Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-23
UNCLE SAM IS AHEAD
Of All the World in Making Armor
Plate and Big Guns,
THANKS TO YANKEE INGENUITY.
Why Some Of the Carnegie Contracts Have
Reen Transferred.
SOME NEW THINGS IN NAVAL WARFARE

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22-At the very be-
ginning of his annual report to the Secre-
tary of the Navy, Commodore Folger, Chief
of the Bureau of Ordnance, asks for appro-
priations aggregating So, 459, 324 for the ex-
penses of his bureau next year, but the re-
quest appears to be very moderate in view
of the achievements of the present year and
the promises for the future. The report
shows that native skill and inventiveness
have placed this country in advance of all
others in armor construction and great gun
making
The report first treats of the subject of
breech-loading rifles, and tells how the ten
dency to lengthen the guns has involved
heavier construction to make them stiff
enough for the new smokeless powders. To
arm the vessels of new navy, 381
guns, varying in caliber from inches to 13
inches, will be require d, and of these 237
have already been completed and 116 are
afoat
Big Guns Made of Nickel Steel.
The bureau is now building nickl steel
gun on new designs, invented by William
Sellers, which will doubtless inaugurate the
the entire use of nickel steel for naval gun
construction. 1t Is stronger and bettertha
ordinary gun steel, and the designs will
permit of the reconstruction of the gun
whenever the tube becomes worn. The use
in guns up to six inches in caliber of fixed
metallic ammunition, which is nothing
more nor less than a gigantic metallic cart
ridge, has resulted so satisfactorily that it is
said to be merely question of time before
the idea will be applied to larger calibers
The rapid fire mechanism, as applied to
fve-inch guns, has enabled five shots to be
fired from one gun in 10 seconds; but the
rc suit of the application of the mechanism
to the four-inch gun was followed by results
still more remarkable, for it has been possi-
BILE to fire five shots in IA seconds, which
means, according to the report, that within
a range of 5000 yards this will maintain
five shells in the air at the same moment Of
time.
Uncle Sam Ahead in Smokeless Powder.
Marked progress was made in the develop
ment of the navy smokeless powder during
the year. 1t is now made in large quanti-
ties, is much safer than other powders, is
unaffected by climatic conditions and is
superior in a marked degree to the best
European smokeless powders. The tests
with high explosive emmensite have been
made with great success Experiments
with another American explosive have
shown that common shells filled with this
material can be fred through six one-Inch
iron plates and burst detonatively at will
beyond them. These experiments are re-
garded as settling the long discussion with
regard to the relative merit of firing high
explosives from air guns or from powder
guns.
The department states that it is appreci-
ated land this has likewise been noted
abroad that a decided revolution in the
character of the armament of vessels of war
is imminent The bureau will, in future
contracts, demand more severe reception
test than is required abroad for armor-
piercing projectiles. Reference is made to
the adoption by the army of the new maya
zine gun, and while doubt is expressed OF
its complete fitness for naval uses, it is re-
commended that provisional supply be
procured from the army ordnance depart
ment to arm the sailors.
Warfare Under the Water.
Commodore Folger speaks approvingly
of the submarine boat now a subject of
experiments at Chicago. He says that
while full success has not been attained,
the invention is promising, and he suggests
the combination with it in effective warfare
of controllable floating torpedo and SUBJ
marine gun. The tests of the Ericsson SUBJ
marine gun and projectile are said to have
demonstrated that fairly accurate range
of at least 600 feet could be obtained, but
the proiectiles were too weak, and the tests
will be resumed with newer and stronger
ones
Under the head of torpedo boats the
report makes a strong recommendation that
petroleum be used for fuel, increasing their
radius, giving better control and generally
their efficiency
Much space in the report is devoted to
the subject of armor plate. It is stated
that q transfer was made of part of the
contracts held by the Bethlehem Company
and the Carnegie Company. The first
named company was better equipped than
the latter for the manufacture of heavy
plates and the Carnegie Company was bet
ter equipped to make thin plates, so the
transfer was arranged on that basis. The
report says:
Effects of the Homestead Trouble.
The labor troubles at Homestead put q
temporary stop to the armor manufactured
BY Carnegie, Phipps & Co., but work has
again begun, and it is hoped that in short
time the total armor product of both COM
panies will reach 600 OF 700 tons OF finished |
plates per month. Orders for armor to the |
FULL amount Of both contracts have been |
placed, and there being about 1000 tons still |
needed for ships authorized by law, the de- |
partment is preparing to advertise for bids |
'or this quantity Of armor, to be of nickel |
steel and to be treated by the Harvey pro- |
,ess, at the discretion of the department.
The report states that the result of the |
,reat development of armor will doubtless |
,e to check the tendency in Europe to |
lbandon guns of large caliber, which was
,aused by the belief that the guns were
more than ample to penetrate the heaviest |
Irmor. Tbs Ordnance Bureau has succeeded |
n making an alloy of steel. with 25 per
,ent Of nickel, that possesses all of the best
qualities and strength Of steel, with high
Elasticity distributed throughout the mass
If metal, and, best of all, practically nom
orrodible in the air and almost so in
"a ter.