The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-04-10
1OO-TON GUNS.
Italy's Great Battery--But They are Con
dcmned In England.


the recent discussion ~ England on the
monster l00-ton guns onwar ships.
Italy has more of these giants ahoat than
any other power. Thc<DuiIio and Dando-
10 have each four lOl tonners. The An
drea Doria, Francisco Morosini and Rug
cicro di Laurca have each four of los
tons. And tile Lepanto and Italia also
have each four l03ton guns. Thismakcs
twenty eight l00-toners, mounted and
ready.
No point in Lord Bcasscy's important
paper on 1.-The Future Policy of War-ship
huildng.' read a few days ago before the
Institution Of Naval architects, is more
striking than the one relating to the 10
ton guns. These monsters, he SAYS, will
not lie used in the ships Of the future.
The objections to thcrp have been found
too many and too great. They arc of
very limited endurance and, in fact, some
| Of them have shown grave defects after Il
very few rounds. They arc also difficult
to manufacture and very costly. The
scoring or interior wearing is naturally
greater in the larger calibrcs, as the same
quality Of material is subject TO much
heavier powder charges and chamber
pressure. With the original cost Of a
ll0-ton gun SO great, every discharge very
expensive, and its life at best much less
than that Of small calbres, it has already
ceased to lie popular on shipboard.
Again, as Lord Braasey points out. tine
ll0-ton gum is very slow in firing. 1t is
also n very long gun, and more liable on
that account to he struck and disabled
Then it depends Oh hydraulic loading
gear which may be damaged by hostile
shot, so that the big gun itself will then
become utterly useless.
Finally there is no need Of these huge
guns. Lord Brassey SAYS the naval auth
critics consulted by the Admiralty have
concluded that the heaviest ordinance for
battle ships should not exceed fifty tons
in weight, which is c reduction Of more
than one-hai from the monsters of the
Eenhow. the Sans Parcil, and the Victor
ia Admiral Scott now places the limit
of maximum weight AZ thirty tons, and
Lord Brassey also declares that since such
Il gun can penetrate twcnty-One inches OF
armor at ,000 yards, it is sufficient for
all practical purposes Reducing the
size Of the heaviest guns will allow an eff
fcctive auxiliary battery Of rapid fire
pieces. which pour hail of shot upon
coming towers and into open ports, and
/ IN
working Lord George Hamilton, the
First Lord of the Admiralty, recently de-
Tended the llO-ton guns, declaring even
that the one which sagGed down and bent
on The Victoria was perfectly safe; and he
also commended the hydraulic loading
gear, on the ground that 'hydraulic power
has 10 nerves, is very compact, and can
be easily protected" He compared the
prejudice in favor Of the manual manage
mcnt Of guns to that in favor OF retain
Ing sail power OH war ships when steam
had superseded it. But, Lord Brasscy
holds That no gun ii ponderous to be
worked by manual power should be
mounted on ships.
In the discussion which followed the
reading OF Lord Brasscy's paper, Admiral
Colomb said that the navy would support
the policy Of smaller guns, and that III
building Up TO | 10 tons they had gone too
far; while Admiral Hopkins, Controller Of
the NAVY, admitted that the difficulty
about monster guns was their limited en-
DURANGO, and added that they had
all made up their minds to agree with
Admiral Coomb as To the ll0-ton gun
being too large" This gun. he said, had
been disappointing one from the first
We NAV therefore conclude that the
day OF munster guns is over in the British
navy. This fac; is OF Importance to our
Own service. which has been satisfied to
have foreign nations make The expert
;ncnts at their own expense, and nov
profits by their experiences. That our
Navy Department had already looked
,ioubtfniy upon the llti-ton gun is cv-
dent from the fact that for lis three great
battle ships, the Massachusetts, indiana,
and Oregon, which have displacement
equal to that Of the Bcnbow il has adopt
ed as it, highest calbrcs the l3-inch gun,
which will weigh onl y Il littlc more than
half rs much as the monster pieces OF the
Bcnhcw. II has also been decided to sub
stitntc l2-inch guns for the l6-inch ct
first proposed for the Monterey.
Indeed, the British appear now to be
swinging 10 the other extreme in their
dissatisfaction with monster guns. In
proposing TO limit TIE maximum to fifty
tons. they come down 10 the l2inch cali
brc or IL fraction above it, and Admiral
Scott would even come down to the ~
inch. This leaves out the l3l.-inch guns
of sixtv-seyen tons carried hy the lratal-
gar and the Nile, as well as by the Arson,
| Camncrdown, and others. But our navy
will undoubtedly use the l3-nch gun.
The army will keep on presumably to the
lG-inch, since many Of the naval ohJcc-
tons TO this calbrc do not apply to its
use in forts: but the limit Of the work OF
the navy. so far as maximum calIbrc IS
concerned, seems to he already in sight.
Pnil.ApELrnlA, PA. April S.-Charlcs Fl.
Cram,, The head Of The great ship build
inc irm here, says New York is i'll no
danger from the Italian iron cIads.
They Will never come over here nc
said. confidently. ''ln the first place they
can't carry coal enough 10 make such a
VOYAGE safe, and they could find no place
here to recoa. Then their great draught
would make it Impossible for them to do
much damage on this side. They are not
familiar with our coast, and would he in
constant danger Of grounding the moment
they came 1T all near the coast lhey
carry very heavy guns, but except Tor mr.
ing on city these guns are not elective
much overa mile, and the new cruisers
recently constructed could be very efiec,
tive by circinS about the monsters nnG
peppering them with long range riheo
cannons ard drawing them into shaiio"
water. If shot from one OF the iron
clads struck one Of our cruisers it would
of course do considerable damage, bu'
r,cept by damage il is doubtful if ut suci