DETAILS OF NAVAL DESIGN FROM JUTLAND. 75 
As Admiral Niblack pointed out, the shell that is exploded produces a lot of poisonous 
gas. The worst gas that is produced by these shells is carbon monoxide, and at no time 
during the war, so far as I can discover, was any gas mask designed that would absorb carbon 
monoxide. Since then the work has advanced, and our gas masks are fitted to absorb carbon 
monoxide, which is an exceedingly deadly gas. Carbon monoxide is odorless and has very 
little apparent effect until it kills. Fortunately, it is light and soon rises and disappears. In 
the case of the gas from the powder fires, the damage was done mostly by smoke. 
There is another matter—the question of nets. Admiral Niblack is correct in saying 
we have not had them, but I do not think he was in Washington at the time a large number 
of commanders demanded that we should have them. That question seasawed back and forth 
for a number of years. We never actually fitted them, but we had some of them ready to fit. 
The Oklahoma, completed in 1917 or 1918, has somewhere a complete outfit of double nets, 
a new invention which gave promise of keeping the torpedoes out, but these were not put 
into any practical use. ; 
I am glad that the Battle of Jutland settled the question of nets. They are one of the 
most difficult things imaginable to fit, and the modern warship has plenty of things useful in 
war that are difficult to fit without being loaded down with fittings of demonstrated useless- 
ness in war. 
THE PRESIDENT:—We will now give Commander Howard an opportunity to close the 
discussion. 
CoMMANDER HowaArp:—The remarks which have been made upon this paper have been 
such as to extend its field and enhance its value very considerably. In the course of these 
remarks a few points have been raised upon which it may be of general interest to give some- 
what further comment. 
Professor Hovgaard brought up three matters untouched upon—towing, leak stopping, 
and righting ship. All three are of great importance undoubtedly, but the last in my opinion 
should come first. Righting ship, or, as more familiarly known in the Navy, “damaged sta- 
bility control,” is absolutely essential to prevent the capsizing of a ship due to severe dam- 
age, but, even without considering such extremes, it is of the greatest importance, for keep- 
ing a ship upright, that her guns may be used effectively. In these days of ranges so long 
as to have seemed utterly impossible a few years ago, a few degrees of list due to damage may 
put the enemy completely out of the range of our own guns while we are still under his effec- 
tive fire. The Germans fully appreciated this point, and their methods of handling damaged 
stability and the training of the personnel connected with this work were far ahead of any- 
thing even conceived of in any other navy. 
Admiral Niblack has stated that he has seen nowhere a report of gun sights or other in- 
struments in the Battle of Jutland being interfered with by water from enemy shots coming 
aboard. Von Haase, in his account, speaks of this trouble being constant with his conning- 
tower periscopes throughout the battle. In fact, after a time the obscuring from water and 
smoke became so bad that cleaning could no longer be done with improvised rods and rags 
from inside, but he had to send a man on top of the tower to keep the glasses clean. 
Commander Land has brought up, as he states, enough subjects for a new paper and, 
while the compliments paid in his remarks are greatly appreciated, comment upon these sub- 
jects will have to be reserved for consideration in the future. 
