The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

20 | : THe Marine REVIEW Yokohama to Bombay, three large steamess, 10 knots; a line to European ports. twelve large steamers, 14 to 16 knots; Hong Kong to Seattle, three large steamers, 15 knots; Hong Kong to San Francisco, three large steamers, 17 knots; Also steamers running from Yokohama to Shanghai, Kobe to north China, Kobe to Corea, Kobe to Vladivostok, and others, a- bout fifty large steamships ready in her time of need. The advantage of a merchant marine in which the government owned an inferest has been such a prominent factor in her successes both on sea and land, that its future' extension will be a legitimate outcome of the experience gained in this great war. The United States has not shown the wis- dom of the Japanese in this respect. The Spanish war taught the same lesson to us as the China war taught the Japanese, but so far we have not profited by the experience. Had the Japanese acted as the United States in regard to her mer- chant fleet, the Russian fleet edeht have still been in active: service. 'Coming now to warship building in the light of the Japanese experience as expressed by my friend in regard to the im- portant items to be relied upon to gain the victory. The wreck and ruin wrought by shells charged with high , explosives has, I suppose, been fearfully illustrated for the first time in naval warfare. The question is what, if anything, can be done to protect the warship against this terrible power of destruction? Can the construction of the warship be modified in any way so as to make it more effective in keeping out the shell charged with high explosives? If the vessel is penetrated, can' we have more simple internal arrangements so that the damage done by a bursting shell will not destroy so much delicate mechanism upon which de- pendence is placed in time of battle? Evidently the thing AMMUNITION HOIST FLEET RAMMER. © to be dreaded in naval warfare-is the shell charged with high 'explosives, provided it does not require to penetrate the armor protection in order to be effective; if the explo- sion of a shell on the outer face or the armor without penetrating can cause fatal damage, then a new condition has been reached, and accuracy of fire at extreme long range becomes of vital importance. It does not appear, how- ever, that any heavy armor, say 8-in. and over has been destroyed in the late war by the explosion of shells on the outside. The experience from the Russo-Japanese war, as far as outsiders have been able to reach it, would indicate that naval battles in the future, when the opposing forces are nearly equal in strength and ability, will be fought at long range unless the heaviest armored ship is also the fastest, in which case she would shorten the range as quickly as possible, and thereby save time in destroying her oppo- -- nent. It does not appear: that there is any need for two classes of vessels so near alike in strength and speed as the battleship and the armored cruiser, as in the late war the battleship did not appear to do anything that the ar- mored cruiser could not do. - I believe that a strongly armored ' - fighting ship, having a speed that could be maintained at all times of 20 knots, would accomplish as much and probably more than either the battleship or armored cruiser. I be- lieve that in order to get a simple structure that could be armored effectively, the turret battery would have to be abandoned and the main battery installed between the main and upper decks. The whole vessel to have armor protec- tion from 5 ft. below the normal waterline to above the upper deck. For simplicity in the manufacture of armor and fitting it, all sectional lines both fore and aft to be vertical at all points from 'the armor shelf up, there being no curvature except in one plate, and all decks should be without curvature in either . direction. The main battery should be all high-powered rifled guns of the same caliber, which I think should be 10 in., and mounted in sponsons. The gun shield, which for this size would be about 10 ft. in diameter, forming a complete cylinder, except for the opening of the breech of the gun; it would be the same thickness as the side armor, which I propose should be 8 in, all over, except at the ends, which in 30 or 40 ft. would 'taper down to 6 in. at the bow and stern. The gun shield would close the port with a lap of about 6 in. at the top and bottom. The inside diameter of the sponson armor would be about 3 in. greater than the outside diameter of the shield, leaving an average clearance of 114 in. A plaited hemp gasket would be driven into the space to keep out water at sea. The port hole for the gun through the shield would just give clearance for the gun horizontally and room for the vertical train. There would also be an opening for the tele- scopic sight and peep holes for observation. These open- ings would be closed with proper fitting tompion plates at sea. The ammunition hoist would be immediately behind the gun when-trained abeam, and the electric rammer would be secured to the deck behind the ammunition hoist. I have figured that a warship having the following dimensions-- length, 450 ft.; beam, 75 ft.; draught of water with 1,500 tons of fuel in bunkers or tanks and two-thirds of full supply of ammunition, 26 ft., and a co-efficient of .6, could have a battery of fourteen Io-in. guns arranged in sponsons, as shown in the sketch plan and elevation accompanying this paper. At 27% ft. draught she would have 2,200 tons of fuel and full supply of ammunition, which would be too rounds for each of the 1o-in. guns.' The secondary battery would consist of fourteen 14-pdr. rifles, all on upper deck: The armor all round the ship to be carried 30 to 36 in. above the upper deck, forming a shield protecting the fittings on the deck. There would be no wood on the upper or weather deck; linoleum or fibre would be fitted, secured by special brass strips at seams and butts. The center line of the main battery should be 20 ft. above the waterline in normal trim, and it would require 11 ft. clear betwen the main and upper decks to work the 10-in. guns. The ammunition would be served to the ammunition hoists from an ammunition passage below the berth deck on each side extending from the magazine forward to the magazine aft. These passages to be wide ehough for two ammunition trucks, and at each hoist there would be an enlargement to give room for handling. Trolleys with ammunition from for- ward magazine when unloaded would continue on to the after magazine and there load and come back the other track, un- loading at whatever hoist required ammunition and continue on to the forward magazine. The 10-in. ammunition hoists would be similar to the turret hoists now in use, the charge being pushed from the hoist cage into the gun. The hoists for the 14-pdrs. would be of the endless chain type. Above the upper deck there should be as little top hamper 'as possible; there would be skid beams for the boats and both forward and after bridges for navigation purposes only, searchlights being on the ends of the bridges. I believe that the military mast will not now be considered necessary, and simple pole masts, suitable for signaling and telegraphic pur- poses and fitted with crow's nest for outlook, will be all that will be fitted in the future. ' What I have outlined would, in my opinion, prove a very efficient fighting ship, and her complete armor, though only 8 in. in thickness, leaves no part unprotected. I consider a general protection that would be effective, except at short range, to be more efficient than some thick patches of heavy armor protecting what is supposed to be vital parts, but leaving other parts, that in battle may be quite vital, entirely unprotected. The main battery consisting of 14 powerful units, each independent of the other, and extending over