Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-14
A TERROR IN CANNON
Is the Monster Twelve-Inch Gun at
Sandy Hook for Testing.
EIGHT SIMILAR GUNS ORDERED,
While Even These Will Be Surpassed by
Something Bigger.
PREPARING FOR FINE COAST DEFENSE
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE prspArcH.1

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPArcH.l
NEW YORK, June 13.-The new 12-inch
gun at the Sandy Hook proving grounds is
monster, which must be seen. to be ade-
quately respected: 1t weighs 80 tons and is
more than 36 inches long. 1t has butt of
about the size of hogshead, and carries a
1,OOO-pound ball. 1t requires 40 pounds
of powder to the load The initial velocity
of the projectilc is expected to be !, $40 feet
a second. The muzzle pressure is, there
fore, approximately $500 tons. At the
muzzle the projectile would penetrate three
feet into wrought iron; at a distance of one
mile, % inches into iron plate; at distance
of two miles, 20 inches into iron plate. Every
charge of powder costs S1S So and every
projectile about S40 So the total expenses
OF shot from the big gun, exclusive of the
considerable wear on its own body, is about
S16O. As some 800 shots must be made be-
fore the gums. range, penetrative power
and durability can be ascertained, the mere
testing of it will cost the War Department
about S5O,0
Eight other guns of the same size and
style as the new 12-inch gun have been
ordered for the navy. Compared with the
coming guns for the navy, the gun at Sandy
Hook is six tons heavier; has. the same
OZ.O 1nCleS
length and 14.5 in diameter The num-
ber of grooves is 72 feet land gun and
46-foot navy gun. The powder charge of
the navy piece is 425 pounds, and with this
a projectile of $50 pounds will be thrown
1000 feet second. The muzzle energy of
the navy gun will be 23 $50 tons
The big gun has rather long history. 1t
was begun about three years ago, and ac-
cordingfy the two largest. forgings,
the tube and jacket, were procured
of Schneider & Co. in France, but hereafter
the army, like the navy, will be able to Sc
cure from American steel workers all the
forgings for any desired calibers. The
monster was foated on a barge from Troy
to Brooklyn. The floating derrick reliance
came alongside the barge there and took
the gun on board. Altogether probably two
weeks will eventually have been required
for getting the gun from the reliance to its
carriage and ready for testing.
The 12-inch gun, however, is supposed to
be far from the biggest thing which the
Watervliet Works can produce. The next
step there may be the turning out of even
16-ineh gun. This monster will have a
length OF about 491I feet and weight of
125 tons. It will use charge of about 900
pounds of powder, with projectile weigh
ing over ton and having muzzle penetra-
tion in iron of about three feet, with
medium range of about Is miles. This
is the largest gun contemplated for
our forts, since no more powerful
one is carried on warships. But
the Pinch guns will form the great majority
in our seacoast defense. Indeed, only A of
the 16-ineh are included in the plans of the
Fertilization Board, and So of these are for
New York, San Francisco and Boston
The 12-inch gun will be supplemented for
coast defense by 12-inch mortars, of which
several hundred will be supplied. Indeed,
it is now only question of a short time
when some of the guns will be put in posi-
tion at the principal ports.