Journal of the United States Artillery, September to October, 1897, Vol. VIII, No. 2, Whole No. 28. Artillery School Press, Fort Monroe, Va.
- The Probability of Hit when the Probable Error in Aim is known, by Professor Mansfield Merriam, Professor of Civil Engineering in Lehigh University.
Professor Merriam deduces the necessary formulas and compares the probability of hitting when independent or parallel fire is used from mortar batteries, the data being taken from the five groups of shots fired at Sandy Hook and Fort Monroe and published in the Journal of the United States Artillery for May-June, 1897, Vol. VII, pp. 287-346. By independent fire is meant when several shots are fired from a single mortar, or when a volley is fired from several mortars of a battery, each mortar being independently aimed in azimuth and range with the intention of hitting the centre of the deck of the ship. By the term parallel fire is understood that method in which all the mortars of a battery are aimed parallel to an imaginary mortar at the centre of the battery, this imaginary mortar being aimed in azimuth and range with the intention of hitting the centre of the deck of the ship.
Using the data given, the conclusion reached is that the superiority of the independent method over that of the parallel method is about 16 per cent when the ship is on the principal axis of the battery, and about 37 per cent when it has an azimuth of 45° with respect to the principal axis. “In the long run, then, it has about 25 per cent advantage; that is, the average probable number of hits by the parallel method is only about four-fifths of the average probable number of hits when all the mortars of the battery are fired by the independent method.”
- A reply to the report of a Board on Sea-coast Mortar Fire, by J. T. Honeycutt, First Lieut., First Artillery.
Lieut. Honeycutt quotes opinions of Professor Merriam of Lehigh University and Professor Johnson of the Naval Academy, authors of standard works on probabilities, and gives additional arguments in support of his conclusion as expressed in his paper entitled “ Parallel and independent fire, with special reference to mortar batteries,” that “ the probable number of hits from a battery of mortars will be greater if the mortars are aimed independently at the target than would be the case were the mortars aimed by the parallel method.”
- The Theoretical and Practical Training of the Light Artillery Gunner, by First Lieutenant Charles B. Satterlee, Third Artillery.
- Indirect Fire, a lecture delivered before the Militärwissenschaftlichen und Casino-Vereine zu Temesvar, by Major-General Moriz Edler von Reichold. A translation by Second Lieutenant J. A. Shipton, First Artillery. Description and discussion of the methods and means of laying field guns from positions hidden from the targets by accidents of ground, and conclusions drawn as to what circumstances would warrant its use.
- History of the Sea-coast Fortifications of the United States, III. Narragansett Bay, by General George W. Cullom, Engineers. R. R. I.
Conclusions upon Questions in Naval Tactics (Razsujdenia po Voprasam Morskoi Taktiki), by S. O. Makarof, Vice-Admiral, Russian Navy.
Under the above heading an important work by Admiral Makarof has recently been published by the Admiralty Press at Saint Petersburg. In a volume of two hundred and fifty octavo pages a great number of matters affecting chances of success in war are described. The book suggests a very modem treatise upon naval seamanship, and from its perusal one is led to conclude that success in naval battle will be largely dependent in the future, as it has been in the past, upon deriving the greatest advantage from existing conditions of wind, weather, sea and position. Admiral Makarofs work is characterized by its advocacy of war efficiency in contradistinction to peace expediency; by its subordination of matters purely technical to tactical conditions; and by its advocacy of pluck, push and the voluntary incurring of risk when the odds are favorable to the successful attainment of an end sought.
An idea of the scope of the treatise may be had from the headings of the chapters into which it is divided, and which are as follows:
The place of naval tactics in the list of naval sciences; Influence of morale upon success in battle; Naval and military pedagogics; Self-training and education; Instruction of the personnel afloat; The gun; The torpedo; The ram; Preparation for battle; Miscellaneous operations; Single combat; Fleet action; Night torpedo attack; Information upon various naval matters. J. B. B.
Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors. Tales of 1812. By James Barnes. Illustrated by R. F. Zogbaum and Carlton T. Chapman. Published by the Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Ave., New York. Price $1.50.
The crowning merit of this work is the authenticity of the tales. Many of them are historical and are familiar to students of American history; but they are presented by the author in so attractive a garb, with the introduction of new details and substantiating facts gathered from state papers and official correspondence, that every page holds the attention of the reader. Be the latter seaman or landsman, the perusal of these tales fills him with pride in the Yankee sailor of 1812, that representative type of the sturdy American seaman whose gallant deeds have become historic. Every one of the tales is fascinating. The author is to be congratulated upon his delightful contribution to sea-lore.
H. G. D.