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On An Ironclad At Sea

On An Ironclad At Sea image
Parent Issue
Day
31
Month
January
Year
1895
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Admiral von Werner, a hig-h authority in. naval matters in Germany, describes in a work recenUy published the behavior of armor-plated men-ofwar in heavy seas. He says: "Even with a moderate gale and sea an armor-plated cruiser, if going against the wind, will find herself in conditions similar to those of a storm- at least, the crew will havo that impression. The movements of the stern of the ship are violent and exceedingly disagreeable. The waves pushed by the advaneing prow sweep coHtinually over the ship fróm bow to stern. All windows and port holes must be closed, and air reaches the lower decks, where the heat increases unbearably, only throug-h the artificial ventilators. With tho exception of the specially jjrotected command bridge all the uncovered portions of the ship are irapassable; thus the whole of the crew must bear as well as they can the heil of the closed decks. On such a ship no one can feel comfortable; and when there is a storm in wliich a ship would feel comparatively at ease the crew of an armor-plated ship imagines itself to be in a heavy hurricane which threatns destruction at every minute. The long, narro w forepart of the &hip, which ia not borne lightly by tho water, and is rendered extremely heavy by tha mig-hty ram and the armored deck and the eannon and torpedoes, forces the ship in a high sea to pitchings and rollings of such an extraordinary kind that they cannot be described. The crew of such a ship U not only exposed to mortal dangers, but the voyages they make render them physically, extremely and dangerously nervous; the mental impressions they receive wear them out and make the profession hatafuL"

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Register