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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1912)
- if Oeeyrlgat. 111 by Amsrlc J ' Ai!Vu htmlMr. flwrt Britain HMi Imwit T ' ' " j. . THE SUPMAi OF THE SEA ' - ' . . ' - - - . - - r. -. . J- .. .-' . ' ' Hitting Targets I I THE EYES OF THE GUNS Above I th Ordnanc Officer, who Sit in tbe Foretop and Direct by Telephone the Marktmomhip of the Gunner Below. At the Bottom of toe Pace I the Crew of a Seven-Inch Gun of the Battleship Utah. , THAT America gunnere an more-efficient than ever, and . that Use submarin tnln may bued -effectively as ean ot otfen a wsriatonowf defease, r to of the Important I fate brought is by the battle practise of tit United State Atlantlo fleet juat completed off tbe Virginia cape. Steaming at full ped tb gun ner found little difficulty In kilting target at range ot 15.000 yard, a moat remarkable achievement when it 1 remembered that at that distance the larger part ot the target It below the horUon, leaving only the spper part risible. A little mo tiou of the ship or the rolling of a falr-slxed wave wa sufficient to ob scure the target entirely. A year or ao ago. Indeed, Rear Admiral N. E. Mason, chief of the Bureatt ot Ordnance, reported that all 7tten of rang ending failed at distance beyond 10.000, or at most 13.000 yard, and that a all the sources ot inaccuracy at short range were exaggerated a the range Increased, at 15.000 yard their cumulative effect wa such a to make it doubtful whether a hit at that range could be regarded a any thing more than a matter of luck, and it la a fact that the gunner of European navle regard it a a wast of effort to aim at a greater range than 7,000 or 1,000 yard. Nevertheless, the record show that at 12,000 to 15.000 yard the battleship Utah made no lea than nine bit, while the Michigan took eoond place with seven. Tbe secret ot this achievement Ilea in the effclency ot the men be hind the guns, on the bridge, la the engine room, and particularly ot the Are control officer stationed in the cagelike masta, characteristic ot America battleship. The picture on this page, take during the battle practise, illustrate the system which enable our gun ner to bit targets which are quit Invisible to the naked eye, and which appear only one-quarter of their actual size through the most power ful telescope available. A the tar get are only twenty-four teet sous" seem almost the result obtained phenomenal After the target ba beet located - through tbe telescope a "ranging shot" is Bred at a distance of some 11,004 yard. Tb fire control officer estimate as accurately as be can whether the projectile ba gone too far or fallen too abort, and by mean ' of a telephone, by which he keep Is communication with th gun crew, report bl conclusion, and th second shot is based upon them. Every hot fired subsequently I sim ilarly observed by the Ore control officer, and tb success ot the test depend largely upon th accuracy ot tris calculation. Tb fleet, under the command ot . Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaua, coo-... Med of twenty-one battleship, In cluding dreadnaughts, on armored - cruiser, two scout ships, twelve col lier and on mint planter. This last. Teasel I des tined to play an Import ant part In naval war far of the future, tor at tbe recent battle practise It was found that nine might be med most effec tively against an enemy. Every battleship in the -United Bute Navy now carrle eighteen ot them, ' end th mine-planting ve ' sel carries a reservs stock 'of four hundred. 1 These mine are hollow iron sphere about tour teet In diameter and con tain a big charge ot gua toa and other high explo sives. As soon as a ves sel come In contact with them a cap on top ex ' plode th content of tb mine, which Is powerful enough to d 1m bit any bat tleship afloat They are submerged bout flv feet below the th surface of the water, about eighteen teet apart So expert have our tailors become iu planting them that eighteen caa be placed la a minute. Below the Horizon That the Gunners JVeJerSee;Practise with Ileal Torpedoes That Hit the Marks Over Placing the toae from tb Bow , . of the) Cutter. i jV ' Miles .-..-... - Away Two : - X;; m- If ; k . Uwering a Pontoon Raft Loaded with Contact Mine from the , Battleship Carolina to the Ship' Cotter. n Chesapeak Bay, tb Vew Hamp shlre being selected to do the firing, the object being to show the value of th "spotting" system, to give In formation a to the effect of modern gun fire oe an armored vessel and , to settle some vexed question' con cerning th flight of projectile eed' their angle of lmpaot , ,. .VJ ; Tbe San Marcos' protection eon slated of a partial 12-inch steel belt, lMncb armor oa bulkhead a, turrets, redoubt and conning tower, (-inch on th ammunition hoist and a I Inch deck. Each salvo- flred con slated ot four 11-Inch and four t-lnoa hot,- -... ' "Th result of th firing." de clared the Secretary of the Nary, 'lave furnished u with th mo valuable Information on tbe ImporV ant question that arit In the con alderation of th preparedaea ot the fleet tor actual battle. The firing baacoaciualveiy prove that our system of training I th best, and the total wreck of the Baa Marco ha impressed every ob server of tb accuracy of fir and th destructive feature ot our pro jectiles. . "A th practise was primarily for , th education of spotters in esti mating the error in rang at dis tance of flv to seven mile, tt wa Intended to nave tbe talvo so placed that few projectile would bit th vessel, so that w might use her gain next year tor spotting practise. . "A few projectile were directed against the masts, ao as to show wtat would happen to the exposed communication system. Ait Inspec tion of th vessel after firing showed the Immense hole which had bees, ploughed through from one aide to the other; many of them being below ; . wter, and any one or two ot them being sufficient to make the Teasel total lose Th armor ot this ves sel wa unable to withstand th Im pact at the very great range at which we flred. and the battleship was total to after th first two aaivo were directed at her. "All tb officer of tb fleet www deeply Impressed with tbe accuracy and th groat deatruetiv effect ot tb projectiles. All th manikin which were placed at the gun rep resenting the crew were dreadfully cut to piece, and the fume and flr ' left by the passage of high explosive projectile would hav destroyed . very living thing. "Th bulkhead In place were like sieves, due to the action ot high explosive, and all the compartment below were completely riddled. It wa remarkable to note the enor mou power of some of tbeee projeo- , tile, which, at 13.000 yard, went right through the heaviest armor and continued their work ot destruc tion inside the vessel. - This practise ha demonstrated beyond doubt tbe immense value ed tb long-rang firing have been FHOTos bV ENRiaMuu.esi Tb Crumpled- Dummyheai of a Torpedo, Which H a Actually Be Fired at Another Battleship Dunn " t i j ' I I A ; - . -; - i wii'U'ei . , . . . n' r M,-'. - . v '. - - . I V if the Gun Practiae, Contact mine bar been la tu for year as mean of defense for harbor, but It 1 now purposed to place them in the aea during a naval engagement, and to' govern th course ot the conflict la such a mas ter that th enemy will be either driven or lured Into their vicinity. By International agreement, bow ever, all mine so need must be of a patter that will eink on hour after being planted. , Great work was doc with tor pedo, too. Each Teasel had two tries, and at a range of J.S00 yard the Delaware got two bite, while th Florida got one. For th purpose of ese tests dummy torpedo bead were seed. Some of them, battered and bent, are shown la the 'Illustra tion. . . . Battle practiae 1 aa annual fea ture in the American navy. Tbe ship making the best record receive what a know as tbe trophy pea cant, consisting of a black circle oa a red ground. In addition to thla very member of the crew get a permanent increase in salary, and the members of the gua orew get medals la addition. Last year the Klcbigan woa the ' - championship, but It sow goe to th Utah. The Delaware, the Michigan, ' th New Hampshire and the Rhode Island made excellent scores, and Were not very far behind the winner. Those ship which did not do o well were handicapped by weather, coo dittoes or unsuitable material a. - Last year the skill of America, gunners wa put to a more practical teat than la afforded by the square ' target erdtaarfly used. . The old battleship Texas, renamed the Saa Marcos, wa used as target la Aim .ii hTta r th last two years, and - "'- " .lu.. .-. ... - , . . " - - m vur wsuioag or training are positively th beet . "Our officer hav seen all the practise against th canvas target creen. and hav been thoroughly atiafled with th work of our gua pointer and fir control parties, but It needed juat soch an exhibition a thla to prove that their eathuaiaatie and continued efforts to bring the fleet to the hlghet state of actual battle efficiency bar met witk . .H? JTf.0- The apotter ha,, to, the first time gained the necessary Information which cannot be learned by nring against anything but a real Thia Ut, la connection with the more recent work of the gunner at ""fake Bay few wIgo todicatea that no enemy would bo proof against America guns any. whero within a radiug of nine mile. living Ink Bottles AH Along. New England's Coast A so that they would fall at varying distance for the education ot the potter, but In order to observe the flr' of our projectile oa aa actual armored vessel a few of th salvoe were directed at the target Itself, end we got a great many hit from these eelToa. I noticed o one salvo that four lJ-ioeh projectile fell la a bunch, an of them striking th ves sel and causing dreadful havoc The New Hampshire placed the salvoe anywhere h wanted, and when the gunner wished to hav some bit en th conning tower and th turret armor. In order to observe the effect, they bad a trouble plac ing th shot at from 10.000 to 12,000 yard rang at just th point deatrad. LONG the rocky shores of New England Is much indelible Ink. It I better than any that can be bought beautiful crimson la color, and when applied to fabrics absolutely unchangeable. This Ink I contained la little bot tle put ap by Nature herself tee receptacles la question being eertala. ' whelks, or sea snails, of the specie knew to edeee ss purpura lapll tas. If the shell ot one of thee whelk be broken, there will oe found.' Juat under the akin ot tbe back, a Blender whitish vela contain ing a yellow liquor. The latter, wbea applied to linen with, a (man brush and exposed to the sua, tarns first green, then blue, then purple, and finally a brilliant crimson. Nothing will wash Rout ' " Lest tt be supposed that the no tion of obtaining dye from marine eslfesks t at all new, it m worta explaining that tbe famous Tyriaa purple, uaed by the ancients, which I th most famous of all dye, wa got from two specie ot sea analla. U.ol" rfewned too splendid fr any bat royalty and the nobility i.tbe day, of la, r" ' htSUVil!" la ; . The dy separated by a process, the whelk, being jounded la mortar, and the liquor ' thu. obtained diluted with a mUtarl V" D1 urine. Thus was pro. duced what would be called today a purpura of ammonia." which wbea applied, to wool gave to the tetter the moat beautiful color effect. . changing from metallic greea topuH ' pie la different light. 8ucb was the celebrated Tyriaa purple ot tbe ancient X mac) -impier and cheaper method ot pra doclng It from guano, la now under- stood though jt 1 etui know-commercially as "murexide," after th Latin name of the molluscs front which the stuff waa originally de rived. A glance at any good dlctloa- ' err. ccirr th ward "murex." wiii lend brief but Interesting eooflrma tioa to tbe statements hex given. - X 4.