Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-22

HOW THE RrFiED GUNS FOR THE NEw wARsHIr
ARE COMMUNICATION rowER As COM
PARED WITH TaE BEST GUNS OF TIE wAR-THl
METHOD OF WORKING THEM
Gunmaking has been rev olutionized sine
you went forth 20 war. The old-tire cannon
OF which you were mighty proud-and just!
proud-ior there were not any better in thos'
days. would cut q sorry figure II opposed q
modern guns. You remember the big fifteen
inch smooth bores made down in east Boston
and which wero considered marvcl in thos'
days; they were cas-; solid and then bored out
Afterward they were cast hollow. which wa,
considered the acme of sunmaking Iher
there was the PARROT rifle. which was looked
upon with wonder. At the siege of Charles
ton Gilmore mounted one of these guns in the
swamp and knocked of the splre of st
Michaei's Church, six miles away.
Pshaw! That's not a circumstance to what
we can do now, says the modern naval officer
with fine scorn.
Just 90 down to the navy yard sere at Wash.
ington, visit the great government gun shor
and see some of the big steel beauties rare
sight, truly, and one that will warm the cookies
OF your heart if you have a spark Of the old
fighting spirit left in you There is a thirteen
inch rife there which could perforate ST.
Michaers or any other spire at a distance OF
twelve miles. 1t is forty feet long, weighs
sixty tons and cost 10000
You will also see a rapid-fre gun which can
throw l0o-pound proiectile distance of seven
miles and fire fifteen of them every minute.
This gun is used on all modern warships. II
Is breech loader, and all that Is necessary to
do In perforating an enemy with il is Just &c
stand by and pull the trigger. five-ycar-old
boy could aim it and sweep the range with i,
by the aid of the simple mechanism. cyIin-
der attachment takes up the recoil and another
one with spiral springs inside pushes the gun
out after it has been fred.
The 13-inch gun fires a shell weighing
l, 100 pounds. The lo-inch and guns of a
smaller caiiber carry shell and projectiles in
proportion. They are all breech leaders, and
the s-inch rife will pierce a piece of steel six
teen inches thick with its proiectile.
The guns are made of the best quality OF
forged steel The tube Is furnished by two
Pennsylvania steel works and its manufacture
is superintended at every step by naval officers
detailed for the purpose. The steel is tested
and subjected to the closest inspection al
every stage.
HOW THE GUN Is MADE
When the tube for l3-inch gun reaches the
Washington shop 1t looks like an immense
piece OF gas pipe. 1t is the same size all over
and you wonder how it is ever TO be made into
shapely and graceful cannon. Accompany
ing the tube comes a steel jacket and a number
OF steel hoops. The tube is put N lathe and
Os hal Ia. Il,
stood up on one end in a great pit The
jacket is lowered into a furnace and heated tc
a temperature of about $50 degrees. The heal
expands the steel TO a size which will enable
II TO be slipped down over one end of the tube
Ii is then contracted with cold water and &c
such an extent that il clasps the tube until il
bends it into a fraction of an inch The
jacket protects that part of the gun which viii
be the powder chamber and incloses the sec
ton OF the gun which is exposed to the greates
pressure when being fired. Other hoops are
In Ike manner shrunk over the jacket anC
smaller hoops on the forward part of the gun
The gun is again put on the lathe and tn,
interior turned out until it is of an ever
smoothness. The machine which does thi,
delicate work on the monster piece of meta
can be regulated to the thousandth part of az
inch. The next thing TO do is to rifle the bore
1t is placed in the rifiing machine and grooves
cut In it, which gives the rotary motion to tn,
prolectlIe when nred-
THE NEW AND THE OLD.
The best comparison between modern gum
and those that were used in the war of the
rebellion is made by contrasting the old 100
FOUNDER PARROT rife and the new S-inch breech
loading rife.
In the PARROT rife the diameter OF the Dor,
was g. inches; weight, 9,70O pounds; charge o
powder, pounds; weight OF projectile, 8
pounds; muzzle velocity, LILAC feet pc
second.
In the new S-inch rife the diameter of Dor
is inches, weight of gun, $4,000 pounds
charge OF powder, lis pounds; weight of pro
lectlle, $50 pounds; muzzle velocity, also fee
per second.
One of the most essential points OF differ
ence between the old and new guns is that nov
no rluzZie leaders are made; every gun i
loaded at the breech and the crew that work
1t Is under cover. The difference in time o
| firing under these changed conditions makes
one modern gun more effective than twelv,
old-style rifles.
The guns made at the Washington shop ar,
intended for use on the new warships and the
mountings for them are made at the sam,
place.
on THE wARsHIPs
The guns are mounted in turrets-not on tn,
open deck, as in olden times Above the center
OF each turret rises a low dome, heavily
armored, having small horizontal Sits Gu
through. This dome is the coming tower in
which stands the officer commanding th,
turret-the captain in the forward turret arC
the executive officer in the aft one. Near hi
feet on q pedestal sits the lieutenant whC
sights the gun. His low seat brings his ey,
opposite wider slit shaped like a cross Hi
seat goes around with the turret SO that ht
always faces the slit, which is directly over anc
between the guns. Alongside of this officer il
disl-like valve. by which he can lower TIA,
breech and thereby regulate the range OF TIA,
gun; and in each hand he holds what looks
like o rubber bulb, by pressing which ht
makes an electric contact that fires the gun
In this same chamber above the guns Is the
lever that revolves the turret and is worked by
the gun pointer. This enormous mass Of stee
and iron can be made to revolve as fast as onC
revolution in forty seconds. This is suff-
GENTLY rapid for any emergency, since one CUR
can be discharged in one direction and within
twenty or thirty seconds the gun can be fired
In the opposite direction. The guns, of course
turn with the turret
HOW THE GUNS ARE LOADED.
I'm the loading chamber below the turret Il
found the machinery for hosting the ammuni-
ton to the gun. This machinery revolves also
with the turret, and therefore the guns can be