Protecting a Battleship 

 with a Belt of Air 



END PLATE 

 OF AIR-PONTOON 



CURVED PLATE 

 FORMING FRONT -m-r- 

 OF3H0CK-AB50RBING 

 SECTION OR AIRPONTOON 



'-~^ BAGK PLATINS OF 



Uaij/pontoon section 



A new battleship armor is built on the principle of the shock-absorber. The corrugated 



chambers, backed by others of smooth-bore, first deflect the shell, and, when it explodes, the 



air takes up the shock and the expanding gases are carried off by the chambers, which are 



destroyed but save the hull itself from destruction 



READ tlic accounts of the battles 

 fought off Hehgoland and the 

 ■ Falkland Islands, in which ships 

 protected by heavy side armor were sunk 

 by gun fire at ranges of five miles and the 

 <|uestioii must occur: What is the good 

 of armor? If twelve and more inches of 

 steel can be penetrated by the fifteen- 

 inch guns of a British battle-cruiser at 

 distances of miles it woukl seem as if 

 victory in sea engagements is a matter of 

 hitting power rather than of protection. 

 That armor of some kind is necessary 

 would follow from the fact that naval 

 architects are very close students of 

 naval history and that they promptly 

 apply in the' construction of fighting 

 shijjs the U'ssons taught on the proving- 

 grounds and in battle. That the heavy 

 gun si'cms for the time being to have 

 gained the ascendency over armor is 



pro\ed by the fact that in battle-cruisers 

 high speed and enormous striking power 

 are considered more important than 

 steel sides; for the armor belt of a 

 battle-cruiser is only twelve inches — - 

 hardly sufficient i)r<)teclion against any- 

 thing but projectiles of low caliber and 

 low striking energy. 



Insijired by thi'se considi'rations, Louis 

 (iathmann, whose experiments in hurling 

 high explosives against armor on proving- 

 grounds attracted much attention some 

 sixteen years ago, has invented an en- 

 tirely new system of armor protection 

 which deserves consideration. His ob- 

 ject is to obtain not onh" protection, but 

 lightness; for the heaxier the armor of a 

 shi() the fewer nmst her guns be or the 

 weaker her engines on a given displace- 

 nu'iit. 



In carrying out his ideas Mr. dath- 



18 



