Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/926

* TACTICS. 812 TACTICS. TACTICS, Naval. The science of arranging coniliinatioiis. groupings, movements, and meth- ods of liandling of ships and other naval weapons, and tlie art of carrying these plans into effect. Koughly speaking, tactics may be said to solve the question "how" a certain operation may be per- formed ; strategy to f urnisli the reason 'why' it is likely to be desirable. They are necessarily mutually dependent; tactics only provides for effecting conditions found desirable by strategy; and strategy is confined to operations which are tactically practicable. In its broad sense naval tactics includes the manipulation of all naval weapons — the movements of a ship of of a fleet, the methods of mounting and placing giins and of handling them, the placing of torpedo tubes and their handling, etc. In a narrower and more usual sense it is understood to mean the handling of a ship and her weapons or of several ships, leaving the tactics of the gun per se to be in- eluded in gunnery, and those of the torpedo to be studied under torpedo tactics. Of the abstract principles of strategy the most important is to oppose to the enemy at the point of contact a superior force. This ma,v mean more powerful ships, numerical superioritj', or a better arrangement for attack and receiving at- tack. The first point must be secured by su- perior design ; the vessel's guns must be more powerful, better mounted, better protected, or she must carry more of them ; or her protection or speed must be superior. Numerical superior- ity where the opposing ships are equal in num- ber and supposedly equal in power may be at- tained only by good manceuvring and is likely to be only temporary; but a clever tactician and strategist would be likely to reproduce the in- equality whenever opportunity ottered. The best disposition of the fleet for attacking and receiv- ing attack must depend upon manv circum- stances ; advantage should be taken of the strong points of your own vessels and the weaknesses of the enemy's. For instance, the better protected ships should seek close action, the others avoid it ; ships having heavy bow and stern fire should seek action compelling bow and stern fighting if the enemy is particularly weak in bow and stern guns but relatively strong in broadside fire, etc. The battle tactics of to-day resemble more nearly those of the galley period tlian those of the epoch of sail, becau.se steam, like manual power, enables any sort of combination of ships to be made and kept with reasonable precision. And the development of signaling has added to the fa- cility of effecting these combinations, though the most experienced naval officers believe that after a fleet action has begun the changes of formation should be simple and few in number. I I I I 1 I I I t 1 I I I 1 t I 16 IS 14 13 r2 II 10 9 8 J 6 S * 3 2 i SV-S- T^S. 6<t'S. 5?S_ 4<Fs. 3':''S. 2^. I'^'S. 2".''Sq. I'^'Sq. and Fleet, Fig. 1. FLEET IN LINE, KATURAI, ORDKB. Showing: numbers of section (S), divialon (D), eqnadron"(Sq.). There are three principal formations, line (Fig. 1), column (Fig. 2), and echelon (Fig. 3). In England line is frequently called 'line abreast' and column styled 'line ahead.' In Figs. 1 and 2 a fleet of 16 ships is shown divided into two Flo. 2. FLEET IN COL- UMN, NATURAL ORDER. Sii'owing numbers of sections (S), divi- sions (D). and squad- rons (.Sq.). I'."S. bills. }3'!'S. i'^S. 5*S. 6»^S. WS. SV'S. n'D. 2".''D. l';'Sq. 30*0. 4V D. meet. Z"."" Sq. squadrons of eight ships each. If the fleet con- sisted of 12 ships it might be divided into three squadrons of four ships each, or two squadrons of six. In the various navies of the world the subdivisions of a fleet are different. Some have 1 Fig. 3. SQUADRON FN ECHEL.OH. NATURAL ORDER. I ' a units of two, others of three. In the United States Navy a fleet consists of two or more squad- rons; a squadron, of two to eight ships; a di- vision is half of a squadron which consists of more than five ships; a section is a pair of ships 1 I I forming part of a division or squadron. Vessels, sections, divisions, and squadrons are numbered from van to rear when in column and from right to left when in line. When vessel No. 1 is lead- Fig 4. squadron in in- dented LINE, NATURAL ORDEB. 1 1 t i 8 6 4 2