Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-11-07
B:G Guns OF THE NAVY.
report Of the Bureau of Ordnance.
EXPERIMENTS WITH PROJECTILES.


Commodore Sicard chief Of the bureau OF ord
nance, Navy department. in his annual report sub
nils estimates for the fiscal year ending June Goth
1885, amounting to s2,1l0,671.5O OF this amount
slN3000 will be needed TO supply the ordnance out
fits OF the monitors Puritan, Terror Miantonomoh.
Alnphitrite and MOnadnOck; s144021 for the ord
Nance Outlt Of the four steel cruisers; 1853 2O
for fuel, tools. material and labor small arms &c.
and the remainder for general expenses OF the ord
nance department.
DIFFICULTIES IN MAKING STEEL GUNS
The work OF preparation of type-guns OF high
power has progressed as fast the difficulties in
procuring proper quality of steel would admit
OF the forgingS ordered in the preceding fiscal year
only TWO sets have been received Of quality suitable
Tor making guns. and these have been taken in
mana at the ordnance department OF the Washing
ton navy yard and pushed as fast possible These
guns ere OF 6-inCh Caliber and Will rcnrpcpnt tho
h0oped and the Wire wound system The former
VIII be completed very shortly, and with il viii he
stltitd an questions OF Kind Of powder weight OF
| charge and prOlcCtie for the navy finch trrns
Inc bureau was not so fortunate in orders in the
United states for the Manufacture OF tubes for s
Inch guns. the steel makers in our count rv not hav
lag thus far been ac To deliver any fOIgnrs Of This
size Iii the meantime, with the assistance of a
gun designed by the late Commodore Jeners),
which has been heightened to 30 caubers inpOr-
ltt progress has been made toward the Diet ermipa-
on OF the character OF the powder suitable for use
In the inch and inch caliberS
Through the eXertiOnS OF Lieutenant Comma nher
William \. Folger In charge OF the naval eypert-
mental battery, a class OF powder has been per
lectco when gives gratifying results In the gun
mentioned, and 1t viii doubtless be entirely sue
eesu IN the bore OF the regular service 6inch gun
DcIilIlu one hundred pounds OF shot.
THE BATTERY OF THE CHICAGO
Forglngs for the battery Of the Chicago have
been ordered, and they are now being manufac.
tured. II they prove to be Of suitable quality the
machine finishings will be undertaken at once
Considerable delay has been experienced in the
W
TO order those Of the eight-inch guns from abroad
The attempt to obtain suitable quality OF high
with difficulty and delay.
Several forms of carriage for the high power guns
have been tried, all with good success
EXPERIMENTS WITH STEEL ARMOR
Experiments have been commenced with steel
armor piercing projectiles, both forged and un-
forged. Varying results were obtained, the best
being the performance OF an unhammered cast
stell 6inch shell, which passed through ten inches
OF iron backed by 20 inches OF oak and IL feet of
earth. being upset only One-tenth OF an inch
great deal OF attention has been given to de-
signs OF monitor turretS and several have been per-
fected which, 1T is thought will unite the advan-
tages OF moderate sized sufficient interior space
and convenience for manipulating the guns.
REVOLVING CANNoNs AND TORPEDO GUNS
The three Hotchkiss revolving cannon, ordered
last year, have been recently received and
will soon he put afloat. The bureau has
ordered from Mr.. HotchkiSs two single shot
and tide torpedo guns, which will probably form q
very efficient part OF the defense against automo-
bile torpedOes. and will be much employed in en-
gagements between ships One OF the celebrated
Mangn projectors electric search lighD will be
pertinent and instruction, and others win be
equipped with dynamOs and engines and issued to
the service. They are considered to be q powerful
factor in defense against tOrpedoes, and are
also very useful for variety OF military purposes
on ship board The importance OF having suf-
hceEt number Of light and very swift boats from
which to launch offensive tOrpedoes Is well known
to the department, and It is suggested that Con-
gress be again urged to appropriate for one to be
OF gun-cOttOn spar tOrpedOes for ships and boats
has been successfully accomplished at the torpedo
being able soon to manufacture its own gun-cOt-
ton