The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-18
ONE CHARGE WILL SINK A SHIP
KILL A REGIMENT OF MEN, DESTROY
A FORT OR REND A MOUNTAIN.
A Terrible Engine of Destruction That
May ReVOlutiOnize Warfare-Views
of Naval Officers and Inventors.

day night with three of her giant shells.
Army and navy men are talking about her
reverently as if she were something
supernatural. Citizens generally compared
her with Ericsson's monitor and said she
is hundred times more destructive.
De Borden Wilmot is the representative of
the Pneumatic Torpedo and Construction
Company. of New York which designed and
built the cruiser Vesuvius and sold her 10
the United States government after she had
undergone a series of severe tests. THE
Vesuvlus' said Mr.. Wilmot. has bat
terry of three pneumatic guns mounted in
the bow at a fixed angle of eighteen de-
grees. The guns are fifty-five feet long.
ffteen-inch bore and built rigidly into the
vessel. From all / have read about Mon
day nights trial with three shells / am QDn-
WINGED that she has not shown half of her
ability.
What can she do? She can drop five
hundred pounds of nitrogelatin nearly two
miles away with accuracy. She can repeat
this feat fifteen times in ten minutes. That
means three and three-quarters tons of high
explosive thrown upon the enemys ships or
forts or whatever the object of attack may
be. The destructive power of such a broad
side is almost beyond computation. 1t is
enough to destroy a city; to wipe it off the
face of the earth and eliminate every trace
of it's existence. The nitrogelatin is half
as strong again as dynamite. Imagine the
effect of three and three-quarters tons of it.
MORAL EFFECT OF THE TERROR"
The moral effect of a bombardment by
the Vesuvius must be tremendous. By way
Of illustration let me tell you one fact. The
dynamite cruiser Nictheroy put an end to
the late Brazilian revolution without firing
e,ba ann
Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, sent
Admiral Da Cana, of the Brazilian navy.
up here to find out how the pneumatic dyna-
mite gun worked. The admiral was deeply
impressed. I'd rather be with that gun
than against it, he remarked to me. stand
ing beside the gun on the proving grounds
at Fort Hamilton, where he witnessed its
range, accuracy and destructive power.
Within a, short time Dom Pedro abdicated,
a republican form of government was set
up and Melo began his revolution. Admiral
Da Cana was his chief fighter. The Bra
lillian government fitted up the Nictheroy in
New York with one small dynamite gun.
Her coming reported by teiegraphfaS
soon as she approached the Brazilian coast.
She steamed into Rio de Janeiro harbor
cleared for action. There was nothing to
fire at The mere news of her advent put
Da Cana and all mis- men to flight. They
abandoned all their ships. That ended the
The Vesuvius has not one small dyna-
mite gun, but she has three big ones. Their
caliber is fifteen inches. ! can give you
suggestion of heir force. There are three
ffteen-inch dynamite guns at the Pres i
near San Francisco. AS test one or these
guns sent projectile containing TWO nun
bred pounds of ntrogeatin across the COL
den Gate into one of the mountains one
mile away The explosion of TINS shell mel aug aug
| in, fhirfV-flVe
deep and sixty-five feet in diameter OF
course, it must not be forgotten that tne
Vesuvius is using gun cotton IN her pToJec-
tiles Gun cotton is only one-hfth as strong
Where a shell strikes from one of the
guns of the Vesuvius the havoc is awIul:
one of her projectiles dropped in the midst
of a regiment would eliminate 1t from the
If han any n o IN f nof BE IN for ghtng
Against a ship the VesuVus Will be dead
ly. One of her big shells, dropping on the
deck would crush through the armor and'
exploding in vital part. shatter the snip:
If one of these shells eXplodes IN the ar
or in the water within fifty feet OF a snip
and sink her If one of those shells ex-
plodes within fifty yards of modern man
| of-war it will render her useless for fight
| ings of her engines out OF line dlslocate
| the shaft or jam the neatly fitted parts.
| Thus the ship will become a mere helpless
Many leading artillerists in the army are
greatly in favor of the use of high explo-
| sives and in their official communications TO
| the War Department have advocated IT'S
| more extensive use. The only thing that
has worried them is the absence OF a q con-
| it. The great dynamite guns at Fort han
| cock and at the Presidio, San Francisco,
| are, to certain extent, regarded III the
| light of experiments.
INVENTOR HOLLANDS VIEWS.
John p. Holland inventor of the subma-
rine boat which bears his name, was en-
| thusiastic over the favorable reports re-
ceived of the practical test of the dynamite
cruiser Vesuvlus. He said: Now, perhaps,
| they may give the Vesuvius a chance. There
always has been the strongest kind of
| prejudice against her in the navy, just as
there is against my boat now. She never
was given any sort of real test and was
| utterly condemned by naval officers for no
reason at all. 1t was only after the hard
est kind of a fight that the government
| could be induced 10 build her, and then she
| was stepchild, and was blamed with ev-
erything. About four or five years ago the
| board in Washington concluded she was
| useless and decided to tear out her dyna-
mite guns and turn her into little gun
boat. Fortunately. they had no money
| available with which TO dismante and reht
! her, and she lay around awaiting deStruc-
| ton until the war broke out and there was
| she had TO be put into commission. hear
! that even after her arrival al Santiago her
/ commander nad 10 beg 10 DC allowed TO
have a shot at the Spaniards. and ne was
! finally permitted fire just three shots,
one from each of her guns The results
seem TO have been remarkably successful.
| L believe she will create revolution in
modern warfare.
Chief Engineer Albert F. Dixon. of the
| naval auxiliary board, who is now in this
| city examining yachts and tugs for the coast
| defense fleet, served for several months on
| the Vesuvius Most naval officers" said
he, have prejudice against the Vesuyius
at first but after they have once served on
her they get to like her. l put I'm four
months on her. Our duty was destroying
| derelicts. She has three guns. or tubes. for
throwing dynamite. They are built into the
ship extending through TWO decks and COM
| ing out at an angle of eighteen degrees.
| They are fifty-hve feet long, and fifteen
| feet of that length protrudes above deck.
| The loading device is peculiar. A section
of the gun. including about ten feet os the
breech, slips down Il BAH and socket
joint, and into this the projectile. contain
| ing two hundred pounds OF gun cotton, Is
pushed. Then the section is raised into po-
sition and the gun is ready TO be fired, The
range is obtained by range finders, one on
each end of the ship, and the guns are
fire. The guns themselves cannot be moved.
The extreme range is three or four miles,
but the effective range is not more than one
and one-half miles.
Engineer Dixon has no doubt that tho
Vesuvius VIII give a good account of herself
IL she Is called on 70 open an the channel