The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-07
.IBOUr THE VESUVIUS.
,rsoRIPTIoNs OF TESTS TO BE
MADE AT PORT ROYAL.

t,- 4 ccuracy-All Depends on Her
Afr Valves Development of This
s,s.en Eas Been Slow, but Present
,1dicatIons Point to Its Early Sue
oassfill Operation.
From, the Men YORK Herald.
Monday last the Herald published the
.,rdisions Of the Forthcoming trial Of the
,,sumstic torpedo throwing tubes-often
Lied ''guns" - on board the dynamite
.-niser Vesuvius. This trial will take place
=, Port Royal, s. G., before board of
laval officers heretofore named in the
g,ragd as follows; Capt. Montgomery
sicsrd, now commanding the Miantonomon
r.pt. A. S. Barker. commanding the
,ruiser Philsdelpbia, and Commander w.
r. Brownson. commanding the dispatch
boat Dolphin.
Itis probable that within a month the
uccess or failure of the Vesuvius as a war
vessel will be decided. Successful, she VIII
rank as a unique aud powerful war machine l.;
| .fsilure, she will be scarcely more useful
. Tor naval purposes than any fast yacht.
After the Vesuvius was launched. In May
| 1858 she for time attracted large amount
tpublic attention. Il was believed that
he pneumatic system, enabling the n6tle
| rstt to hurl huge masses or hign explosive
With accuracy and rapidity, was destined
N revolutionize warfare. The success the
rheumatic gun had attained on shore, the
rrompt action of the navy department in
ordsring the vessel, the high reputation OF
officers interested In the ship and the claims
n the Pneumatic Gun Company-all
tsnded to excite unusual interest. The sue
cessful launching Of the completed ship, the
| .tFafnaS an har eria al md
the preliminary work OF the vessel in
| creased this interest.
MECHANICAL DIFFICULTIES APPEAR.
But from the time of her acceptance by
the navy department her troubles began
troubles of various kinds Errors in an
almost perfect design, mechanical faults
and bitter opposition from officers inter-
ested IN or engaged in developing other Tor
psioes and powder guns have long delayed
Der work, and save for occasional news
PAPER reports of her cruising movements
the public has been left to wonder what
| bad become Of her and gradually TO accept
the common report of her utter failure to
take the place for which she was intended
on the growing list Of new naval vessels.
Having made careful investigation of
her former defects, the means adopted to
remedy them, aud her present condition, |
an disposed to believe that the coming
Llhls d. on. IlOI Will 6bbSSL bQ6 ldCU UuaG
the Nesuv1us Is fighting machine to be
proud of-an advanced type Of war vessel.
The Vesuvius has length of 252 feet.
team Of 26 feet and displacement of $50
tons. She has twin screw engines, develop
ing 1000 horse power. She is built of light
lteel and no effort is made TO provide arnor
srcept in the arrangement of coal bunizers
snd IN the fitting Of l-inoh defective deck
over the breech of the guns. As she fights
land nSas--that ia with har hnU 20 ha
snemy-she presents a small target. and in
this her safety principally lies.
HER TORPEDO THROWING TUBES.
She is fitted with three pneumatic guns,
fifteen inches In diameter. She also carries
for defense against torpedo or boat attack
three Hotchkiss rapid firing 3-pounders.
Each of the three 13-inch tubes is So feet
long. They are mounted side by side, and
project several feet above the deck near the
bows. They are set into the hull of the YES
gel at an angle of 1S0 from the horizontal.
In the powder gun the propelling charge
is constant agdschenge of range is given by
raising or lowering the breech OF the gun.
In the Nesuvius' pneumatic guns the eleva-
tlon is fixed and change Of range is given by
Increasing or diminishing the amount of
compressed air admitted behind the proiec-
tile at the instant of firing.
Each of the 15-inch pneumatic guns is ca
Fable of firing three sizes of proiectiles-
namely, the full caliber 15-inch projectile,
weighing 1000 pounds and carrying 500
pounds of guncotton; the sub-caliber To-
inch projectile, weighing 500 pounds and
carrying 200 pounds of guncotton, and the
s.inch sub-caliber projectile, weighing $50
pounds and carrying 100 pounds of guncot-
ton
These projsctiles are not as delicate in
their workmanship as are those used in high
powered rifles, being subjected TO no such
pressure and not depending on their pene-
trating power for their effects. They are
made in three pieces-a brass head and a
brass tail piece connected, attached to a
.prally welded steel body by screws and
made strong enough to withstand the initial
ahock OF discharge. The projectile which
will probably be adopted for service use, as
combining the greatest number of good
points, is the 10-incH! suboahber shell, eight
feet in length, weighing exactly 514 pounds.
and carrying a 20O-pound charge of gun
cotton. These shells will be exploded by the
action of new fuse. the invention of Capt.
hapief. the engineer in chief of the Pneu-
Sill secret In its details, only general idea
can be given of it's action. 1t is a nose fuse
and has time and percussion action. ex-
ploding the she'll Instantly on impact with a
solid target or after the shell has traversed
seventy five yards of water, thus giving an
ppportunlty for delayed torpedo effect IN
case Of shot falling short.
HOW IT Travels UNDER WATER.
One feature of the SHELLS action, gener-
ally unknown, is that when it strikes the
wstec in its fall the angle of fall. the shape
Of the projectile and the inclination of it's
axis to the trajectory gives it motion
nearly parallel to the water surface, thus
greatly increasing the danger space.
Inc fitting of 10-inch she'll to'e 15-fpch
gun might seem difficult to combine with
good action, but this has been ingeniously
arranged. The oentering OF the shell in the
pore and an air tight fit are the things de-
sied. The cenUeripg is arranged by the
nttlng 10 the she'll OF wooden blocks at the
noSe end base, and these same pieces at the
oase check the air in its efforts to escape
Without doing work in starting the shell.
Ioe nose pieces or runners" are four in
number and are made of pine, loosely fitted,
ano drop off when the projectile leaves the
gun The tail pieces forming the ''gas
cneck, five in number, are made OF cross
grained oak and are attached to the base OF
we she'll by four light brass screws. On
tue outer edge of these blocks an L shaped
20 washer fits snugly against the metal
VI The bore. When the main valve of the
gun admits the full pressure OF the firing
,sSerVoir to the base of the she'll the light
SasS screws are sheared, grooves admit air
20 the inside surface Of the leather washer
aau The gas check slides up the gun in rear
VI Tue she'll dropp{ro, off do the rf1nnara