The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-12-24
Why the Navy Has No Reserve Sup
ply Of ANN unition.
ENORMOUS STOCK MUST BE CAR
RIED BY EACH VESSEL.


script.)
Washington, Dec. IS. Uncle Sam g
navy is short of gunpowder. There Is no
reserve supply on hand for an emergency,
and in case of war our ships would be
unable to renew their supplies of ammu-
milton after sxhausting the stock which
tpey now have on board. Congress up to
date has refused to furnish money for
this purpose and the need is so urgent
az to have elected from Secretary Her
bert an appeal of extraordinary enpha-
ses. Ordinary powder. it should be I'M
derstood, will not sarve for modern
ships' guns. 1t must be of specialskind
suoh as could not be procured quickly
from private concerns. Hence the I'M
portance of having in store sufdoient
quantity to meet all demands III the
svent OF suddenly preoipitated conflict
Be Ii remembered. incidentally, that a
Hsht between the United States and a
European Power would be naval strug-
gle. and too quickly decided to give time
Tor manufacturing or importing ammu-
milton.
At present each vessel of our navy has
3 full stock of ammunition of all so is,
provided as part Of her equipment, like
tbe machinery and furniture. The ex-
pectation seems to be that she is not to
have occasion for using any more. Ii
she goes and blows 1t all away. she must
do without further supplies. 1t is estl-
mated that one of our new first class
battleships could remain in action con-
tinuously fer about ten hours; at the
end of that tine her powder and shot
would be entirely expended, and she
might as we 90 out of commission for
q while, though uninjursd, for lack OF
material with which to do any more
fighting. 1t is the same way with our
cruisers, though they could not "stay"
SO long, having less ammunition. A
pretty state of affairs truly, and one
which may we'll excite apprehensive in
terest in view of the serious threat of an
outbreak of hostilities with Spain.
Modern high-power guns require huge
charges Of powder. A thirteen-inch
breeeh-l loading rifle is forty feet long,
and fires a proJeotile weighing HOO
pounds; for each charge, 1t uses $50
rounds of powder. The charge for an
eishu-inch rife is lis pounds of powder.
and for six-inoh rifls the charge is for
ty-ssven pounds. In action one of the
huge thirteea-inch guns would be fired
about once in six minutes; the less pom
derous weapons would speak soTnew hat
faster. In practice at targets, the rapid
fire guns throw four or five explosive
shells per minute; in q sea fight they
would average probably not more than
one or two per minute. The stock Of
ammunition carried by ship Of war has
relation to the displacement of the vessel
Taking shells of all sorts into account.
the weight of it is enormous, and must
not exceed certain limit.
The battleship Indiana, which Is as
formidable fighting ship as now floats
on the sea, carries as her regular stock
s15, 600 pounds Of gunpowder. She ia
provided with 600 armor-piercing shells.
of which 100 are IS inch, 800 are S-inoh,
snd 160 are 6-inch. To these are added
$50 ordinary shells Of cast steel. The lat
ter are explosive, being loaded with pow
der. The armor-pieroing shells are Of
forged and tempered steel; they hold no
bursting charge, but are designed merely
to bore holes through a hostile vessel.
The supply of ammunition also includes
lao shrapnel shells, which are filled with
small balls Of iron, and contain just
enough powder to break them open and
scatter the enclosed bullets at the proper
Modern shells, of course,
are very different from the old-style sort,
which made beautiful curve through
the air and gave watchful enemy time
to get Out of the way. The up-to-date
projeotils leaves the muzzle of the gun
with velocity of half q mile second,
and OF striking metal target is partly
melted by Transformation of its energy
to heat, fame actually leaping from
the place hit.
Besides the ammunition already men
toned, the Indiana carries ID, 600 cart
ridges for rapid-fre guns, six-pounders
and one-pounders, and of these one-haf
are armor-piercing. These cartridges gre
made up complete, like rifle cartridges,
with projectils and powder charge in one
case. The tremendous damage which
the explosive shells are capable of doing
was shown in the sea fights of the war
betwee China and Japan, particularly at
the battle of the Yalu. Thrown in a
continuous rain against hostile ship,
they scatter wholesale destruction,
manning or killing every exposed man,
setting frs to boats and woodwork, and
all parts of the vessel that are
not protected by thick armor.
The Indiana's equipment also compris-
es 81, coo revolver cartridges of 3S-calibre
and 100, 600 revolver cartridges of 22-oall-
bre; the latter are intended for practice.
OF course, reviewers would not be very
useful for fighting Oh buard ship; they
are employed by landing parties OF 1le-
jackets and marines. Dummy sht lls and
cartridges of wood covered with leather
arc furnished for drills, to exercise the
al, o1S = 1oadivo ho o,,,pe