Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-06-29
OUR BIG GUNS LONG LIVED.
This is Already Demonstrated by the
Present War.

his Is AITeauy demonstrated Dy the
Present War.
! Naval ordnance bureau reports from the
i officers on board the battleships and mon
itors in the West Indies speak in the high
est terms Of the behavior Of the heavy
guns mounted on these ships. Not one of
the big guns has exhibited any signs of
weakening, although some of them have
already been fired more times than foreign
ordnance experts expected they could be
fired with safety. American naval officers,
who know how guns are made down at
the Washington gun factory, confidently
predict that every big gun in SIMPSONS
| fleet will outlive the war, unless put out of
action by the enemy.
Since the war began a deal of nonsense
has been printed about the life of big
guns, as the result of which the general
opinion held among persons who have not
the opportunity to learn the truth is that
one of the .peacemakers" on the "Ore-
gon", for example--a gun which hurls
half ton of steel through thirty-three
inches of wrought iron-cannot be de-
pended upon to stand the strain Of more
|
to pieces much sooner. 1t is not difficult
to discover the origin of the Zone hun
bred firings" fallacy. 1t is the same as
that of some other similar ones.
Not long ago book was published in
England on "Modern Naval Artillery,
in which was described the manufacture
of heavy ordnance at the great Elswick
factory. "Brassey's Navy AnnuaP', the
leading authority in Europe on naval sta
tistics, declared, at the time the book came
out, that there was no better authority on
the subject of the life OF big guns, and
quoted from it this statement: at is gen.
/, orally understood that the life of the 81
ton gun may be taken at 100 rounds and
the 110-ton gun at seventy-tive rounds,
both with full charges" And Capt. Orde
Browne, the English ordnance expert,
adds: ''The number of rounds which
heavy gun will fire before becoming I'M
serviceable is unfortunately very small"
England's failure to produce serviceable
heavy guns on the hoop principle is no.
torious. The ridiculous behavior of the
| 110-ton guns on the "Benbow', "Sans
Pareil'' and the Inflated "Victoria", which
so sagged at the muzzles after few fir
ings that they had to be returned to the
factory, created the popular impression
that the big guns were unfit for war.
And the experience of the Krupps, re-
puted to be the worlds greatest gun max
ers, has been similar. Visitors to the
Chicago fair remember the ugly-looking
Potion gun exhibited there by the Krupps.
Gen. Nelson A. Miles took look at this
monster when he was abroad two years
ago. He was told that it had been fired
sixteen times, and for fear of knocking it
apart it wouldn't be fired again. England
has discarded the chopped" gun for the
wire wound and English factories no
longer make the type of gun mounted on
all our fighting ships.
We began making modern guns only
ten years ago the armament of the first
cruisers of the white squadron having
been bought abroad. Just eleven years
ago this month the first contracts for gun
forgngs of modern construction were let
to the Bethlehem Iron company. We be-
gan the manufacture of the very type of
guns a bout to be discarded abroad. Since
that contract was let, we have built gun
factory at the Washington navy yard,
where have been built all the heavy guns
on our battleships, monitors, and fighting
! cruisers. Americans do not generally
know it, but it is a fact, undlsputed by
foreign experts who have studied gun
making in this country, that the WASH
ington gun factory turns out the finest
chopped" guns in the world-far superior
to krupps-and, in fact, the only heavy
naval guns of this type which will stand
the strain of long service.
Just how long our big naval guns may
be expected to live is a matter of opinion,
for none of them has died yet. Not one
of them has ever even broken down IN
service, One of the "Miantonomah's" 10
inch guns, now waiting for chance to
sink an enemy's ship, has had about as
severe test as any of the big guns in the
navy, for the gun was one of the first
turned out of the gun factory. Gunner
Michael w. Gilmartin, now on duty at
the New York navy yard, fired this gun
more than hundred times at the Indian
Head proving grounds. That was some
years ago, before the gun was mounted
aboard ship. Since it was first shipped to
the testing ground this gun has been fired
more than 200 times, and it is just as fit
for service to-day as the day it left the
factory. No gun abroad can show such a
record
The "Miantonomah' guns, it must be
remembered, were among our early guns.
In strength and stability they are inferior
to the newer ones. The war with Spain
may result in data from which may be de-
termined the average life of the 12-lnch
and 13-inch guns, but ordnance officers
; say the war will have to be long one to
put any of our heavy guns out OF acton
That all of the new guns will be service