New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-02-24
ANNLAL REPORT or THE CEIRs
OF TER NAVAL o.DSANCg
rrURAT

sion of ienoraGce; they occup! page ais,
page with information of what has not been
done. giving copious details of costly csDsn.
mepts which haze failed, and sum up the ktl
results Of their experience in confession Of
particular ignorance Such is the character Of
the report to the Navy Departments rendered
by Capt. Dahlgrcn. Chief of the Ordnance
Bureau, of the close of last year. 1t may bs
divided into two heads; namely: advice to Ito
Department to do certain things, and labored
endeayor to prove that it is almost impossible
10 do them; aud in this respect it is the ccuu.
terpart of Rodman's work on Ordnance, one
of the most important chapters OF which h
headed .'What We DO Not Know" Asa
know'rdee of our own ignorance is tho begin
niAV of wisdom, this should have been the first
chapter Of the work
Capt Dahlgren's report sets forth some cud
ous iac.s. Il states that the Monitor was
armed with lI-inch guns, and that in ito action
with the Merrimac " shot were used with an
initial velocity of l,i20 feet per second bit
that. " since that time, the same class Vi gau
nfh Dt'U t0''tthiLNu ~ NC ~ fa'tb VI Auto"ibS
solid paot OF 100 lbs, with charge Of 30 iba
of pogler, gl'ng an initial velocity Of 100
.eet per second BY THIS we under idud thas
the capacty OF the li-inch Gun has only just
been discovered, notwithstanding the vast
amounts OF money, gunp1wdcr, aud gua-metil.
expended in experiments and trIo', but which
miglt lave beea expended % greater Advantage
A similar i scc1cu has been made SIh resa'd
to the 9iuca gun; but it would seem shaa
We ovr these (as.erte,D discoveries more to
accident than 10 the intelligent purpose Of ouf
ordnance officers.
Capt. Dahlgren quotes a detailed account OF
yar.ous trials made il England with heavy
eus upon iron plating, showing that guns car
ring shot weighing from 1856 pounds to 20
pounds projected by heavy charge oipowder.
were capable of penetrating the thickest armOr
at present considered practicable. From this,
he draws the conclusion (about the only one IN
the report, ana that made to biz hands by the
English press that plated ships cannot With
stand large guns. Then, a. il determined to
overthrow his secondhand conclusion, he
states flat, though the Monitor and the Mer-
rinac " sustained for four hours tho utmost
Efforts of each others batteries neither ship
was injured This is ia sad overthrow 70
Capt D.'s solitary conclusion. and stll further
strengthens our impression of ignorance, when
lie. the inventor OF the and iI-nch guns.
speaks OF their " utmost cf6rts" in that action,
and acknowledges that be found out, shortly
after, tha, they could be fred with a heavier
charge and at greater velocity. II he had
known tins important fac. sooner. aad ii tho
conclusions drawn from the English expert
mcnts are correct the guns on board the Mon.
ilcr should have annihiIated the Merrhnao
within half an hour.
Upon reading the English reports, We have
arrived ut different conclusion from Capt.
Dahlsrcn's; viz: that the cgtHSe (ordnanco) hes
tie advantage over d.jiase Qron.clad sbips)i
ior THIS rcason, that the resistant. to n pen,.
tfaiioa u stat IS sqral II @e squire IF ne @ics-
ness Of tie pluto. That is. If plate four
inches thick will resist shat moying at the
velocity Of 800 feet per second, plate eight
inches thick viii resist shot OF TIE sans
weigh, and diameter, moving az Yclpcity VI
4, OGO feet per second; II velocity which cannot
be attained, Wilde II Is very possible that no.
dcls may BE- made to Accommodate plating OF
eish: inches IN thickness. Consequently, ne
Capt. Dabl2ren's tomOus = aud ll-inch
guns have but recently attained, thoir high
est velocity. /, 100 feet per second, and that
only by doubling the charge, beyond what he
heretofore considered safe. viz: H. pouads.
what becomes of his conclusions that ordnance
Is superior to iron-plating or nov. ir oppO-
sltDn 90 these facts, can wo receive his self
compliment remarks while eutOgzing tho
power oshis patented guns and the mmlnly
they afford against oil attacks" we na'e
the leisure 10 consider and devise any other
species Of ordnance that may be better adapted
to the purpose, aDd are not preclPitatcd into
hasty OF questionable measurcs.' We are cont
peeled IN believe that Capt. Dahlgren has been
devoted to leisure; rs, by his own statement.
il has taken him several years TO fad ous
what charges OF powder and weight oil shot
his own invention would endure aud carry
10 what end. then. We wot,d ash, has Capt.
y. devoted years 10 LITERAL! paving tac ea'|
ern bank Of the Potomac with thousands VI
tIns of iron shot and shell IN Ills trias ana ei-
perimcutsl What are the Results oil MS OK
por encei Thousands Of guns burst; millions
of money uselessy expended aud our large
guns, up to this time iailare! The Navy
ordnance officers burst the Army gGusi Tue