The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-07-18
OUR new YORK LETTER
OUR BIGGEST GUNS COMPARED WITH
THOSE OF OTHER NATIONS.

Figures Not All In Our Favor-Our Heavy
Ordnance Decidedly Not the Best of
Its Ciass-New Era In Sight For Gun
and Projectiie Inventors.
| NEW YORK, July 1s.-[Special. Moth
| Ing has been more clearly demonstrated to
| date in this war than the truth of the oft
| repeated assertion that the quality of the
men behind the guns, whether on sea or
| land, Is more important by far than the
guns themselves. At the same time
tremendously important lesson with re-
gard to guns and ammunition is being adj
ministered TO Uncle Sam right now, n les
son, by the way, the learning of which
should never have been put of till the
time of war.
This lesson is simplicity itself. 1t may
be expressed in five morosyllables, and
here they are I'VE must have the best |"
There is nothing novel about this lesson
to Americans in any walk of life. 1t Is,
in fact, the keynote of the business policy
followed by manufacturers, merchants,
railroad men, builders-every one, in fact,
who has won success in his chosen calling.
Its general application in American enter
prises explains the marvellous growth of
the country, the speed of our locomotives,
the recent unprecedented expansion of our
foreign trade and "a thousand other things
over which the world is now wondering.
Last, but not least it makes our sea vic
tories logical, for while the powder used
by our navy is the poorest employed by
any civilized nation and our guns are of
medium effectiveness only, our ships are
clearly as good as the best.
Our Big Navy Guns.
In view of the dreadful execution done
by the big guns in combat with the Span
iards the statement that these pieces are
of no more than medium quality may
seem passing strange. Yet this is the fact
according to all comparative tests, the
guns of the British, the French and the
Germans nearly all equaling and some
outranking ours in sufficient degree to
make the preponderance decisive, other
things being equal. Here are some figures:
The type of 10 inch gun now in use in
our navy weighs 2s Ito tons, the muzzle
velocity of the projectile is 1900 feet Sec
ond, the muzzle energy in foot tons is 49,
631, or 552 tons for each ton weight of the
gun. Compared with the 10 inch British
gun of the built up pattern ours shows
decided superiority, the figures for the
English pieces of that caliber being:
Weight, 2918 tons; muzzle velocity of
projcctile, 1910 feet n second; total en-
ergy, ia, 662 foot tons, or 497 tons for every
ton of gun. The French have no gun of
exactly that caliber, the nearest approach
being 10 610 inches, and 1t is less effective
than either the American or British gun
closest in size, its weight
being "a 4-10 tons, muzzle velocity of pro-
jectile 1 ,96S feet second, total muzzle en-
ergy 1909 TONS or 377 tons for each ton
weight of gun.
The best figures are shown by the Krupp
gun, used, of course, in the German navy
and those of several other European pow
ers, including SPANS. Eight and three
tenths inches is the closest approach to the
American 10 inch size but the figures are
tho weight of the gun being
IA 2-10 tons, the muzzle velocity 2, 119 feet
q second and the total muzzlo energy in
foot tons 8, no, or 6SS for every ton weight
of gun. In the important consideration
Of muzzle energy for each ton Of gun the
German piece, it will be seen, exceeds the
American by almost 20 per cent and the
fact that the German gun exceeds the
English and French pieces more than 1t
does ours does not help the matter much.
Greatest Guns Compared.
Comparative figures derived from tests
of guns of caliber exceeding 10 inches are
not less instructive, though the calibers |
are not identical, and no figures at all are
Mt hand regarding the greater Krupp |
pieces. For convenience will place what |
figures have In tabular form
Muzzle Muzzle u
Weight veloc. energy Per
in feet in ton of |
tons. per sec. tons. gun.
United States 10
inches ........... 6l.5 2,O99 34,l68 SIS |
British lit inches,
wire wound. -. 46.7 1893 $3.50 73S
British IL inches,
built un. 467 lNH2 IL 8Gl goa