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ae pressing of the trigger of the large guns projects a pin point through a tiny target, demonstrating in this way the accuracy of the aim of the pointer and the trainer. In other cases, a tele- scope is attached to the turret in such a manner that its cross wires bear on the target the same as the cross wires of. the gun sights, so that an officer sitting behind it is able to check the men and to determine whether they are actually 'on the target when they fire. Some one of these devices is used almost daily throughout the year and it is only after the most skillful pointers have been chosen and very carefully trained that the ship goes onto the target range and actually loads her guns with powder and shell. ee Just as closely as_ possible, battle practice is made to simulate actual bat- tle conditions. The crews have been in training for months working day and night against the stop watch until each man fits into his position like a cog in a well-oiled machine. Ordmary ship routine and drills are forgotten. A nervous tenseness pervades the entire organization, stich as is seen only in the camps of university athletes, getting ready for the final battle of the season. The men think and dream of, nothing else. For the time being, their entire life is being concentrated on the few brief moments when they will be on the target range and will have a chance to give a concrete illustration of the train- ing of the months gone by. The scheme of no two practices is exactly alike but the following which THE MARINE REVIEW sult is not based on the number of hits but rather on the number of hits per gun per minute, the element of fast shooting being as important as the ele- ment of accurate shooting. On the morning of the practice the towing division, consisting of four ships, steaming in column about 2,000 August, 1914 it will have no accurate knowl- edge as to either the course or direc. tion of the towing ships. When the firing division has run its 36 minutes, the commanding officer puts his helm over and heads his ships in such a direction as will bring the flagship in a position where the rear target will tion, TARGET BEING TOWED BY UTAH yards apart each one with a target 400 yards astern of it, start out on the base course which we will" assume in this case to be north. As soon as this di- vision is under way, the firing division starts on a course due west at a speed of 15 knots (17% miles) and runs for 36 minutes. In the meantime the commander of the towing division has CLEARED FOR ACTION. TWO AFTER TURRETS OF UTAH TRAINED TO: PORT A FEW MOMENTS BEFORE TARGET PRACTICE might be used will give some idea of the way in which the work is done. It assumes that the four ships of one di- vision are to engage in individual prac- tice, each one firing in turn at its own target, the results to figure in the competition for the gunnery trophy. It should be noted, however, that this re- opened his sealed orders and finds that instead of steering due north, he is to go northeast for eight minutes at a speed of eight knots, then north by east for four minutes at a speed of six knots, etc., the object being to so alter speed and direction that by the time the firing division gets into posi- bear one point forward to beam, at, we will 'say, 11,000 yards distance at the earliest possible moment. This of course is equivalent to figuring a course which will bring him in an advantageous po- sition as regards an enemy in the shortest space of time. When the flag- ship reaches this position, it immedi- ately opens fire on the rear target and continues until the amount of ammu- nition allowed for the practice has been expended or until the target is a cer- tain angle abaft the beam. The divis- ion then steams on and when the sec- ond ship has come into the same relative position in reference to the No. 3 tar- get, it opens fire in the same way and the practice is continued until all ships have fired at their respective targets. The minimum range used in this prac- tice is 11,000 yards or about 6% statute miles. The speed of the firing ship is 1714 miles and that of the towing ship is unknown, depending on the instruc- tions given in the sealed orders. ' On the morning of our individual practice, I climbed up to the spotting platform at the top of the main mast, although it must be confessed not with- out a good deal of misgiving, but as I had accepted the invitation of the officer in charge of that station, I felt that it was up to me to ascend to this high elevation and watch the battle from there. There were a half a dozen of us on the platform, most of them with telephone receivers strapped over their heads, putting them in communi- cation with all parts of the ship. Gen- eral quarters had long since been