The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-03-24
UNCLE SANS BIG GUNS.
Facts About Their Caliber, Weight
and Range.
American Ships OF War Armed with
Huge Cannon Which Fire Projectile
Weighing One Thousand Pounds
Ten Miles.

The following facts concerning the
power and capabilities of some of the
main and secondary battery guns car
ried aboard war ships of the United
States readers may find of interest:
The main battery guns have for a max
imum caliber at present thirteen inches.
These guns are sixty-seven-ton breech-
loading rifles. The minimum caliber
now allowed in the main batteries of
high-powered ordnance guns is the
four-inch rapid-fire piece. The various
cafibers include the thlrteen-inch,
twelve-inch, ten-inch, eight-inch, six
inch, five-inch and four-inch. The Sec
ondary batteries include the six
FOUNDER, three-pounder and one
FOUNDER rapid-firc guns, the forty
sevcn-millimeter and thirty-seven-milli-
meter revolving cannon and the Cat
ling gun. Recently, however, the navy
department has confined the guns of
the secondary battery to the six
FOUNDER and long one-pounder rapid
fire pieces, the thirty ty-seven-millimeter
revolving cannon and the Gatling gun.
The majority of main-battery guns
in service to-day are of the six-inch
caliber. The building up of the ord
nance of the United States navy may be
said to have begun with the six-inch
guns. just now, however, there ap-
pears to be tendency to make the
four-inch guns preponderate in num-
bers, the Dashiel rapid-fire breech
mechanism making this caliber gun an
ideal weapon for the smaller class of
unarmored ships.
No guns of the thirteen-inch caliber
have as yet been fabricated. This type
of gun will not be demanded until the
new battleships Indiana, Massachu-
setts and Oregon, now building, are
ready for service. Each Of these bat
tie ships will have four thirteeninch
guns. In limiting the main-battery
guns to the thirteen-inch caliber, the
navy department has adopted the plan
now in vogue in the British navy. Un-
til recently the British admiralty was
ordering sixteeu-inch 110-ton guns. The
maximum caliber gun now building for
use in the British navy is the 13.5-inch
67-ton gun. A few 110-ton guns are
afioat to-day aboard British warships,
but when the life of these pieces is ex-
hausted they will in all probability be
replaced by 67-ton guns.
The heaviest caliber guns SO far COM
pleted for the United States navy are
the twelve-inch weapons, of which two
are finished. They are both designed
for service aboard the coast-defense
battle ship Monterey. The twelve-inch
guns weigh about fifty-one tons, fire a
projectile weighing one thousand
pounds to distance of about ten miles,
the powder charge weighing five hun
dred pounds. The twelve-inch projec-
tile should be able to pierce eighteen
inches of steel armor at point-blank
range. The twelve-inch gun is worked
either by hydraulic or pneumatic pow
er, all the elevating, training and load
ing being under the control of levers.
The United States navy has to date
four ten-inch guns mounted aboard
ship. They are carried by the double
turreted monitor Miantonomoh, two
ten-inch guns being in each of her tur-
rets. This gun has weight Of about
thirty tons. The projectile fred weighs
about five hundred pounds and is pro-
PEELED by powder charge weighing
about two hundred and thirty pounds.
The estimated range is about eight
miles.
The eight-inch gnn is in service
aboard five warships of the navy and
will be placed aboard number of the
new warships as the vessels put in their
appearance. This gun fires shot
weighing about two hundred and ten
pounds. with powder charge of about
ninety pounds. The range is about
seven miles.
The six-inch gun weighs very close to
five tons. The projectile weighs one
hundred pounds and the powder charge
about forty-fve pounds. The range is
close to five miles.
The fve-inch gun weighs about forty
hundred weight. and the four-inch gun
about twenty six hundred-weight The
projectile of the latter weighs thirty
three pounds, and the range Is over
three miles