engine backing say two-thirds, port ahead two-thirds, and rudder full right. Change one of these engines in order to prevent going ahead or astern. It's easier to remember what you are doing if you only use one. When you are about parallel, (your bow will have paid off by this time) take line to the capstan and heave round. Then by proper manipulation of the engines (starboard backing, port ahead) and the line, the ship will breast bodily in crab fashion, and all that will be necessary at the last will be to get out more lines and secure. When you are parallel, the power of the engines must be reduced, as they kick the stern in faster than the capstan can pull the bow in. When about 10 feet away, stop everything, otherwise you will come in with a decided bump.

This same method may be used in getting away from a dock against an onshore breeze if there is a buoy or, something to run a line to.

HANDLING AT SEA

This does not properly come within the scope of this article, and so will not be discussed at length. However, emphasis should be placed upon the tremendous amount of leeway a destroyer will make when there is a strong wind. If the wind is ahead your speed will be cut down a little, perhaps as much as 10 per cent in a strong breeze, and a great deal more in a gale. Most of this is probably due to the sea, however. With the wind about abeam or a little forward of the beam, you may find yourself 40 or 50 miles to leeward of your dead reckoning course in 24 hours. With the sea on the quarter, however, the ship will yaw so much, the stern being pushed to leeward, that the leeway may be counterbalanced, and you may even find that you have crept slightly to windward. No rules can be laid down concerning this, for it depends on the character and period of the sea, in addition to the strength of the wind.

With a rather heavy sea dead astern one would think the ship would be driven farther than the dead reckoning would give. This may often be the case, but to a much less extent than we would suppose. This may be due to the climbing up hill and down hill a destroyer would do under these conditions.

IN HEAVY WEATHER

Here are the different courses of action open to a destroyer forced to heave to in a heavy gale:

1. Head into sea, or with sea two points on the bow, at the lowest possible speed, lee screw making more turns than the weather screw, to keep the ship from falling off.

2. Take the position the ship would naturally take, engines. stopped or moving slowly ahead.

3. Sea astern or slightly on quarter, "running before it at fair rate of speed.

4. Sea astern or slightly on quarter, engines turning just enough to keep steerageway.

Every time two or three destroyer captains begin to discuss bad weather and how the ship should be handled in a hurricane, you will hear two or three different expressions of opinion, based on actual experience.

So my opinion based on experience in two well-known howlers, one January, 1912, 500 miles off the Atlantic Coast, the other in December, 1917, several hundred miles northwest of Cape Finistere, is only my opinion, and is in no way authoritative. And both times the boat was of the "flivver" type, i. e., 700- or 750-ton boats. But it is believed that the same remarks will apply to the larger boats.

Now as to the first course of action (lying to, heading into the sea): With speed sufficiently reduced the ship will ride quite well, though pitching violently and occasionally taking a sea. If you head dead into it you are likely to duck under an exceptionally steep wave and ship a huge sea. It is better to keep about two points off. But it is necessary to maintain a certain amount of speed to steer, and the greater the force of the wind the greater the speed necessary. And the greater the speed, the more seas will be shipped, and the more the ship will pound. In my one experience of trying this method the ship was pretty badly damaged.

Nearly all the destroyers doing convoy work had broken frames forward, the result of pushing the ship against heavy seas. This is a different condition from that under discussion: the necessity of staying with the convoy in the war zone making it necessary frequently to steam into a sea at too great a speed in ordinary rough weather. But the same liability to damage exists in heavier seas and with more moderate speeds.

The second course (lying to in a natural position), while safe enough, as far as danger of swamping is concerned, is so utterly uncomfortable and hard on the personnel, due to violent rolling, as to preclude it from consideration, even if there did not exist the danger of rolling out the masts, smoke-pipes, and perhaps even rolling the boilers out of their saddles. As a matter of fact, destroyers have shipped heavy seas in this position. A sea sweeping across the deck of a destroyer is not a pleasant thing.

There remains, then, “running before it," and "lying to" with bare steerageway, sea astern or on the quarter.

Perhaps I have never given the former (running before the sea) a good trial. In the storm of December 17, 1917, on the Reid, lying to with sea astern, an increase of speed caused greater yawing, with threatened pooping, and we slowed down very soon.

We found it best to keep the sea a trifle on the quarter, in which position, with the use of oil, we rode beautifully. The ship yawed a bit, and the fantail was splashed with spray, but no dangerous seas broke on board. In some kinds of heavy seas, a destroyer can doubtless run at good speed, but I believe that, all things considered, it is safer when riding out a storm sea to steam as slowly as possible.

We tried heading into the sea, and did not fare very badly, but after shipping one or two seas it was decided to turn again, and keep the sea on the quarter.

With a destroyer there is no sense in waiting for a propitious time to turn, for a turn of 180 degrees in a heavy sea is a long operation. If done at slow speed, however, she will probably bob up over the sea like a cork, but she will be well shaken up during the operation, and there is always the danger of being swept by a sea.

The Reid sustained her greatest damage when speed was increased in order to turn and avoid a ship suddenly sighted a short distance ahead. This increase was from about six knots to about 12 knots. When the sea was nearly abeam, one wave swept over the deck, taking with it various items, such as boats, chests, potato lockers, etc., also, worst of all, our engine-room ventilators. A second sea coming over went down these openings, resulting in an engine-room half filled up, water entering lubri

cating oil tank (having broken the gage glass) and directly afterwards hot bearings!

After this we had to keep the ship dry, and it was necessity that forced us to continue with the sea astern and continue using oil, which was of great value in preventing breaking seas.

Every destroyer captain should be very familiar with the "Laws of Storms," and should practice forecasting the weather. With Knight and the "Sailing Directions" for the particular locality at hand, one can develop into a first-class weather prophet, depending of course on your station, for the weather in some parts of the world is more difficult to understand than in others.

I have been told that a number of years ago two British destroyers went through a harrowing experience in weathering a typhoon in the China Sea. Their experience and lessons drawn therefrom were written for an English publication as being of great interest to the public, and especially to seamen.

But a careful reading of the article showed that these boats had entered the edge of the typhoon, had run out, and then were caught again when it recurved, this time passing through the center of the typhoon, encountering terrific winds and seas. The point of this is, that if they had been more familiar with the characteristics of cyclonic storms, they would have avoided the worst part of their experience.

AN EXAMPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS OF HANDLING A DESTROYER Diagram "D" shows roughly the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and the Washington Navy Yard. It was quite easy here to make a landing, but somewhat difficult to get away. Type of destroyer: Coal-burning, 700-ton type. The nature of her duty was such as to make it necessary to reduce the time wasted in mooring and unmooring to a minimum.

The ordinary method of "shoving off" depended on the tide. If it was ebbing, the bow was allowed to go out a little, engines started ahead, and when clear the ship was twisted around, ready to proceed down the channel. If on a flood tide, the stern was allowed to go out a bit, the ship backed clear and then turned. This was more difficult, and it was usually necessary to make a complete 180-degree turn, on account of the flood tide carrying the ship upstream. It must be remembered that this was a 700

tonner" and required surging back and forth, shifting the rudder, and working pretty hard to get around. A "1000-tonner" would have had less difficulty in turning.

A better scheme was to wind the ship at the dock. This was not difficult, especially with a flood tide, for then the stem could

DIAGRAM D.-Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, Showing Navy Yard.

be held fast against the dock, until nearly around, then the ship backed enough to clear before going ahead.

With ebb tide it was not difficult, except that more care had to be taken to keep the propellers and rudder from touching the dock. In general, the current did practically all the work in this case, the engines only being used to keep the stern clear of the dock.

DREDGE