The Eddy current., 1898-09-17

From the New York Journal Iut,
what destructive power does gscat
i6-inch gun. such ~ that nearing com
pleilon a. the Wateryiiot arsenal. pos
aess? Could Il put hole through
the Vizcaya. or would u simply make
big dent In the armor7 Well most de-.
cidediy u could put a hole through her
Il could put a wide yawning hole
through her thlckest armor and send
the big 2,3O0.pound shell flying into
her machinery and magazines. The
great power which this iG-inch coast
defense gun has Is forclbly shown by
the accompanying illustration. When
the Worlds Fair Krupp gun was being
tested ~ TO its power Of penetration
shell was fred into a composite target.
consisting Of srmor plate. wood. stone
and concrete. The face Of the target
was 2s-lnch compound armor plate
of the most improved style Back oi
this was placed n solid wall Of oak
twenty feet thick. II was built Of great
oak beams fastened together securely
into one compact mass Back OF the
oak wall came one Of granite ilvo feet
thick. Great blocks OF the solid stone
were cementcd into one. Back Of this
n bed of hard concrete was formed for
about twenty feet. The great gun was
hred az close range into the center
on this seemingly impenotrablc target
The shell passed clearly and squarely
through every BIT Of the obstruction
except the last few feet of concrete 10
went into this carefully constructed
target exactly thirty-elght feet four
inches Such was the feat OF run
whose power Of penetration is less
than the estimated power OF our own
ld-inch monstcs. Tha now American
gun will surpass Krupps In every de-
tail that figures In the estimate of "a
guns ability Tho speed OF the shell
as u leaves the mouth nf the gun win
be 1875 foOt-scconds which means
that the shell travels nearly 1000 feet
per second. The muzzle energy Of the
gun viii be Gi.OSi foot-tons or power
capable Of moving that number OF
tons O dlsta Of one foot. Such on
orgy would send the great 2.8OO-pou
shell right through thirty-hye inches
OF the heaviest armOr plate steel al
the muzzlc and carry Il far beyond
The shell could cut through thirty
Inches Of solid steel placed $500 yards
away from the cannon's mouth. when
we consider that the heaviest amor
carried by modern battleshlp is but
eighteen Inches. and then only In GER
tain exposed parts, II Nv easy 10 i'm
aglne what would happen IN shell
from this new iG-inch monster were
10 strike one OF Spains ships. fred
from a reasonable range The heay-
lest armor on the Vizcaya Is twelve
and a half inches thick. the wooden
backing 10 which this is bolted is three
feet thick Back of this comes the
one-lnch steel frame of the shin. This
makes a total thickness OF four feet
one and a half Inches through which
shell would have 10 pass before
reaching the Interior Of the vessel
IN view Of what has been said OF the
power Of the big coast defense gun Il
can be seen that projoctile would
easily force its way through the Viz
caya's side and into her engines. maya
zines or whatever happened to be- IN
the way. TO thclr utter destruction.
even II fred al distance q; ave miles
or more.
Great penetrating power Is possible
with guns Of smaller callber. Al Or
dinary range there Is no vessel nnoat
which could withstand the t3-lnch
gums carried on the Indiana and Ore
gon. They would penetrate armor and