Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-06
A BIG SEAC0AST GUN.
The First Of the Kind Ever Built
in the United States.
IT Is A FORMIDABLE WEAPON,
Constructed at Great Cost and After Many
Difficulties.
SOME FIGURES ON THE LATEST TERROR

| StaIes, Wnlcn is now at tne proving grOunu,
Sandy Hook, waiting to be tested. The
gun was shipped from the Watervliet Ar.
senal, West Troy, June 3, and if Gen.
eral D. W. Flagler, Chief of Ord
nance is satifed with the carriage on
which the gun rests, the experiments will
be made the latter part Of this week, the ex-
act date not having been selected. The oc-
cason will be made historical one, for it
will mark the beginning of new era in
American ordnance. Besides the Chief of
Ordnance, Secretary of War Proctor, Sec
retary of the Navy Tracy, and many distin-
guished officers of the army and navy will
| be present.
| The Hudson river has borne on its bosom
many and varied articles of commercial and
implements of warlike importance, from the
| guns that were constructed at Cold Spring
| for General Washington IS army to Ericsson s
monitor, but seldom anything of greater
National Importance than this new 12-inch
breech loading rifle. The advent of this
gun means step onward for us as a Nation,
and announces the fact that we have ceased
to talk about our coast defenses and have
begun to act 1t is called "type" gun;
that is, it is type of all the 12-inch guns
that are to be manufactured for seacoast de-
feese. ....
Careful Calculations Made.
1t has been carefully studied theoretically,
and all the calculations as to its strength,
velocity, and energy made. The gun has
been constructed upon the basis of these
calculations, and this week the calculations
will be tested by actual firing. If the re-
results obtained are satisfactory as to ener-
gy, velocity and endurance, and if all the
rtc -fo o%o .ao1
standpoint, the gun will be pronounced
satisfactory by the board of ordnance Off
GERS detailed to try it. Using this gun as a
standard, the Ordnance Department of the
army will then proceed with the manufac-
ture of additional guns of the same kind and
calibre
A few figures and dimensions may be in
teresting in connection with this gun. Its
length is Sc feet inches; greatest diameter
outside, feet 10 inches; weight 51l tons;
weight of projectile, 1000 pounds; weight
of powder charge, $50 pounds; velocity of
projectile on leaving the gun, 1000 feet
penetration in steel armor at LOCO yards
from the muzzle, about 23A inches. The
main body of the gun is composed of a tube,
a jacket and so hoops or rings. The breech
mechanism weighs about 1900 pounds, and
is so delicately balanced that one man can
open and close the breech.
Construction of the Gun.
The gun has not been constructed without
difficulties And in the light Of the obsta-
cles thrown in the path of the War and
the Ordnance Department, the accomplish
ment Of the duty will give the people an
idea of what the army can do when supplied
with all the machinery necessary for the
construction of modern ordnance From
the close of the war in 1865 up to 1884 the
Ordnance Department was unable to
obtain sufficient appropriations to enable it
to adopt any definite system of gun con-
structions From the lavish expenditures of
the war an unwise post-bellum economy
was adopted, and the Ordnance Department
was left with nothing to do but to try to
make modern guns out of old ones that were
built in the hurry and scurry of the war.
The Government had on hand large
quantity Of smooth-bore east-iron guns
which, in their day, were probably the best
in the world. Various plans were tried for
changing these guns into rifles by inserting
steel and wrought iron Innings, banding,
etc. In these experiments the department
followed the example of foreign nations
that were looking toward the same ends
After many years of theory and exper-
ment in Europe the question of gun con-
struction was finally settled on the basis at
present practiced both here and abroad.
The theory was developed for use in the de-
partment by one of its officers, based upon
that applied abroad, with certain modifca-
tions. Experiments on small scale were
made by shrinking hoops together, and the
results of theory and practice were found to
agree.
The Great Work Necessary.
The difficulties encountered were many.
G
heavy weights were constant source Of
anxiety and trouble to the officers in charge.
Everything had to be handled and shifted |
by hand. Such luxury as a crane was out |
of the question. The Government was too |
poor to buy one. AS consequence, this |
absence of necessary machinery for handling
added greatly to the cost Of |
all construction. Another difficulty was
the inability to obtain skilled workmen.
Only few of the men had ever done serv-
ice ON gun work, and consequently the ma
jority were timid and cautious. In spite of
these drawbacks, however, work was begun
on the s-ineh and I'd 1O-inch guns, and the 25
small guns, 3.20-inch calibre, were sent
back to have certain improvements made
in them.
In the course of two years the eight and
ten-inch guns were finished and the alter
ations made on the 25 small guns. Fifty
more of the latter have been made, and 25
more are about half finished. After the
eight and ten-inch guns were completed
work was Immediately opened on ten-inch
wire gun, on Captain Crozier's design and
also on the Pinch gun, which is now at the
ground. A 12-inch steel mortar,
The first in the country, is also finished.
To the credit of the department it may be
said that all these guns have been con-
,tructed in cramped circumstances in the
original small shop, the only additional ap-
Dliance for handling heavy weights being
I5-ton travelling crane that was put in about
,wo years ago.
Building Big Gunshop.
In the meantime, the department, with
he aid of Congressman Charles Tracey, of
Albany, succeeded in securing appropria-
ions for building modern gunshop, with
proper tools and appliances for handling
leayy weights. The north wing and CEN
raj portion of this building are already
complete. Two travelling cranes of so tons
capacity each are in operation, the smaller
machinery is in place, and the. large .lathes
ire now arriving and being placed in posi-
ion.
The building at present erected is about
90 feet long and Is leet wide. The new
II south wing is under construction. 1t |
will be 800 feet long when finished, max
ne the total length of the shop 1000 feet.
The south wing will be provided with a
raveling crane of 120 tons capacity, and
vide enough to accommodate 16-inch guns, s
With the necessary machinery for their con- ! I
truction. The central part of the building !
ontains the pit for assembling the parts Of |
he guns, and the whole is lighted by cleo
ricity.
,oh =.