Defenseless America . rmor to afford protection againstthe rapid-fire guns of smaller caliber. Sucharmor also at longer ranges affords considerableprotection against the big guns, for it must beexpected that not all projectiles will strike theplate at right angles. They strike at all angles,and sometimes at very sharp angles, and glanceoff, in which case armor of moderate thicknessmay save a ship by diverting the shots, while, ifshe were wholly unarmored, she might be de-stroyed. We may then conclude that an ideal fightingship would be one having very great speed, carry-ing very large and powe
Defenseless America . rmor to afford protection againstthe rapid-fire guns of smaller caliber. Sucharmor also at longer ranges affords considerableprotection against the big guns, for it must beexpected that not all projectiles will strike theplate at right angles. They strike at all angles,and sometimes at very sharp angles, and glanceoff, in which case armor of moderate thicknessmay save a ship by diverting the shots, while, ifshe were wholly unarmored, she might be de-stroyed. We may then conclude that an ideal fightingship would be one having very great speed, carry-ing very large and powerful guns, and protectedby armor-plate of but moderate thickness. Actu-ally, such a ship is the modern battle-cruiser. Wehave as yet not one of these ships in our Navy,while the Japanese have two of the most powerfulin the world, and more building; England haseight, and more building; Germany has four, andmore building. The first improvements following the advent ofarmor-plate were made, as might be supposed, in [188]. now the Fleet of an Enemy vHth fifteen-inch guns could Bombard and Destroy PortaHancock, Hamilton and Wadatcorth. and also all of Brooklyn and part of Manhattan,from a position beyond the range of the Guns of those Forts; also showing hoir, after FortHancock is destroyed, the Fleet could move yet nearer for the Destruction of Forts Bamil-tcm and Wadstitorth, and still be out of range of those Forts, and finally, after their De-struction, how it could Bombard New York, Jersey City and Brooklyn at Short Range. LANGUAGE OF THE BIG GUNS the gun and in the projectile. The old smooth-bore, with spherical projectile, was replaced bythe breech-loading rifle and the conical projectilehaving a copper driving ring and gas-check, bywhich a projectile possessing enormously greatermass for its caliber could be hurled at much highervelocity and kept point on. Extraordinary improvements have been con-tinuously made in armor-plate, to harden andtoughen it and to give it greater p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1915
