The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-05-30
IRON DOGS OF WAR,
The Rapid Fire Gun a Novel idea
Of the Present Admins
trati0n.


tratiOn.
WASHINGTON. May 1.-THE first novel idea
III naval construction and armament devel-
oped by the new administration ia the use or
rapid fire guns in the main batteries of cru;a-
ers. The last administration gave little at
tention relatively to the armament of naval
vessels. 1t took naval ordnance as it found
It, and equipped its ships with big built up
guns of the Krupp pattern. Mr.. Whitney
Judged rightly that the ships were mole
Important than the guns mounted on them
and devoted all his energies to securing the
best models and the highest possible deyel-
opment Of power. His success in this re-
spect Is roughly measured by the fact that
The Charleston, just launched in San Fran
CISCO, has double the engine power of the
hoacn ships OF the same class, with a pro-
porSionate increase of speed. The engineer
ing bureau won its laurels under Whitney.
Inc ordnance service gained less distinction.
1t begins to be admitted that a mistake
was made in loading down the new ships of
the cruiser type with such q weight of
metal. The English government, from
which we have copied rather too much. dis
covered the same error in some of it's latest
constructions A six-inch-built IN gun
weighs over four tons, and every two inches
added to the bore more than doubles the
weight These monsters are all very we'll
Tor armored battle ships, but they make a
light steel cruiser rather top heavy. Some
significant changes lave been quietly
made in the armament of the newest YES
se.s. Some Of the Yorktown's six-inch guns
are to be replaced with tive-inch, and The
two ren-iuch monsters designed for the
Chareston's battery are to give place to
eight-inch guns. The most noteworthy ma
val new departure, however, is the deter
mination to arm the three 2, 900 ton cruisers
just designed with as heavy rapld-fre guns
as can be built, and to disp ense entirely with
the breech-loading rifles.
The rapid-fire gun is an American inven-
ton, though it is in use in all the navies OF
the world for secondary batteries. 1t is a
patent concern, and has never been made by
the navy department.. though it may be
taken up, IT the experiments now contem-
plated are successful. The original patents
should run out soon, as the guns have
been made for some fifteen years.
Until recently, however, the guns
have only been made in small
calibers. Up to 1883, when the work on our
new navy WINS begun. the largest rapid-f Il
was a six FOUNDER of about two-inch bore.
The n~ine-pounder was soon developed, and
within the last year or two one gun has been
built and successfully operated carrying a
thirty-three-pound shell of nearly four inches
caliber. This has a range of five miles,
penetrates eight inches of wrought iron at
100 yards, and can be accurately aimed and
fired ten times a minute. 1t promises to
revolutionize naval gunnery by providing u
light and effective arm for small cruisers.
There is talk at the navy department. of
mounting six-inch rapid-tire guns on the
new 1000 ton cruisers, but this arm ia yet
to be designed, and there are serious diff
culties in it's construction.
The rapid-ti gun differs from the Krupp
model mainly in it's dimensions and in the
character fits ammunition, which is fixed re-
sembling an enormous copper shell revolver
cartridge. The breech piece is detachable. and
Ia moved by a hand lever. Thu entire arm is
moved, loaded and directed by hand, vari-
Gus levers and automatic devices giving
speed and facility, three gunners being the
force necessary. Hence the limitation of its
size. The cartridge for the thirty-three-
pound gun weighs ffty-seven pounds
and sands nearly as high as
man. The makers think, il
the guns were built much larger, both arm
and ammunition would be manageable,
except by the hydraulic-power devices en-
ployed in the guns of thu Knapp model.
which would involve loss of time in firing.
There is a challenge to American ingenuity
in this difficulty. If it is once successfully
overcome. the United states will nave pre-.
sented another new arm to the world. Thu
department. seems bent upon trying the ex-
pertinent. +. A. earle.