Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-07-20
THE VICTORIA AND IT'S GUNS.
A Battle Ship Of More Than One Mis-
fortune.

The VICTORIA AND lis GUNS.
A Battle Ship Of More Than One Mis-
Fortune.
The Victoria has not had an en-
viable II cord from the first, and has
be II Il vessel Of much misfortune, says
the New York Tribune. She was built
at the works OF Sir William Armstrong,
az Ellwick, on the Tyne, and her di-
ntensiOIS are as follows: Length over
all, $50 feet between perpendicuiatS,
$40 feet; breadth of Beam, 20 feet; dis
placement 1910 tons; horsepower, Ia,
900, and when loaded with coal, stores
and ammunition she draws tWenty-SiX
feet nine inches of water. She was
armed FIRST al, with two rifie1 cali
non that weigh lilo tons each, the dia-
meter of the bore being sixteen and
one-quarter lncheS, and the total length
of the gun forty three feet. The pro
jectile tired from these guns weighs
1,SOO pounds, and the charge of pow
der that proPelS it weighs 960 pounds
nearly half Il ton of powder to send
one prOjectile on it's miSSion-and the
nominal range OF this weapon is six
teen miles; so, even if the vessel did
draw too much water to cross Sandy
HOOK bar, she could come near enough
to send death-dealing projectiles into
the Fifth Avenue hotel. These two
great 11O-tOn rifles were mounted in
Il turret placed well forward on the
deck of the ship, and protected with
seventeen inches thickness of steel
armor- The bottom OF this turret was
inclosed and protected by a steel wall
or barbette made Of eighteen-inch steel
plates; and this wall extended into the
ship Tar enough to protect the ma
chinery that reVOlVed the turret and
hOiSted iuhe ammunition. To handle
these guns, load and aim them, there
We're Twenty-Five hydraulic engines, in
Guiding pumps of 2,OOO-horse power,
and the arc over which the guns could
be hred cAtenued from fifty degrees
abaft the beam on one side, around
over the bow, to fifty degrees abaft
tie beam on the outer side
10 begin with, the great 11O-ton guns
proved failures, one of them being bent
or having her muzzle dropping, and
the other showing dangerous fla " , ~
William Armstrong explained that the
dropping OF the muZzle was due to the
fact that when the gun Was mounted
II Was put ON Il carriage that did not
support ii properly, and it Sagged OF its
own weight; but he maintained that
! even ii the muzzle did droop, the gun,
nerS would simply have to give the
weapon a little more elevation, and
the prOjectile would arrive at its des
tinatiOn just the same. But this was
not all the trouble, for, as mounted
In the turretS, it was necessary To lire
the guns when the muzzleS were di
rectly above the deck. This Was done
with the CamperdOWn'S SiXty-seven
ton gun, the cOncuSSlon of the dis
charge broke the Camperdown's deck
beams when the full power of the
blast from the guns was received, and
ruined a part of the deck. The result
WIS that orders were given that the
NictOria'S guns should never be fired
except when pointed square abeam
so as to get the muZZleS as far from
the ship as possible.
As the stern OF the ship was mounted
a ten-inch rife, firing projectile
weighing quarter of a ton, with a
charge of 25O pounds of powder. This
gun was mounted with a Superstruc
! ture, or deck house, somewhat like the
! SuperSructureS of the Boston and At
lanta of the American navy. When
this gun was fired the first time, and
square aft, the discharge broke down
the entire bulkhead OF the admiral's
cabin. On the superStructure were
mounted as brOadside guns, twelve six
inch rifles, capable of throwing 125
pound projectiles, and these guns pro
J1ctad through portfolios protected with
shotproof shutters. In addition to these
guns the Victoria carried twelve little
rifles, or rapid-fring guns, capable OF
| throwing IL dozen siX-pOund steel bolts
minute with amazing power and &C
curacy, besides numerous rifles called
numbering guns" because of the hail
of death that they could shower upon
an enemy. TIE greatest apprehension
was felt concerning the 110-tOn guns
which cost 100000 each. If any one
of the twenty nine hydraulic engines
should get disabled the system would
be destroyed and the guns practically
spiked The discharge would also
take place less than sixty feet from
the coming tower, where stands the
commander of the ship, and it was
believed that the effect would be dis
astrous to him.