The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-06-07
THE KRUPP GUNS.
What They Are, and What Gave Them
Their Reputation.
from the Louisville Courier-Journal.l


TFrom the Louisville Courier-Journall
The Krupp guns 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 breech block is drawn out
only tar enough to allow the charge and
pro]ectlle to pass through hole in the
end; an exterior lever, working on a
hinge, starts the block, which, being
guided by proper grooves, can be readily
moved In or out.
The various calibers are forged from a
single 1ngot up to the nine-inch gun.
The larger guns are builtup by shrinking
successive hoops of steel over a central
steel tube, and in these slight modifca-
tlon is made so that the charge and pro-
Jectlle are inserted at the side of the
breech instead of through the end. The
larger callbers 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 tltty-tive and sixty-pound project
lies, and they were opposed to the heav-
lest French naval guns. Both the French
and Prusslans attribute the success of
the Prusslans in their late war to the ex-
cellence OF the latter's artillery, which,
whenever practicable, was employed in
mass !; but there is no question that the
superiority OF the Prussian field-euns
was very much enhanced by the skillful
manner in which they were handled.
Many of the battles of that war we're ar
tillery combats, in which the Krupp gun
bore conspicuous part. The attack on
MacMahon at Worth was made under
cover of battery of ninety-six guns.
At Gra7elotte, 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, lead-coated, and take the rifing by
our 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 9-inch shells
carry charges of from ten to fourteen
pounds, while the Krupp 9-inch shell
contains charge Of only four pounds.
The 8-lnch seacoast Krupp gun, sending
a 209-pound projectile, is used with
great effect up to 1880 yards against
ships covered by A inch plates, and at
the same range the 9-inch gun, with 297-
pound projectile, does serious injury to
6-inch armor plates. Fourteen-inch guns
have been made by Krupp, which, with
150-pound charge, fire shells weighing
1850 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 tons the gun alone weigh
ing 112, 1000 pounds, which is not quite
SO much as the American 2O-inch Rod
man gun. The English consider steel
guns dangerous, and this objection might
attach to the Krupp gun we're it not that
the Rodman prismatic powder, which
gives extremely low pressure, is exclu-
slvely used for them. Nearly all the Eu-
ropean powers have adopted the Krupp
system for their heavy guns, and the
Krupp field pieces are now in very gen
eral use. Turkey, Roumania and Servia
were among the first to follow the exam
pie of Prussia in this respect, and Tur-
key is now well supplied with field artil-
lery of this character.