376 
REMARKS ON CAPTAIN WHITE'S LECTURE. 
a competitor's faith in, or respect for, Fire Discipline credits ; yet these 
credits decided the award. To get the greatest effect from a given 
expenditure of ammunition in the shortest time would appear to be the 
very essence of Fire Discipline; yet Z., who did this, loses the prize 
under the heading of Fire Discipline credits. 
And, lastly, if there be a circumstance, in which (t the highest results 
can only be obtained by accuracy and rapidity of fire combined/' the 
case of a fort firing at a battleship trying to run by, is that circum¬ 
stance. 
I will next show that, when the ammunition is limited and not the time, 
a very simple and fair method of scoring is possible, and that the present 
rule (Appendix C., p. 25) is bad, because it is founded on no principle. 
No one will dispute that (leaving the number of rounds fired out of the 
question), first, the value of the fire of batteries varies directly as the 
credits for hits in a given time. Thus, a battery scoring 100 in ten 
minutes is twice as effective as one scoring 50 in ten minutes. Secondly, 
that the value of their fire varies inversely as the time. Thus, a battery 
scoring 100 in ten minutes is twice as good as one scoring 100 in 
twenty minutes. Granted these two facts, we are now in a position to 
determine the credits due to any number of batteries, shooting under 
the same conditions, for accuracy and time combined, whose score for 
hits and whose times of firing are known. Let us proceed to do this 
in the case of X. Y. and Z. and two other batteries, say W. and Y. 
The times, as given by the umpire for X. Y. and Z., were— 
X. 19 minutes 58 seconds, for ease of calculation, say 20 minutes. 
Y. 11 „ 24 „ „ „ „ 11 „ 20 secs. 
Z. 10 „ 4 „ „ „ „ 10 „ 
We will suppose Y. scored 150 in 16 minutes, which was the fixed 
time given by the umpire, and that W. scored 150 in 6 minutes, which 
was the time it was necessary to fire the rounds in, in order to get the 
full credits 50 laid down (p. 25). (This necessitated firing five rounds 
from each of three 9-inch guns in six minutes, and was well calculated 
to cause wild shooting). 
Taking 16 minutes, therefore, as the standard by which to determine 
the relative values of these batteries, for accuracy and rapidity of fire 
combined, we find as under :— 
16 
Y. 
scores 
150 
X 
= 150 
16 
16 
W. 
jj 
150 
X 
= 400 
6 
16 
X. 
n 
78 
X 
= 62-4 + 
20 
16 
94 = 156 
Y. 
53 
115* 
X 
= 163 + 
11* 
16 
91 = 254 
Z. 
33 
122 
X 
= 195 + 
10 
C<1 
II 
t— 
