The Springfield herald., 1897-12-17
THELARGEsT CANNON.
BEING MADE IN PENNSYLVANIA.
It Will Weigh 1876 Tons, and NJ Measure Almost
Fifty Feet In Length-wiii Protect New
York Harbor.

The largest cannon in the world is
now being built at the Bethlehem iron
works in Pennsylvania for the pro-
lection of New York harbor. 1t is to
be placed upon Romer shoals, near
the entrance to the bay, upon IL mass
i've foundation of stone and concrete.
reaching fifty feet below low water
mark and protected by turret which
will be large enough to shelter both
the cannon and the quarters of the
crew. 1t will be mounted so it can be
pointed in any direction, and thus
have a full sweep of all the channels
that approach the city. A single shot
from this gun will utterly destroy any
vessel afioat, and human ingenuity has
not yet conceived anything that would
be able to resist the force of Its pro-
jectiles.
1t will require 1000 pounds of pow
der for every discharge and will carry
a projectilc of steel weighing 2,300
pounds in almost n straight line more
than sixteen miles. At that distance
the projectiles will have q striking en-
ergy equal to the force of 2.5OO-ton
ship running at twenty knots an hour.
The largest Instruments of wnr now
in existence are two cannon mounted
at the mouth of the harbor of Spezia.
near Genoa. where the Italian govern
ment has its naval arsenal. They
weigh 120 tons. which is about the
weight of the monster that was eXhib-
tied by the Krupp company mt the
Worlds Fair. The new gun for Ro-
mer shoals will be six tons heavier
and five feet longer and represents
several important improvements
which have been discovered or invent
I'D otn
were made.
The new gun being made at Bethle-
hem will be forty nine feet two inches
long, and at the thickest part of the
breach will measure five feet five
inches In diameter. 1t will weigh l26
tons, and the caliber will be sixteen
inches. 1t will cost S12OOOO, and the
carriage, pedestal and t,lrret $500, 900
more. The machinery required for
handling and firing the gun will be op-
Grated by electricity. and is of the
most delicate and accurate description.
Although sixteen or eighteen men will
be required as a crew to keep 1t in or.
der, the actual loading and firing will
be done with as little effort as playing
piano or Il typewriter. The shot
will be aimed with mathematical pre-
cision by automatic Instruments. Sci
euCe naS ulScOVefeu meInOuS TO deter
mine with the accuracy of pair of
apothecary's scales how far n certain
amount of powder will carry n certain
weight of metal, and it is only neces-
sary for the man who fires the gun 10
know the weight of the charge and the
projectile and the approximate dis
tance to the target, which is ascer-
tained by scientific observations. Then
he adjusts the delicate mechanism be-
fore him, touches n button gently and
away she goes with the exercise of
less trouble and strength than is re-
quired to fire an old-fashioned horse
pistol. Even if the shot should not
happen to hit the cruiser aimed at,
fourteen or fifteen miles away, 1t
would be very apt to fall in its imme-
diate neighborhood and would create
such commotion in the water as to
swamp it if it did miss the vessel.
The largest guns now in use are on
the great battleships of our navy.
They. weigh from sixty to seventy
tons and the largest bore is thirteen
inches. The weight of twelve-inch
gun is about fifty tons.