The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-07-28
THE KR p GUNS.
What They Are, and What Care Then
Their Reputation. ~

b" SNNS #AISS R~G
Their Reputation.
The Kruppguns are made of cast steel,
composed of puddled steel and pure
wrought-iron, melted in crucibles and
then run into large ingots, which are
worked under powerful steam hammers.
In loading, the brcech block is drawn
out only faa enough to allow the charge
and projeetile to pass through a hole in
the end an exterior lever, working on a
hinge, starts the block, which, 4 being
guided by proper grooves, can be readily
moved in or out.
The various calibers are forged from a
single inge5 up to the nine-inch gun.
The larger guns are built up by shrink
ing successive hoops of steel over a
central steel tube, and in these a slight
modification is made SO that the charge
and projectile are inserted at the side of
th9 breech instead of through the end.
The larger calibers are from six to eight,
eight to ten, eleven, twelve, and fourteen
inches. The heaviest Krupp guns used
at the siege of Paris were six-inch,
weighing about 5000 pounds, and firing
fifty-five an4 sixty-pound projectiles,
and they were opposed to the heaviest
French naval guns. Both the French
and Prussians attribute the success Of
the Prussians in their late war to the ex-
c~ellence of the latter's artillery, which,
whenever practicable, was employed in
mass; but there is no question that the
superiority of the Prussian field.guns
was very much enhanced by the skillful
manner in which they were handled.
Many of the battles of that wal were ar
tillery combats, in which the Krupp gun
bore a conspicuous part. The attack or
MacMahon at Worth was made under
cover of a battery of ninety-six guns.
At Gravelotte, over 800 guns, mostly of
the Krupp make, played upon the
French infantry and forced it to retire.
At Sedan, $50 guns brought death to
10000 Frenchmen. All through the
war the lannon's roar sounded the
praises of the Krupp gun.
The Krupp projectiles are of cast
steel, l~ead-coated, and take the rifing by
four raised rings on their surface. The
deep grooves cut into the steel to retain
the lead reduce the strength of the shells
so much that they can contain only very
small bursting charges compared with
those of some other guns. Thus the
Armstrong and Whitworth 8 inch shells
carry charges of from ten to fourteen
pounds, while the Krupp 9 inch shell
contains a charge of only four pounds.
The 8-inch seacoast Krupp gun, sending
a 209 pound projectile, is used with
great effect up to 1900 yards against
ships covered by 43-inch plates, and at
the same range the 9-inch gun, with 297-
pound project;Ie, does serious injury to
6-inch armor plates. Fourteen-inchgu
have been made by Krupp, which, with
150-pound charge, fire shel,s weighing
1880 pounds, exclusive of shell charge
of seventeen pounds, or a solid shot
weighing 1912 pounds. These large
guns, with carriage and turn-table,
weigh about ninety ton; the gun alone
weighing 10000 pounds, which is not
quite so much as the American 20 inch
Rodman gun. The English consider
steel guns dangerous, and this objection
might attach to the Krupp>gun were it
not that the Rodman priSmatic power,
which gives extremely low pressure, is
exclusively used for them. Nearly all
the Europen powers have adopted the
Krupp system for their heavy guns, and
the Krupp field pieces are now in very
general use. Turkey, Roumania and
Servia were among the first to follow the
example of Prussia in this respect, and
Turkey is now well supplied with field
artillery of this character.-LouismMe
Com1e7-J Journal.