Edward W. Very

“ Since the Crimean war, no sudden strain has been imposed upon its administration tending to limit development to certain especial types. Experiments have been carried on with equal profusion in all types, from the line-of-battle ship to the gun-boat, and as each experiment resulted in the addition of a vessel to the fleet whose lifetime could be estimated safely at fifteen years, we find in this immense navy a most heterogeneous collection of ships, which it would be impossible to classify distinctly. ”

“ No better evidence of the complete demoralization of architectural development in the United States can be found than in the movement made in 1872, in which the Hartford class, after having established thoroughly its great utility, was by the addition of a spar-deck reduced to the plane of the Challenger, with increased draught, reduced speed and steaming capacity, and in fact a reduction of all the qualities which had rendered it superior, notwithstanding the total disappearance of the type not only in the English but in all foreign navies. ”

“ Those who cry down the wooden construction, in view of the rapid deterioration of the American unarmored fleet, must bear in mind that this fleet was constructed of the worst possible material. In discussing the advantages of the composite system, those of the diagonal system must not be lost sight of. Above all, it must be remembered that the disadvantages of the pure iron construction, as evidenced by English and French target experiments, have never been overcome. The iron and steel sheathed with wood is an amelioration, but as yet it is by no means a satisfactory one. ”

“ In France there has always been a generous system of legislation for the support of the marine, but in this country the navy has never been considered of the vital importance to the safety of the nation that it has in England; consequently naval controllers have always been obliged to exercise a much greater economy in development, and the rigidly mathematical system of the French in the exercise of all control is nowhere better exemplified than in the development of their fleet. The ships of the fleet will be found most rigidly classified, each type being clearly distinct. ”

“ The general principle of the carriage is the same as the ordinary one. Its front and rear rollers are the same, and the elevating-gear is the rack and pinion type, the power being increased in accordance with the greater weight to be moved. The carriage is heavier braced, having three transoms in place of two. There are no out-tackles or chain-gearing, the slope of the slide (6°) being sufficient to run the gun out by its own weight. When it is necessary to run it in, in-tackles are used, the falls being taken over windlass-heads on the rear hurter of the slide. ”

“ It is only within the past five years that the development of iron-clad architecture can be said to have taken any steady course. As yet the full effects of this forced and feverish course can scarcely be realized; but as fleets grow now slowly and steadily, those nations who have waited a little and profited by the true developments of the more hasty ones will be in a far better position to meet the sudden exigencies of war than those who have counted on numbers of vessels and gross tonnage displacement as a true criterion of naval strength. ”

“ A percussion fuse is one in which the flame is produced by a blow on some fulminating compound. Of such a type is the fuse of the Whitehead torpedo, which in principle is precisely that of the firing arrangement of breech-loading small-arms. The shock on the nose of the torpedo starts it back, releasing the firing-pin spring, which driving against a cap or fuse of fulminate, explodes it. The fuse of Singer’s torpedo cannot depend directly on the shock of collision to explode it, as the shock might be very light. ”

“ In ten years from the date of its introduction it became impossible to completely protect the hull of the frigate, and in fifteen years we find it necessary to commence to strip the turreted vessel with her minimum of freeboard. If the greatest architects of the world find themselves almost at a loss to retain the effectiveness of the armor carried whilst keeping within proper bounds in weight, it is certainly idle for those who barely appreciate the necessity for covering battery and steering-gear to assert that armor should be carried thus and so. ”

“ A long lever is pivoted in wake of the trunnion-sockets, carrying at its lower end a half screw-sleeve. By heaving out on the lever, the sleeve engages in the screw-shaft and the gun is drawn in or out. The recoil cylinder is of the ordinary type, but provided with a circulating pipe and balanced valve by which the oil passes from one end to the other. The valve may be regulated for any desired amount of recoil. The training-gear is of the ordinary type, working a longitudinal shaft having on its outer end a cogged wheel to gear in a metal rack just inside of the rear slide-rollers. ”

“ Just in rear of the truck-axle, a heavy axle is secured in the brackets, carrying on its centre a large cogged wheel, and just inside the left bracket a friction-drum with a gun-metal friction-band worked by a lever outside the bracket. The lever is held in any desired position by a rack, thus regulating compression. A stationary double block is secured to the transom, and a single bolt to the rear of the bed-plate, for convenience in hooking a tackle. The directing-bar consists of a long I iron having a pivot-centre near each extremity and eye-bolts at each end for hooking training-tackles. ”

“ The application of horizontal armor presents problems equally abstruse; more so in fact to the designer who does not fully appreciate all the obstacles to be surmounted and the real advantages which are to be obtained. A vessel having a heavy steel deck that shall fully protect her under-water sections and yet permit of such a division of above-water spaces as to permit her to be pierced with impunity whilst that space is left available for the many necessities of circulation and storage, is a consummation of architectural skill the most difficult of attainment. ”

“ The breech-block is of the French type, and arrangements are made for moving the block as well as loading by hydraulic or steam power. The 100-ton gun has no carriage proper, its trunnions resting in heavy blocks on the fixed slide, being connected in rear with hydraulic recoil pistons which are themselves connected in such a manner as to equalize the strain of recoil. The movements of running out and in and loading are all performed by hydraulic power. The vent of the 100-ton gun is axial both in the breech and muzzle loader. ”

“ The belt rises to the height of the main-deck beams. The redoubt has an overhang of five feet, being cut back in the wake of the centre-ports as a protection to the muzzles of the guns. The corners are cut and hollowed for angular ports, giving bow and beam fire. The sides are given a rank tumble home forward and abaft the redoubt, to open the fore-and-aft fire. An armored pilot-house rises well above the spar-deck rail at the forward end of the redoubt. A heavily armored athwartship bulkhead crosses the redoubt just abaft the forward guns as a protection from raking fire. ”

“ Medical students have their year of service confined strictly to hospital duty, passing into the reserve as medical cadets, to serve as such in hospitals only, during war-time. Doctors having diplomas practise for a year in the hospitals and pass to the reserve with the grade of lieutenant. They are liable for sea service in time of war.
The depot, school-ships, machinists’ school and apprentice school are all at Pola, and at the same place there is a school for the children of both sexes of people in the naval service in indigent circumstances. ”

“ At different times during the development of torpedo warfare there have been many attempts to construct and perfect submarine boats of different types, but in no case has an attempt to use one been successful. The United States corvette Housatonic was sunk off Charleston Harbor in 1864 by a submarine torpedo-boat, but there are excellent reasons for believing that she was at the time of the attack used as an ordinary surface-boat with a bow-torpedo on a spar. In most cases the boats used, or rather designed, have been propelled by hand-power, their rate of speed being very low. ”

“ From the number of cautious nations the United States must be excluded, since in this country the blow given to the development of private ship-building by the civil war and to the development of naval architecture by political intrigue and interference has resulted in the nearly complete destruction of the science itself. ”

“ After a short engagement at a distance of 200 yards, the Merrimac attempted to ram or force a surrender of the Minnesota, in doing which she ran ashore, and was for a short time exposed to the full broadside fire of the frigate. Getting clear, she again turned to the Monitor, and attempted to ram her, striking a slight ineffectual blow. The Merrimac kept on down the channel, the Monitor chasing for some distance, but hauling out of action when she found her speed and artillery power not sufficient to bring the Merrimac to terms. ”

“ A man-of-war without steaming-power in war-time is [Pg 395] helpless, and yet by the precepts of international law she is debarred from getting this material in foreign ports. Russia, having a peculiarly vulnerable home coast, easily closed and hard to reach, has with great wisdom sacrificed all qualities in her fast cruisers to the two of speed and coal capacity. Keeping her sail-power as the constant factor, the two important ratios of ordnance and armor are reduced to the lowest point, their gain being entirely transferred to the coal capacity. ”

“ The directing-bar carriage is a broadside-carriage which combines the compactness of broadside types with the advantages of pivoting and checking recoil by friction instead of breechings. The top carriage is similar in type to the Marsilly, differing only in its attachments. Instead of using an elevating-screw (which with breech-loaders of medium calibre is unsafe) , elevation is secured by geared racks. A rack is secured to each side of the gun and travels in guides in a similar manner on both sides ”

“ The sights used with naval guns are all of the tangent pattern, and all except the boat-guns are provided with sights on both sides. The socket for the tangent-sight is bored through the breech-piece, the upper part having steel or bronze bushing and a clamp-screw passing through at right angles. The sight is cylindrical, with a flat rear surface on which is marked elevations to sixteenths of degrees. On the left cylindrical side, elevations for every 100 metres are marked for common shell, and on the right for chilled or steel shot. ”

“ In calibres of a nature above 16-cm. a leather guard is always used in loading, to cover the gas-check and prevent injury from shocks in loading.
A system of guards against firing the gun before the breech-block is entirely closed is attached to the breech or the breech-block. In guns of the model 1864 the guard consists of a small hollow cylinder with funnel-shaped ends, acting as a sort of fairleader for the firing laniard. On the laniard itself are worked three turk’s-heads which, when the laniard is rove through the fairleader and hooked to the primer, come forward of the forward edge. ”

“ All muzzle-loading projectiles are provided with studs for rotation. They are of gun-metal, swedged into countersunk holes, in two rows. The loading side of all grooves is cut back so as to double the width of the groove at the muzzle, in order to facilitate the insertion of the projectile.
Papier-maché wads are used in front of the heavier projectiles to keep them from slipping forward out of place. These wads are very slightly less than the calibre of the gun, and about an inch in thickness. A hole is bored through the centre, large enough to leave a clear space for the fuse. ”

“ From the time that men are drafted into the service until they pass into the reserve a thorough system of education is followed out. The depot for their reception is at Pola, where the recruits (received first in shore barracks) are divided into twelve companies, the arrangement being as nearly as possible in conformity with the intelligence of the individual. Company No. 6 is made up entirely of firemen and coal-heavers; Company No. 12, workmen employed in the gun-foundries and dock-yards. The remaining ten companies are the sailors of the fleet. ”

“ A male screw-thread is worked on the forward axle, and the end is also slotted to allow a tenon on the after axle to fit it. By revolving the sleeve, then, the rear axle is pushed to the rear through the rear journal, thus releasing the spur-wheel from the screw. In this carriage there is also a slight modification of the arrangement for jamming the elevating-gear. There is also but one compressor-lever working as a ratchet-lever in a ratchet-wheel on the compressor-axle. The slide-rollers of this type are on concentric axles in action permanently. ”