Identifier: romanceofshipsto00chat (find matches)
Title: The romance of the ship; the story of her origin and evolution
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble), 1878-1944
Subjects: Ships Shipbuilding
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott company London, Seeley and co., limited
Contributing Library: Boston College Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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tleships of the Formidable type already noticed. She can travel, in fact, at the rate of 36 knots an hour, which is the equivalent of about 41J land miles, and this wonderful turn of speed would make her in any naval engagement to-day a most dangerous unit, for from her four 4-inch guns can be fired fifteen projectiles of 25 lbs. each minute, to say nothing of the torpedoes despatched from her tubes. But simultaneously with the improvement in type of ship and armament has gone forward the gunnery of those on board these ships, and a recent Admiralty memorandum states that their lordships note with great satisfaction the considerable improvement in the results,* some of the destroyers having made what ar^ esteemed actually marvellous records, obtaining in one case 15*33 hits out of 16 rounds per minute, the gun used being the 12-pounder. When the appearance and character of the ship of war are so frequently changing, owing to the restless efforts to obtain perfection in efficiency, it may seem 222
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HMS Superb page 222. THE MODERN MAN-OF-WAR only of passing and ephemeral interest that we should discuss the trend of the latest naval types. But the present age sees such marvellous advances made, such comparative equality among naval powers, that it is impossible to have a comprehensive grasp of the modern development of the steam warship, or of its future probable tendencies, without having first gained someinsight into the ships that are in being. The Dread-nought type, which embodies the principle of the all-big-gun theory, is really the last and most complete extension of that lesson which the little American ship Monitor taught during the preceding century. It is a sufficient proof that the turret system of placing thebig guns is a thoroughly sound one. The United States,Japanese, French, German, Italian, Austrian, Brazilian,and Argentine Governments have all followed this mam-moth battleship type. Foreign navies have introduced such improvements as carrying a powerful quick-firingbattery, which the

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