Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-13
A Stu ubmari Great Gun.

lErOm the LOnQOn Daily NeWS.l
 The special wonder at the Royal Arsenal at
 Woolwich is just now monster weapon in
 tended to fire projeetiles or torpedoes under
 water. It is the invention of Capt. Ericsson,
 the well known scientific American, and it
 was made in the United States, partly under
 the supervision of Lieut. Gladstone of her majesty's navy, who was sent over for the gun and has now brought it to England.
 It reached the arsenal only this week and
 now lies at the inspection branch of the Roy
 al gun factories, whence, after some pre-
 liminary tests, it will be sent on board ship,
 probably at Portsmouth, for trial at sea. The
 cannon and the proiectile are almost of
 equal length, and, as they lie side by side,
 painted bright red, are formidable objects
 to look at. No fewer than 40 tons of steel are used in the construction of the gun, which is 30 feet long, and has bore IS IS inches. It is a breeehloader, and closes at
 the stern by an arrangement of very sim pie and efectuaI character, much resembling
 that of the great guns which were displayed at the inventions exhibition. The vent,
 which is axial, is sealed and said to be effect ual in preventing the escape of powder gases. The proiectile measures 25 feet, which is only feet less than the gun, and is gauged to pass freely along the bore, which is un- rifed. It is hollow, and notwithstanding it's great length weighs only one ton. The pro posal is to fit the gun in the bow of ship 9 feet under the water line so as to fire straight ahead from the cutwater. A diaphragm of india rubber is fixed over the muzzle to ex- clude the water, but is blown away at the first puff of the discharge. The projectile is inserted from the rear and is stopped by pin few inches short of the diaphragm, for it has short rod projecting from it's ,I,S aI, 4oD L charge within, and must be protected from all risks of premature explosion. Its safety at this stage is, however, to some extent guaranteed by the action of a strong spring which prevents the rod from being driven back by any force short of a thousand pounds. A charge of 20 pounds of powder Is all that is thought necessary for propul- sion, and this being placed behind the pro jectile, the b-eech is closed and the gun is ready for firing. The only other requisite is something to aim at; and when hostile ship can be got within convenient distance, the monster gun lets fly. It is asserted that q range of 300 yards under water may be re- lied upon, but it is considered doubtful whether the shot can overcome the resistance t! of the water and retain effective striking 1 power for half the distance. The inventor, l however, has tried his device, and he says he l ought to know. To preserve the lateral po- | sition and uniform depth of his submarine | missile he has weighted it to the gravity of l water, and, while he keeps one side under by | the preponderance of weight, he has steer l ing plate on the upper side which opens only | after leaving the mouth of the gun, and acts | as rudder in keeping the projectile in it's l course. Until the gun is tried the sutnori- 1 ties are 10th to express an op nion upon it, I, but it is regarded at least honest at | tempt to establish new principle in gun nery, in which it is quite unlike the wonder ful breechloaders which were obtained from | America during the Crimean war, which l were contracted for at so much per pound, | and sent in with such mass of metal piled 1 upon them that they were too heavy to be moved or to work, and have never been fired % this day.