The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-01-23
urEAT GUNS OF GREAT NAvIEs.
Costly Weapons That Can BE Fired Only
Seventy-five Times

Costly Weapons That Can Be Fired Only
Seventy-five Times
Two OF the mammoth l10-ton guns,
upon which the British admiralty has
SO proudly commented as the modern
naval artillery" and which cost about
500, 600 each, went down into seventy
fathoms of water with the battleship
Victoria, and in connection with this,
fact there must have been awakened
among readers as 20 whether such
heavy war weapons, heavier than any
yet made for the United States navy,
and heavier than viii probably be
built, are a wise addition to a modern
war vessel.
And yet this big gun is not new
thing, as it practically dates back
big guns have been built, and some Of
them We're 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 10 carry them. But
what will be of most interest to lay
people is the quantity and cost of am
munition and the life of the gun itself.
The best ordnance experts calculate
the life of the 11o-ton gun to be seven
ty-five rounds with full charges. The
1I0-ton gun, and. indeed, all large
guns are fired with slow burning cocoa
powder the name cocoa 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, 600 of these prisms are
needed to make full charge for this
monster gun. Each prism is pierced
with hole in the center 10 give ready
access TO the flame and insure an equa-
BILE ignition.
For nearly all naval guns the powder
charge is made up of four cartridges.
but owing to the extraordinary weight
of the 110-ton gun charges 1866 pounds)
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 point
ed upward as far as il can be on the
mouth, and these operations follow: l,
unlock and unscrew the breech block;
9, withdraw the breech block: 3, trav-
erse breech 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 projectile; Z. place the first
half charge; s, place and ram home the
second half charge; O. withdraw the
loading tray; 10, replace the breech
screw; II, screw up 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 electricity.
The gun can be loaded and fired within
two and half minutes. The projectile
used in the gun when ships or forts
are attacked weighs 1,s00 pounds, or
nearly 200 pounds less than ton, and
it leaves the muzzle with velocity of
9 los feet second and has destructive
energy equal to 55,S05 foot tons When
tested before mounting on the Sans
pareil 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 thickness of steel the
shot went through eight inches of iron
fastened in heavy wrought-iron
frame, twenty feet of oak ballss, 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 wall unique
in history for combinations of width
and variety and strength of materials
The cost of one firing of the gnn was
$500 for the powder aud 5000 for the
projectile and fuses, and after seventy
five rounds there would be the cost of
the gun to add-namely, 500, 000
In firing the gun against body OF
men or fotilIa Of boats it is intended
to use shrapnel, drum-li<e cylinder
of steel inclosing $500 four-ounce bull !
let's As soon as the shrapnel bursts
the bullets go flying on, the spinning /
of the she'll caused by the rified grooves
of the gun spreading them out over !
large area. When she'll is used II Is 4
charged with powder. which causes 1t I
to explode and scatter its pieces with I
great destruction.-Wa Star /