The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
TERROR'S FIRE IN VoLLEY.
NERVOUS TENsIoy ON BoARD BE-
FORE TIE noon CAME.
TIE saiiornen Awaited the Shock with
Nervous Excitement, and When Ne Came
Acted as II It Were n Mere Trine-Noise
and Shock Inside the thip'n T'urretn.

INV oNO1S WIN
Nervous Excitement, and when Ne Came
Acted as II 1t Were n Mere Trine-Nois
and shock Inside the Ships Turrets
Now and then articles appear In the news.
papers telling Of some exciting episode during
which, or preliminary to which. the spectators
were keyed up" to the highest state Of norv.
Gus tension" 1t ia difficult to Say exactly wha,
10 meant 1t 10 clear. however, that there is
usually . good deal of what is known as sup
pressed excitement" lying around.
A. Sun reporter saw . lot Of mon recently
keyed up to a high state Of nervous tension VI
and now he knows what 1t means. 1t was on
board the monitor Terror just as the four To-
inch guns of that vessel were to be fred by
electricity in a volley. Four modern guns as
large as they were had never been fred at one
time in the history of the United States navy.
Each OF the guns had been fred separately,
however, and every man OF the crew had felt
the terrific shock. 1t was said that the mon
reasoned that IL ono lo-inch gun caused a
tremendous shock four 10-inch guns would
cause four tremendous shocks all rolled into one.
This was hrst-class mathematics. old and true
as truth itself. but the result didn't bear wit
ness to truth of the reasoning. for the officers
declared that the shock from tho discharge OF
tho four lo-inch guns was only a little more
resonant and disagreeablo than the shock from
one of these guns.
Nevertheless, the Jaokies' on the Terror
| were In q state Of nervous expectancy over what
was going to happen. Most of them were young,
and when they raw tho officers stufing cotton
! into their ears to deaden the atmospheric shock,
and making more elaborate preparations for
firing the pieces than any of them had ever seen
before-it was n trial test of the loading appa-
ratus-they became intensely concerned. There
was no outward show OF any dread. In fact.
49, A--- lz.--l
the men that the discharge of these four enor-
nous guns at once was as common and as ordi-
nary n thing as a call to quarters. 1t was when
the "Jackies" were spoken to that one saw how
nervous they were. They sprang with an alac-
rity that was like that Of an acrobat when an
officer told them to do this or that. They
whispered among themselves and nudged each
other when they had nothing else to do.
There was n long series of delays in getting
started, and every sailorman not required for
duty below went up to the superstructure deck
and waited and waited and waited. This or
that cause was assigned for the delays, and each
man had his expert opinion to give on the mat
ter rs the reports went around. II any of tho
crew had cotton to slip in his ears he stuffed IL in
stenlthiy; but 1t Is probable that few OF them
used any precautions to deaden the shuck on
counter any ridicule from his 1t
was all right for the officers to use cotton In
, ,hfns eaFs sks a, eflSsrs to the II o Srew Srs some,
Jackie" stood up unhinchingiy. However ho
couldn't conceal his "keyed-up" condition.
FOUNDER sounded. and every man Of the crew
knew that In less than three minutes the four
young hands Knew what to do. They faced the
muzzle OF the guns in the forward or after tur-
RET: opened ssmt Their eli t mouths nrs slightly ;t. and x stood
down hard on their toes. There was no more
whispering, There was no more n%udsing; A
tlanra afNh nj Rnrna Gnv ssrntll Ha
felt" prevailed on the deck where the men
were sonsrecated. Two minutes passed that
red flag was waved from q hatchway in tho
after tnrret: In a few seconds more a red
"Jaokie" knew now that he was in tfor'fit It.
Every man seemed to draw himself into an
attention" attitude instinctiyely. A mighty
shock of deep-toned noise followed In an .n-
and that was all. A once Jackie" resnmed
heard the guns. and the shock of the four was
not four times as great az the SHOCK; from one.
theory was wrong. He didn't mind that. and
showed only passing interest In what was to
come after; -Four more volleys were to be fired.
used in warfare became disarraneed. JACKIE"
of an opportunity to display 10 himself that II
mere trife. such as firing four such guns In
not less than three minutes. was worth scarcely
more than a passing notice by a Jack Tar.
III ID o common impression Ihat the noise from
one Of these hiRh-power guns must be nerve
shatterlng to the men who fire them in the tur-
rets; Many persons fancy these men bleeding
trate Mt their trightful task. TIE SUS reporter
who was on tho Terror went into one Of the
turrets to investigate for himself the effect Of
the shock. To his SURPRISE he found that the
shock consisted simply Of a deep boom. His ears
the slightest unpleasant sensation. In fact. the
discharge ofthe guns simply made a big noise.
but not in the turret. The noise was at the muzzle
nf The DnnQ The anunh q vRa atrant hapl m tha
turret. and no doubt the unseen vibrations beat
on II most furionsly. The armor was a foot
Those vibrations had to pass through that ar
NOR before they got at the ear drums OF those
In through the small opening through which
the gun, protruded. and some came down each
guns chamber itself to The breech block.
the. pneumatic system OF loading. as the Ter
ror's turrets are operated. was an entirely com
foItaole place when big guns were booming.
THE Sun reporter wrote In his description Of
the firing OF the guns that there was very little
shock to the ship from tho discharge, but that
the atmospheric shock was tremendous. Tho
shock TO the ship comes from the recoil to the
guns. A New York evening newspaper mixed
the two shocks and said that it was Inconsistent
to say In one place that there was no perceptible
shock in speaking oftl,e recoil. AID in another
there was a tremendous shock. Doubtless many
persons have not understood clearly the fact
the firing of one of these guns. One part
OF the shock comes from the recoil OF the guns.
bOWotulHR ike OO.UbU-lOpJ IONS IN the Ter
ror's two turrets. and the other part comes from
the atmospheric disturbance. One shock exerts
it's force ut the muZZle of the guns and the other
exerts is force at the breech OF the guns. One
would think that q force of SO. 600 foot tons
exerted against a ship would thrust q ship
back In the water for many feet II ali tho guns
were pointed over the sRme side OF the vessel.
All Of the Terror's guns were pointed In one
direction at the trial. hut so slight was the effect
on the ship In the recoil that an officer who was
watching for the effect especially said the shin
did not sweryo n foot to the other side. As the
guns fred their. shots they recoiled on COM
pressed air cylinders.
The reporter watched this recotl eagerly. At
the discharge OF tho gun each piece dRrted back
on the air cushion for a distance OF about thirty
inches and slid back into Its place with the same
rapidity. The recoil and recover was almos, as
ouicK as tho eye could travel It seemed i'm
possible that an energy OF II. 900 foot-tOns from
each piece conld be absorbed in the twinklinH
Of an, eye; and the gum could be pushed back
into Its place AS easily as n child pushes u
doll carriage.
A rather remarkable incident took place on
the Terror aday or two before the firing test
was made. The Captain and the navigating
officer went into the dome over the forward
turret that serves for a coming tower. No
through the little Sits in the dome Intended to