The Washington times. [volume], August 12, 1917, Image 4

About The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
New Fighting Methods, in Actual Use of Proposed, for the Great European War
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Here is shown a allmpsa of
In th canning towsr above alti the observer, who directs the
rnovsmsnts of the monstsr. Below are the gunners. The "tank"
li an adaptation of the American caterpillar tractor. It can crush
TANKS'RANK FIRST AMONG
NEW INVENTIONS
"Gasoline cavalry" Is the name be-
vtowed upon the armed caterpillar
tractors of Trance and England by a
writer la the current (sane of xht
BeJenUfle AmtHcu. watch contains a
hljhly iatereatlna- article concrnUa
those awkward.looklns but hlchlr
Zectire enainea of destruction.
The "tank." aliBousm ortsl&attna In
Encland, has reacaed 1U hlg-best de
vtlopmeat at the hands ol French
mechanicians and deilg-nsra. As the
Scientific American correspondent
points out, the novelty of the huxe
Iron Juggernaut, with Its machine
(runs and lt "thousand legs," appeals
to the .Frenchman's lrrepreealble sense
of humor and enabled him to develop
the Idea with remarkable alacrity and
dexterity.
The tank called a "mttal rhin
oceros" by the grinning pollu Is the
most remarkable and efficient piece of
mechanism which the war hae devel
oped, with the possible exception ot
the submarine. The latter, however
was well oi Its way toward practical
potentiality before hoatilltles began.
so the tank hae a clear title to the
honors.
The following excerpta from the
Scientific American article will pro
vide a good idea of the manner in
which the French englneere adopted
the British Invention and turned 1
to good account:
miT USED OX IOIWE.
"At about the same time that the
British began the construction of
their land fleet, or tanks, the French
alao etarted on aimllar work. But
it was the British who first made
vee of these novel weapons during
the battle of the 8omme, and thua
gained title to the invention of the
tank.
"The first French tanke to aeo ac
tion were of email else and of radi
cally different design from the Brit
ish, although in principle they were
the same; that is to say, they con
sisted of heavily armored care
efUlpped with machine gune and
CUlck -firing pieces, and propelled by
caterpillar tractor belt driven by
heavy-duty Internal combustion en
ds ea.
The original French tank has
been ecllpeed by a larger and more
powerful taak which made its debut
on May t during the second great
offensive ef the year to be under
taken by the Freneh forces, in which
Craoane Plateau waa captured. TaU
taak is known as the at. Cnamend
type, and while It retass the gen
eral outline of Use entailer one. It le
e far mere powerful machine.
"As aa additional feature. It le
provided with three turrete well up
toward the front, ae well as a long
range quick-firing cannon which
protrudes through a porthole in
front, slightly to ons side ot the
entre line. The bow-shsped front
Is retained la the fit. Chamend
model, although the slanting steel
outrigger appears to have been our
tailed. Access Is gained to the In
terior of thle eteel levlsthsn
through one or the other of the tar
rets which are provided with hinged
tope.
ha cheat rotrrn,
Vecauee of the large eurfaee of
the caterpillar tractor belte, which
eomee in coatact with the ground,
aa wall aa the potency of ite engine,
the new taak hae remarkable
poweri Indeed. It Is capable ot ever
riding practically any battleSeld
obstacle. As a test of Its power a
tank of thle type waa reoently
drives through a dease wood, and
(it MWBCXnvcacmvEi&c xsaasax
INTERIOR VIEW OF
ths Intorior of a French "tank."
F
It made Ita way without any appre
ciable delay, leaving In Its wake a
trail of cruehed and broken treee.
The first lmpreeelon one gains
'upon examining: one of theee ma
chines is that the tank, not unlike
the eubmarlne. Is a' veritable maxe
ef levere and pipes and gauges and
control wheels. And this Is pre
cisely correct: for the Interior of
a land ship Is given over entirely
to the power plsnt and ths arma
ment. It Is due to thle lack of
pace and air that the crew ot a
tank la greatly discomforted during
Back In the daye of the roussle
leadlng musket, used by the armies
of the world, it was not surprising
to find the hand grenade In common
use. With the gun aa slow to load as
a modern coast defence gun of
largest else, of little power. Inaccu
rate, and used in a manner that de
prived It of half ite possible use
fulness, the hand g'renade was an
instrument that compared quite
favorably with the musket in mak
ing the gentlemen on the other side
ot the argument as uncomfortable
es possible.
In those days the hand grenade
waa merely a hollow Iron shell.wlth
a fuse that the grenadier lit from
ble alwaya glowing match; then it
was lofted into an assemblage ot
persone not agreeing with hie gov
ernment Sometimes it was nicely
timed, and'when so timed it left a
considerable gap In Its Immmedlate
neighborhood. At other tiroes Its
targets anufted out the fuee, or
else picked It up and heaved It
back to ite senders which was
manifestly not playing the game
fair. Inside the shell, of course,
reposed a quarter or halt pound of
black powder, which is quite suf
ficient to distribute Jagged bits of
cast-iron casing with considerable
celerity.
STATES OF RIFLE CHA.fCED.
In theee daye ot rifles elghted ui
to MOO yardshowever, and having
the extreme range of two miles and
a half; ef clip loading magastnee
that enable an accurate end sus
tained fire of twenty-five or thirty
shots a minute; of maohlne guns
that chatter forth shots at the speed
of aa agitated pneumatic riveter on
a steel-framed building, and ef
leng-range field gune, the mere
mention of a hand grenade le suffi
cient to provoke enlckere among
the listeners. The British musketry
regulations, containing a grave dis
cussion ot the hand grenade and
how It le te be used, waa as funny
as Puck or Judge to thoss reading
It snd net believing in the possi
bility that two and a half mile
rlfiee eould be brought down to the
dull level of trsach fighting at
fifty yards' range.
Now, with the war three yeare
gone and the trenches ot the allies
and their German friends hobnob
bing with each other at a distance
of fifty yerds or so, studente ef
warfare have made eome astonish-
WAR
f '
Use of Grenade Revived and Highly Developed in Present War
A FRENCH "TANK"
through almott any obstacle, levelling wire entanglements and
crossing trenches with the gresteet ese. These "tanks" are
dally proving their worth In the Allied offensive now under way
in Flanders.
an engagement! nut for this there
le no ready remedy.
"There wee no element of eur
prlse In the attack ot the tanks;
for the Germane, occupying all the
high positions and possessing ex
cellent observation posts, spotted
them the moment they deployed on
the ground leading to the slopes of
the Crsonne Plateau. Furthermore,
the Oermane were well aware of
the Impending tank attack, for
they had made provision In the
form of special batteries to be de
voted entirely to anti-tank work.
Theee batterlee. assisted by large
numbers of machine guns, opened a
hot fire on the advancing tanke.
CEBVAX GU BELFLESS.
The alert German machine gun
ners, hoping to pierce the eteel
walls by firing repeatedly at the
tounde at their targets, and even
explored the sldee of the tanke
with their leeden etreams in the
hope that a chance shot might find
Ite way through a loophole or a
peephole, killing or wounding eome
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"TOMMIES" LEAitMAU 1U IiiKUW ILVND ORENADES
Hend-grensdrs, a sketch and a photograph of of death" are Intricate mechanical affaire, dcelgned
which are reproduced herewith, play no email with the Idea of rendering the utmost effectiveness
pert In the trench warfare of Europe. Fsr from being at a minimum of risk or exertion on tile pert of
an acid-filled bottle on the end of a stick which the thrower,
ssems to b's ths popular Idsa these mosqultoee
Ing discoveries. One of them U
that while a rifle of two and a halt
miles range won't hit a man with
his head snugly down In a pi-, ttly
yards sway, a missile eannlly lofted
aoross the Intervening space into
the pit may do with the aid of
gravity Just what the bullet failed
to do because of Its omission to re.
spond early In the game to the
btandlshmsnte of the gravity alren.
CnENAOE REGAIN! IT! OtV.".
The poor, flat-trajectory rifle haa
to hang Its diminished heed and
confess that Its very flatness of
flight prvente It from curving
gently over the edge of the oher
of the crew, or destroying some
vltsl part of the mechanism. The
net result of the concentrated ar
tillery and machine-gun fir, waa
merely the cleaning off of the
camouflage paint here and there,
exposing the bright steel plates.
In the majority of cases.
"Service sboard a tank Is any
thing but a sinecure. It le fully aa
trying and as dangerous as the
work of the aviator or of the eubma
rlne hand. During actual combat It
la eald that the crewe suffer
greatly. Machine gunners, artil
lerymen and engineers have only
the space absolutely neceessry for
carrying out their work, and only
euch peepholes and loopholes as are
positively required.
"The commander of the tank sits
under one ot the turrets, and has a
view of the battlefield through a
narrow silt: and hie spirit, his
nerves, his musclss, snd his skill
are the very life of the tank. When
the tank le put out of action; when
It meets obstacles: when It fights
the enemy these and many other
rOOT
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r, jtwsttbeURaiar,a. M. WrratPKicaaaga,atraeBA''',r wfiffct t nS
gentlemen'e home In the ground and
eesklng him out.
The British hand grenade, a large
number of which they had In ser
vice when the war broke out. con
sists, first, of a piece of cane with a
metal head on It, rontalnlng the
bursting charge of lyddite, snd the
detonetor or exploding arrangement
to act when the grenade striken.
The handle and head are sixteen
Inches long over alL
Attached to the end et th cane
handle Is a three-foot bit of cloth
the tall-e-to make the grenade fly
true and Insure that It etrt'irs heed
first on Ite detonator, after which
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r"eefc2" ""v'lf TeSj. v bsTeSu
This view, looking aft, shows
the towing vessel at the head of
line ahead.
Ths picture at ths top shows ths convoying of transports
within two lints of overlapping nets, towed by gunboats. Ths
towing vessels are protected by ths overlap of the net ahead. As
.phases of a tank's work hinge on
the skill and decision of the com
mander. "Hie decision, be It noted, must
be made while the eurroundlng air
reverberates with the crash ot ex
ploding shells and the artillery and
machine-gun reports of his own
armament, and while the heavy
craft rises and plunges and lurches
over the roughest terrain ever
crossed by a motor-driven vehicle.
Meanwhile the atmosphere be
comes Intolerable from want of
fresh air. and reeke with the smell
of burnt fuel. lubricating oil and
gun fire. The heat soon becomee
Tswzsssm,
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1 t. . 'i, -,v 4
the cute little affair takes care ot
Itself and those around It
The grenade, with Its Jetonator
and Ite safety devices to prevent
premature dlscherae In carrying It.
form quite a complicated and ex
pennlve bit of machinery.
nfSIMKSS OF THHOK-ItO.
Normally the machine la carried
by a hook, handle downward, et
the soldier's belt. V'hen the time
seems ripe to transfer Its affections
to the other fellow, the soldier un
hooks It from his belt, turns a cap
et the head of the grenade until the
word "Hemove." painted on the cap.
ic, jjTG'i-m.-vtXJti-&oTil.-rMrBxetnx.tr'rx-itt, Xltrcttiait
the tan end of the Aral line of protective plating,
the second I Ins, and the transports stsamlng In
oppressive. Of what material the
crew ef a tank If made, one can
reedlry Imagine.
"The crews of the French tanks
are volunteers. Infantry, cavalry,
artillery In fact, all branches of
the army are represented In thle
service. And It le upon theee fear
less men that much depends In the '
modern battle, for the tank haa '
proved a valuable accessory In of
fensive operatlona against highly ,
organised positions, and much Is
expected of Its exploitation by both
the British and the French armies
In battles to come."
Cevrrtftit. 1817. Keen a Co Otis T. Weed.
Is exposed and In line with arrows
on the body of the grenade, and
then removea the eafety ;ap. Then
the detonator Is placed Into position
on the elde of the grensde and given
a turn to lock Into position In the
studs provided for It.
The tall Is then unwound from the
handle, the cap Is replaced and
turned to fire position, the safety
pin locking the detonator plunger le
withdrawn, and the machine le
ready to throw.
The soldier le instructed to throw
It at an angle of not lese than .
thirty-flve degrees with the ground,
both to give It the required range
and to Insure the mechine hitting on
Ite head and firing from the Impact.
It may be thrown under or over
handed.
The eoldler le .told to be eUre that
he three-foot tall doee not become
sntanglsd with him "or any other ob
ject aa It leaves his hand.
In actual service the machine le
always ready unwinding the tall,
withdrawing the eafety-pln and
turning the cap to "Ktre" being all
that Is nece-sary
The burstlne; charge of lyddite le
uf flrlent to blow the eteel head Into
bite and kill men standing close by
It. The explosive Is similar In Its
action to guncotton. but Is made of
carbolic acid and nitric acid, being
ot a form of the better known pic
ric acid The French melinite and
the Japanese shlmose are aimllar
exploslres undsr another name.
The grenade dlffere from the old
type In thet It le fitted up with per
cussion cap or detonator. eenettlTo
to shock, to explode on Impact with
anything after It Is est to "Fire."
while the bursting chargs, due to
the great Improvement In explo
sives. Is five or six times as power- '
ful, weight for weleht, as the old
fashlonsd black powrtir formerly
universally used In missies of this
character.
lhe trench fighting In Belglym
and northern Fnance hae ehown the
full effectiveness of these miniature
bombs, and It is not unlikely that
the soldiers of Uncle Sam may find
themselves Indulging now and
then In the gentle art of hearing
an Infernal machine fall of high
explosive across a tea- yards of
grouniL Instead of learning how to 1
hit things at 1.000 yards with the '
out-of-date rifle. The Sclentlflo '
American.
(C.wrirkt. 1917. Mass Te.i title r Went.)
Hers is
plates, which
In a vertical
a means of further protection
transports Is a Isrgs number
experts agree, will provs most
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Cts)wwXwwwOwwwwwwww-wwwwwwwwwtwSwwwwa waw a
shown part of the system of rtesl
automatically maintain themselvM
position.
ahead and astern of ths column of
of destroyer patrol. This method,
affective In beating ths U-boata.
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