The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-25 00:00:00

THE LARGEST GUN IN THE WORLD.

The Daily News of Saturday thus describes the trial of this
monster gun :
- -

It is not many years since the 35-ton gun, familiarly
known as "the Woolwich Infant," was the largest gun
in the world, and excited universal marvel by com-
parison with the guns then in ordinary use. Yesterday
the Woolwich Infant, hidden under a cloak of tar-
paulin and showing other indications of being laid on
the shelf, had drawn up by it in front of the proof
butts at the Woolwich Dockyard a piece of ordnance
which exceeds its calibre in greater proportion than it
outweighted the guns in the manufacture of which
it created such a memorable revolution. The great
gun which fired its first shot yesterday has been con-
structed from the designs and under the
personal superintendence of Mr. R. S. Fraser,
Deputy Assistant Superintendent of the Royal
Gun Factories. In a lecture delivered at the Royal
Artillery Institution, quoted in Mr, Vincent's
compendious and interesting "Guide to Woolwich,"
Captain Storey says :—"Mr. Fraser's plan is an hn-
portant ngodification of Sir W. Armstrong's, from
which it differs principally in building up a gun with a
few long double or triple coils, instead of several short
single ones, and a forged breech-piece. There is less
material, less labour, and less fine working, and conse-
..uently less expense, required for the " Fraser ' or
present service construction." Of the detailed pro-
portions of the gun it will suffice to say that it weighs
without the carriage something over 81 tons, the car-
riage bringing the dead weight up to 120 tons. It is
nearly 27 feet long, the length of the bore being 24
feet. It is two feet in diameter, and at present the
bore will admit a projectile 14A inches in thickness,
though it is intended that the gun shall ultimately
have a bore of 16 inches.

The arrangements for proving the gun were so timed
that the proceedings might commence at eleven o'clock;
and at that hour there were congregated down by the
proof butts a small group of military men and journal-
ists invited to witness the experiments. . . . The gun
itself was standing ready on the ingenious and useful
platform which bears the name of its constructor,
Major Maitland, and perhaps the first impression of
the non-professional visitor was that, for its proud
position among the heavy ordnance of the world, it did
not look very large. It was drawn up facing the proof
butts which flank the river, and which in deference to
the prowess of the new gun had been largely reinforced
with earth and sand. Without any fuss or ceremony
the process of loading was commenced. A cart brought
up to the platform at the muzzle of the gun a sack con-
taining 1701bs. of powder, which, rais3d by hydraulic
force, was speedily and neatly packed in the bore. Then
followed the shot, weighing 1,2581b5., and it being un-
derstood that all preliminaries were completed a general
and unanimous movement was made towards the em-
bankment, distant some five or six hundred yards.
Here the group re-formed in line and anxiously watched
the gun, the second bell having rung as the signal for
firing. It seemed a long pause, and people had time
to think what might happen supposing this costly
weapon, the outcome of years of patient thought and
labour, and the result of an expenditure equal to a
king's ransom, should prove a failure. Anxieties were
presently set at rest by the spectacle of a bright flash
issuing from the black muzzle of the gun. A
yellow cloud leaped high up as the shot plunged
among the loose sand in the butts' and short as the
distance was at which the spectator stood, there
seemed to be time for the light cloud of smoke from the
powder te rush up and cover the yellow Cloud before
the quick sharp boom of the gun was heard. A pheno-
menon, not unknown in gunnery practice, but rare
enough to be notable, attended upon this first dis-
charge. A garland of smoke, perfectly round, shot out
from the muzzle of the gun, and passing clear through
the cloud of smoke and sand, went hissing across the
river, making almost as much noise as if it were a shell.
Sonae one suggested that this was a garland meant to
crown the already es ablished success of the Fraser
gun. But Mr. Fraser, with characteristic modesty, re-
jected this theory, and explained that the garland was
"all gas." _ _

The muzzle velocity gained by this shoe was at the
rate of 1,393 feet per second, the pressure in the
chamber being 24.2, and on the shot 19.4. This was
highly satisfactory; but a charge of 1701bs. of powder
was considered nothing for such a gun, and prepara-
tions were made for firing a charge of 1901bs. At this
stage a trifling incident occurred which formed the
only hitch in the long day's proceedings. In extract-
ing the gauge-cup, the rod inserted for that purpose
became disconnected at one of the joints, leaving the
cup and the end of the rod down the bore, far beyond
arm's length. All efforts to fish it out proving futile,
it was proposed, half in jest, that some one should go in
and bring it out. A likely young volunteer turning up in
the person of one Kiddie, a member of the firing party,
he was lifted up to the muzzle of the gun, and being
got in good position, was without more adorammed in
head first. The endeavour succeeded well enough, till '
Kidcjle had disappeared up the cannon as far as his
knees, when some slight difficulty occurred, owing to
the natural tendency, now first discovered, of the knee-
joints to bend when a man is being shoved up a
cannon by the feet. The gunners, however, stood
manfully to their work, and presently nothing was
seen of Kiddie but the soles of a pair of substantial
boots that hung outside. Not less than five times did
the courageous Kiddie thus seek the broken rod.
end by the cannon's mouth, finally succbeding in
attaching a rope, by which it was speedily drawn
out. To load again after this was but the work of
a few minutes, and again the crowd of spectators
sought a place of safety, whilst further experiment
was tried on the strength of the gun. With a
charge of 1901bs. of powder, a shot weighing
1,2591b5. was discharged at a muzzle velocity of 1,423
feet, the pressure being, in the chamber, 22.3, and on
the shot 18.2. At the third discharge, with 2101bs. of
powder, and a shot weighing 1,2581b5., a velocity of
1,475 feet was attained, with a pressure of 24.8 in the
gun and 19.8 in the shot. In the fourth discharge
2201 b. of powder were used, the shot weighing 1,2541b5.,
and the velocity attained being 1,503 feet- pressure on
the gun, 22.22; in the shot, 21.4. Shot No. 5 was the
most successful of the series, and appeared to fix the
circumstances under which the gun in its present form
will be most useful. In this case the charge of powder
was 2301b5., the weight of the shot 1,2601b5., and the
velocity attained 1,550 feet. The pressure on the
chamber of the gun registered 29.6, a somewhat start-
ling leap as compared with the preceding records. But
the guage-cup is not absolutely trustworthy in
such experiments, and the record of pressure
in the shot-21.4—appeared to show, as was sus-
pected, that this exceptional pressure en the
guage was due to accident, and did not faith-
fully represent what had been suffered by the gun.
The experiments had already extended over five hours,
but yet another shot was tried, this time with a charge
of 2401h5. of powder, the largest discharge ever fired
from a cannon, and a projectile weighing 1,2581b5.
The result was a velocity of 1,549, a foot lees per
second than when the charge contained 101bs. less
powder, whilst the pressure on the chamber of the gun.
was 37.3. Beyond this it was felt undesirable and use-
less to go, and the experiments were brought to a con-
clusion. The issue appears most eloquently from the
figures given above; but it may be added that the ex-
perts present were unanimously of !opinion that the
gun had even exceeded their sanguine expectations,
and is not only the biggest, but the best in the world.

Referring to the trial of this extraordinary cannon the
Daily News also remarks
The preliminary proof of the big 81 ton gun was
safely accomplished at the Woolwich Arsenal yester-
day, and although it would be premature to say that
the cannon has proved a successful undertaking, we
may congratulate the War Office so far upon the pro-
duction of this giant weapon. Yesterday's firing was
only the first of a series of experiments which will
have to be made before the gun is declared fit for ser-
vice, and it is a question whether the bore will not be
further enlarged to admit of the introduction of a
weightier projectile than that used at the first
proof. A reduced charge of 1701 b. of gunpowder
was employed on the occasion but this was suffi-
cient to send a projectile of 1,2001 b. spinning at a
velocity of nearly 1,400 feet per second. This is
a very high rate of speed, and was much above that
previously estimated. Nowadays, it must be borne in
mind, we do not care so much about the range of a
gun as for its mean velocity, for it is not always the
cue that a high velocity gives the longest range. As
our heavy guns are to be used for the most part in
penetrating armour-clad vessels, or breaking down

iron-p ated forts, we naturally want to secure power-
ful battering power more than anything else. Many
of the guns now in use could carry a projectile six or
seven miles if need be, but such long shots as these
are so rarely required that we do not even sight
weapons for such distances, the maximum range on
the scale generally being 4,000 yards. But this
distance, which is considerably over two miles, is quite
far enough for most practical purposes. With the 81.
ton gun, therefore, it is far more to the purpose to say
that it could penetrate eighteen or twenty inches of
iron-plating, such as the Inflexible wilt probably
carry, then to assert that it is capable of carrying
half a ton of metal eight or nine miles. Asi tat
present stands, this giant gun is, without doubt,
the most powerful in the world; and although we
hear of the Italians and other nations having ordered
the manufacture of weapons weighing 100 or
110 tons, these are not yet in existence, and
very likely, by the time they have been made
by Sir William Armstrong, another and more pon-
derous weapon still, of 150 tons, will be ready for
proof at Woolwich. Whether these Woolwich weapons
will fully realise the hopes of the War Office, and of
Mr. Fraser, their constructor, remains, of course, to be
proved, and we sincerely trust that the authoritties will
not be disappointed in their sanguine expectations.
There is, however, much to be done in the matter of
working such heavy muzzle-loaders with facility, mad
it will require all the ingenuity of the managing officers
of the Royal Carriage Department to keep under con-
trol these mighty engines of war when in action.