ship itself, therefore, has to be manoeuvred in order to bring the 6ighls on the target. ■ A 'remarkable feature embodied in the' design of the monitors is the bulge or "blister" which, projecting 15ft. from tho hull proper, runs from stem to utorn. Each, bulge is subdivided into 50 watertight compartments, and the compartments servo as so many air cushions that will protect tho inner hull from tho effects of torpedo explosions. Ships fitted with this device are practically torpedoproof. The monitor Graflon, for examplei ■ was struck squarely amidships by a, tor. pedo, yet sustained no structural injury.. •Tho bulge, of'course, was smashed for 1 several yards on either side of tho point of impact, but the damage was easily repaired. The Germans were not slow to discover that it was but a waste of tor-, pedoes to discharge them at ships so protected, therefore they introduced a very fast ''moon" boat, -which was really a surface torpedo, carrying a heavy charge of explosives—much- heavier than that of a torpedo-and was controlled from the siiore. A moon boat struck the Erebus, another monitor, but the explosion, formidable aj it was, did no damage, excepting to the bulge. No ships fitted with a bulge have been effectively torpedoed, though they have frequently been struck. All things considered, therefore, the bulge is one of the most romarkabla inventions, and from present indications it has rendered the torpedo obsolete. It has.been said that the monitors'aro not. speedy. They'might indeed bo described as veritable naval tortoises. For* instance, Lord Roberts holds'the record for slowiiMS, for on one occasion, when steaming against a gale, this monitor took 25 hours to cover -10 miles. Lord Clivo could no doubt'equal the performance if given <i fair chance, for when tho signal "full speed ahead" was telegraphed from the bridge to the engine-room, Lord Clive, with wind and weather favouring, can nialfo only six knots au hour. The explanation of the slow gait of tho monitors is found iu their form, They are not quite so broad as they are long, but they approach that- equality' mom nearly than any other class of ship in the British Navy, for, with a 'length of MOft. or thereabouts, thev have a beam of nearly 100 ft. ■i'liejyhW.oillv 10fl„ and this shallow draught, together wilh a great.deal of top hamper, makes them the most unmanageable of craft in n strong tide or a stiff breeze. When thev are being manoeuvred in these circumstances, thev present a spectacle that adds much to the gaiety of any ships that happen to bo looking on. Their-navigat-ing officers, it is said, must possess not only a sound knowledge of seamanship, but patience to a marked degree. It may be added that in anything like "weather," or wherever there is'n strong tide flowing, all other craft give tho monitors a very wide berth. This is wisdom born of experience, for wore than once it has happened that commanders of destroyers and light, cruisers venturing too close to these ponderous and unmanageable . vessels have had to exercise their utmost capacity, in navigation to ctcapo Tocinp run down.