Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-02-19
BIG GUNS OF BIG NAVIES!
WEAPONS THAT CAN BE FIRED
ONLY SEvENTY-FIvE TIMES. &,


Powder Charges Weighing 96a
Pounds-Heavy ProJectiles and
Their Terrific Effect.
Two of the mammoth 110-ton
guns, upon which the British admiral
ty has SO proudly commented as the
modern naval artillery" and which
cost about 800, 900 each, went down
into seventy fathoms of water with
the battle ship Victoria, and in con-
nection with this fact, says the Wash
ington Star, there must have been
awakened much interest among readers
as to whether such heavy war weapons,
heavier than any yet made for the
United States navy, and heavier than
will probably be built, are wise ad-
dition to n modern war vessel.
And yet this big gun is not a new
thing, as it practically dates back
twelve years. About forty of these
big guns have been built, and some of
them were sent to Italy. 1t is easy to
comprehend among navy officers that
such guns are an expensive luxury,
not only in the actual cost OF the gun
and its ammunition, but also in the
size of the ships required to carry
them. But what will be of most in
terost to lay people is the quantity and
cost of ammunition and the life of the
gun itself. The best ordnance experts
calculate the life of the 110-ton gun to
be seventy-fve rounds with full
charges. The 110-ton gun, and, in
deed, all large guns, are fired with
slow burning coacoa powder, the name
coacoa being derived from the brown
color of the powder. 1t is shaped in
hexagonal prisms, this being the most
convenient form of packing, and 10,-
900 of these prisms are needed to make
u full charge for this monster gun.
Each prism is pierced with hole in
the centre to give ready access to the
flame and insure an equable ignition.
For nearly all naval guns the pow
der charge is made up of four car
tridges, but owing to the extraordi-
nary weight of the 110-ton gun charges
1866 poundsl it is divided into eight
cartridges, each weighing 100 pounds.
To load the gun it is necessary to
bring it to its extreme elevation--that
is, the muzzle is pointed upward as
far as it can be on the mount, and
these operations follow: ], Unlock
and unscrew the breech block; 2,
withdraw the breech block; 3, tra-
verse brecch block to one side: 4,
place the loading tray in the gun; 5,
swab out the gun; 6, ram home, or put
into place, the proiectile, 7, place the
first charge; s, place and ram home
the second half charge; 9. withdraw
the loading tray; 10, replace the
breech screw IL, screw rp and lock
the breech screw.
The gun is then ready to be sighted
by the captain of the turret from his
coming tower. 1T is fired by cleo
tricity. The gun can be loaded and
fired within two and q half minutes.
The proiectile used in the gun, when
ships or forts are attacked, weigh
1900 pounds, or nearly 200 pounds lesi
than ton, and it leaves the muzzlt
with velocity of 2105 feet n sec
ond and destructive energy
equal to 55,3O5 foot-tons Wher
tested before mounting on thu
Sanspareil three years ago th'
shot tore its way through specially
manufactured steel armor twenty
inches thick, and yet the armor bel
of the Victoria ranged from sixteen t.
eighteen inches in thickness only. Ii
addition to the twenty inches thick
ness of steel the shot went through
eight inches of iron fastened in heav,
wrought iron frame, twenty feet o
oak baulks, six feet of granite blocks
eleven feet of concrete, and six feet o
} brick. In other words it went through
forty-four and one-third feet of wal
unique in history for combination o
width and variety and strength of ma
terials. The cost of one firing of thi
gun was $400 for the powder and $50,
for the proiectile and fuses, and afte
seventy-fiv rounds there would be tn
cost of the gun to add, namely
800, 1000.
In firing the gun against body o
men or a tlotilla of boats it is intended
to use schrapnel, Il drum-like cylinde
of steel, inclosing 2300 four ounc,
bullets. As soon as the schrapne
bursts the bullets go flying ON, tn,
spinning Of the shell caused by th,
rifed grooves of the gun spreading
them out over a large area. When
shell is used it is charged with powder
which causes it to explode and scatter
its pieces with great destruction.
, English Law to Accidel ats.
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