The board also found that the ships Infanta Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquendo and Viscaya were destroyed by conflagration, caused by the explosion of shells in the interior, which set fire to the woodwork. The upper deck and all other woodwork on their ships was entirely consumed except the extremities. This shows the importance of fireproofing all woodwork on board ships. Many of the guns on board the burned ships were found loaded at the time of the board's visit, indicating the haste with which the crews were driven from the guns. With talks with experts the following was developed as to what the war showed: First--That the gun is still the dominating factor in war. Second--That rapid-fire guns are especially valuable, but that it is advisable to retain guns of large calibres. Third--That smokeless powder is absolutely essential for modern warfare. Fourth--That there should be a great reduction in the amount of woodwork on board ship and that that left on board should be fireproof, some going so far as to say that woodwork should be eliminated entirely, its place to be taken by some other substance. Fifth--That armor should be distributed over the entire ship rather than be limited to the section where its vitals are located. Sixth--That monitors are useless for cruising purposes or for fighting in rough waters. Seventh--That the United States should have a larger navy, with speedier battleships and fast armored cruisers, and with coaling stations in different sections of the globe, where men-of-war can procure supplies and make repairs if necessary. Captain Charles O'Neil, chief of the bureau of ordnance, gave his opinion as follows: "I do not think the battle off Santiago de Cuba demonstrated that we should abandon the heavy calibres of guns. Serious injury to an enemy's thickly-armored battleships can be inflicted only by large-calibre guns. "It is possible that with rapid-fire guns you may shoot away the lightly armored superstructure, but as long as the vitals are protected and the turret armor is intact the guns in the turret will be able to do execution, and large-calibred guns will be necessary to perforate the armor and disable those weapons. Even with her 12-inch guns the Texas can fire at the rate of one round per minute, and this record is as good as that made by any foreign ships. Rapid fire consists in good facilities for handling ammunition and loading the gun with a quick working breech mechanism. "We are now building at the Washington gun factory an experimental 6-inch rapid-fire gun, different from the rapid-fire guns we have now in service, which are supplied with what is termed fixed ammunition. The powder and projectile to be used in the experimental gun will be separate, and two operations consequently will have to be employed in loading. This can be done so quickly that it is expected that a very rapid fire will be obtained.