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July, 1914 that it is correctly done, all the work being done in competition, one turret with the other and each ship with the rest of the fleet, with the time accu- rately iaken with a stop watch. Every day or two the decks were actually cleared for action, i. e; everything gotten ready for real fighting, stations manned, guns loaded and trained, all the work carefully gone through with that would actually be done in case an enemy were sighted, this being per- formed in competition with the other ships in the fleet and seven to eight minutes were Sufficient to transform these vessels from peaceful ships to demons of destruction, ready to hurl their message of death against an enemy eight miles distant! At 7:00 p. m. every night when the weather permitted the opening of the lower gun ports, torpedo defense drill call was sounded and the 5-in. battery which is used for the repulsion of tor- pedo boats was manned and gotten ready for action. All lights were turned off, leaving the ships in abso- lute darkness, the searchlights turned on and the ships in turn picked up the targets with their lights. while the guns were aimed and the pointing checked. The difference in visibility between the Solace, which was painted the white of the old navy and the col- liers with their grim coats of war gray, was very noticeable. Each ship in the fleet has a definite position which it is required to keep. In column one is directly behind an- other at a distance of 500 yards meas- ured from bridge to bridge. If a ship varies by more than 40 yards from this distance, either over or under, the watch officer must hoist his position pennant half way up denoting that he realizes he is out of position and is endeavoring to get back in. If he does not do so the admiral calls his at- tention to the fact, a proceeding which is not pleasant. The result is that an officer by means of an instrument called a stadimeter, checks up the dis- tance between ships, this being done continually at intervals of two to four minutes. The engine revolutions have to be carefully watched as a slight va- tiation will throw the ship out of po- sition. The turbine-driven screws re- volve at a much higher rate than those driven by reciprocating engines, ours turning up 186 r. p. m. for 12% knots speed. If we started to drop back the speed would be increased two or four revolutions, while if we gained on our Position they would be dropped down to 184 or 182, etc. The distance had to be constantly watched and good _ Wdgment used in changing the speeds, for if these big ships once get to see- Sawing back and forth it is almost im- THE MARINE REVIEW possible to steady them down in posi- tion again without the loss of a great deal of time. The regular cruising formation at night was 'column open order", in which the second ship is two degrees on the starboard quarter of the flagship, the third ship three degrees on the port quarter, the fourth ship following the second, etc. This gives more room to maneuver in case of accident to a ship ahead and conse- quently relieves to some extent the strain upon the officer of the watch. The favorite formation during the day time and the one which was the de- spair of the watch officers was known as "line of bearings", in which each ship took position at a certain angle (say 30 degrees on the starboard quar- ter of the preceding ship) distance as before, 500 yards. In this case both distance and angle had to be absolute- ly maintained, a task which required constant vigilance and the exercise of care and good judgment. Almost every other night after the day's work. had been finished, all offi- cers not on duty were ordered to report in the spare cabin to play war games. This is a new departure in the fleet, a sort of a correspondence school con- ducted by the war college to give the officers training and insight into the strategy of war, which is distinct from the ordinary routine of handling a ship. A problem is handed out in which war exists between two nations and the size and condition of two fleets together with the respective object of each is given. The officers are divided into two sides, each one assigned to one fleet and they are required to maneuver and han- dle the fleet the same as though in battle in an endeavor to accomplish the object each has in view. In the center of the room is a large checkerboard divided into spaces 1 in. square each of which represents 600 yards of searoom. Each move on the board represents three minutes. The commander of each fleet writes out his orders and hands them to the umpire who directs that the move be made upon the board. It is required, however, that the order for move No. 3-be in the umpire's hands before move No. 1 is executed. When the ships have come in range, they open fire, each commander telling what guns he is using and against which one of the enemy's ships. By means of tables which have been carefully worked out and the use of dice to lend an element of chance, the probable result of the gun fire is figured and the num- ber of hits determined. When the vari- ous ships are hit a sufficient number of times, they are declared to be slowed down, disabled or sunk and the battle goes on until in the judgment of the umpire one side or the other has ac- 269 complished its object or until it be- comes so late that the executive officer decides it is time for his men to turn in. It is a very instructive game and often times gets decidedly exciting. be- fore the evening is over, but after a hard day's work, it cannot be looked at otherwise than as grim duty rather than a pleasure. Other battle problems are handed out on which each officer sends in a written report detailing the way in which he would handle it in case he were responsible. : Take it all in all, the fleet at sea is a hard working organization in which the officers at least, are under a constant strain with plenty of work always ahead and little spare time for either amusement or recreation. No business man could take a trip of this kind without having increased admiration and respect for the officers who go down to sea in our fighting ships. Docking the Vaterland The Hamburg-American liner Vater- land, which caused a commotion on her arrival at New York, furnished more excitement when she left on her first return voyage to her home port. Not only did she back out of her pier in Hoboken with sufficient im- petus to carry her to the New York shore, three-quarters of a mile away, but she sank a coal barge and nearly wrecked two Morgan Line steamships. The stern of the Vaterland went into the slip between Piers 50 and 51, and for a moment it appeared that she would not stop short of the West street bulkhead... Tugs were unable to check her and a crash was averted by energetic action of the ship's own propellers. The coal barge Ulster, belonging to the Dexter & Carpenter Coal Co., which was lying in the slip, smashed against the pier and sank. Her captain was rescued with difficulty. The Pennsylvania lighter No. 424 and the Southern Pacific lighter Oakland were badly damaged and the piers were splintered by the force of the vessels bumping against them. The Southern Pacific Steam- ships El Valle and Topila, lying on each side of the slip, broke their moorings and crashed into the end of the slip, shattering the bulkhead and twisting the iron sheeting with which the building there is protected. 'Handling these giant liners in port is a problem in itself, the element of suction caused by propeller action be- ing very pronounced. The Staten Island Shipbuilding Co., Port Richmond, S. I., was the lowest bidder for the three steel tugs to be built for the Panama canal.