Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-01-27
BIG GUNS OF BIG NAVIE>
WEAPONS THAT CAN lie FIRFD
ONLY SEvENTY-EIvE TIME
Powder Char1~ Ve!ghin. oGE
Pounds-Heavy Projectiies and
Their Terrific Effect.

Their Terrific Effect.
Two Of the mammoth 110-to1
gans, upon which the British almira,-
tv has 80 proudly commented rs the
modern naval artillery" end which
cost about 800. 900 each. went down
into seventy faiho,ns IF water with
| the battle ship Victoria, anil IN roy
nection with this met, saw tn" WasH-
ingtun Star, there must have len
awakened much iptar>: among readers
n to whether sucA hoay- W. weapons.
heavier than nnvyet mai To- 'Lr
United States navy, aal ictsIer than
Will probably be bnilt, ar: = wise a!
dition 10 p modern WAY vessel.
And yet this big gun i rot Hnc~
thing, as 1t practically ,6ates i'ach
twelve years. About fdr:. ~ t..rs~
big guns have been bnIlt, and some ot
them-werc sent to Italy. II : easy :"
comprehend among navy offers that
such guns are III expens,v luyGrv,
not only in the actu%l cos; - the gun
anil it's ammunition. but $50 N the
si-e Of the ships reqnlr I carry
them. But what will he o.. most III
terest TO lay people is the quantity anl
cost Of ammunition and the life ofthe
gun itself. The best ordnance experts
calculate the life Of the l10-tou gun TO
be seventy-five rounds with full
charges. The 11O-:on gun, aud, in
deed, all large guns. are fired with
slow burning coacoa powder, tn" name
coacoa being derived from tn brown
color of the powder. It l. shaped in
hexa@oLal prisms, this being the most
convenient form Of packing, aud 10
900 Of these prisms are neededto make
n full charge for this moIster gun.
Each prism is pierced with a hole III
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 e~xtraorl;-
nary weight Of the 1l0-ton gun charg es
1866 pounds) it is divided into eight
cartridges, each weighing 40 pounds.
To load the gun it is necessary -
bring it to its extreme elevation that
is, the muzzle is pointed upward "a
far as it can be on the mount, anil
these operations follow: /. Unlock
and unscrew the breech block ?,
withdraw the breech block 3, ira
verse breech block to one side: T.,
place the loading tray in the gun; 5,
swab out the gun g., ram home, or put
into place, the projectile; :, place the
first charge; 8, place and ram home
the second half charge; 9. withdraw
the loading tray 10, replace the
breech screw II, screw np and lock
the breech screw.
The gun is then ready to he sighted
by the captain Of the turret from bis
coming tower. 1t is fred by cleo
tricity. The gun can be loaded and
fired within two and u half minutes.
The projcctile used in the gun, when
ships or forts are attacked, weigh
1900 pounds, or nearly 200 pounds less
than a ton, and it leaves the muzzle
with a velocity Of 21O5 feet a sec
ond and Il destructive energy
equal to 5000 foot-tons. When
tested before mounting on the
Sanspareil three years ago the
shot tore its way through specially
manufactured steel armor twenty
inches thick, and yet the armor belt
of the Victoria ranged from sixteen to
eighteen inches in thickness only. In
addition to the twenty inches thick
ness of steel the tshot ven through
eight inches Of ir1h fastened in a heavy
wrought-iron frame, twenty feet OF
oak baulks, six feet of granite blocks,
eleven feet of concrete, and SIX feet OF
brick. In other words it went through
forty-four and one-third feet of a wal
unique i'll history for combination OF
width and variety and strength of ma
~terials. The cost of one firing of thi'
gun was $500 for the powder and 5000
for the projectile and fuses, and after
seventy five rounds there would be the
cost of the gun to add, namely,
800, 600.
In firing the gun against a body OF
men or a ~fiotilla of boats it is intended
to use schrapnel. n drum-like cylinder
of steel, inclosinc 1900 tour-ounce
bullets. AS soon ms the schrapncl
bursts the bullets &c flying on, the
spinning of the she'll caused by the
rlfled grooves Of the gun spreading
them ont over a large area. When
shell is used 1t is charged with powder,
which causes IT TO explode and scatter
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