March i8, 1920] 



NATURE 



79 



The use of the gyrostat in the Whitehead tofpedo 



has revolutionised naval strategy, and 

 use of the same instrument in the 

 form of a gyro-compass gun director 

 may possibly produce profound 

 changes in gunnery practice in the 

 future. 



Modern naval warfare is entirely 

 different from that of the past in the 

 fact that the rival fleets come into 

 action when separated by many 

 miles ; the guns have, therefore, to 

 be worked and fired while the dis- 

 tant targets are invisible to the 

 gunners. 



The guns have to be directed by 

 observers in an elevated position, 

 these observers communicating the 

 distance of the target and its direc- 

 tion in space. 



The direction in space must be 

 supplied by a gyro-compass on board 

 the ship, and it is essential that the 

 compass for this purpose should be 

 of extreme accuracy. 



Once the guns are properly 

 trained, they may be joined up and 

 controlled by the" gyro-compass, and 

 for this purpose the turrets would 

 be designed to act as huge repeaters, 

 keeping the guns pointing on the 

 target, changing only on receiving 

 new directions from the observer. 



The compass would hold the guns 

 pointing on the distant target quite 

 independently of the movements of 

 the ship, which may at the 

 time be steaming at full speed and 

 manoeuvring. Such movements are 



I believe the 



It has 

 battleship 



been suggested that the day of the 

 is over, but I am doubtful of this, as 



bi§ 

 s I 



a great protection to ships against submarine and 

 aerial attack. 



NO. 2629, VOL. 105] 



Fig. 7. 



understand that ships can be made proof against 

 ordinary submarine attack by means of blisters tilled 



