OF BATTLESHIP DESIGN. 97 
ables involved it is capable of numerous solutions of more or less merit, but what we 
are chiefly concerned with at this stage of the subject is to determine the minimum 
displacement on which we can expect to meet all these claims. 
Design.—In the first place the design of a battleship cannot be made according 
to mathematical formule. Many years ago Rear Admiral Fiske said that he “la- 
bored for several weeks in a persistent endeavor to arrive at some law by which, 
for a given size of ship, the best combination of speed, armor and armament could 
be determined,” and that he “‘failed to find any such law, largely because he did not 
know the conditions under which the ship would have to fight.” But had he known 
the conditions he would have been no nearer to his law. No such law exists. 
The several elements of a design may admit occasionally of scientific treatment 
by means of exact empirical formulz—for example, the buoyancy, stability and 
speed. But a formula or law does not exist for combining the above elements with 
strength, endurance, protection and armament, and arriving at the best result. 
This has always been, is now, and in all probability will continue to be, a matter of 
opinion—or, rather, difference of opinion—and so let us leave it. 
Dimensions.—Displacement is determined by the principal dimensions, length, 
breadth and depth, and by the form of the lines. Each dimension is determined 
with respect to absolutely different things, and each one must be thought out care- 
fully by itself, never forgetting at the same time certain empirical ratios with re- 
spect to each other that have been found to exist in successful ships of similar 
design. 
Draught.—This dimension is influenced chiefly by such practical considerations 
as the depth of harbors and docking accommodations. Although designed to operate 
normally from certain bases, it is plain that battleships should not be materially 
restricted in their actions to certain fixed ports. It is true that any well-devised 
battleship-building program should be undertaken concurrently with a program for 
increased depth of harbors and size of docks, but the practical considerations of the 
great cost thus involved must always exert a strong influence toward moderate 
draught. Having in view these reasons, it would be well, at least until harbors and 
docks have been further enlarged, to restrict the normal load draught of our bat- 
tleships to 30 feet, the deep load draught not to exceed 32 feet. 
Beam.—The question of beam to which we now come is determined somewhat 
with regard to width of docks,* but more with regard to stability, since the posi- 
tion of the metacenter is determined chiefly by the beam, and the metacentric height 
is the most important consideration affecting the movements of a ship in a seaway. 
The position of the metacenter varies directly as the square of the beam, so that if 
we increase beam, we materially increase metacentric height, initial stability, and 
the stiffness of the ship in a seaway. This stiffness should be ample to prevent a too 
great heel when turning or when side compartments are flooded, but not so great 
as to impair the steadiness of the gun platform and render the motion of the ship 
jerky and unsteady. 
*It is limited, for the present, at least, by the 110-foot width of the Panama Canal locks. 
