The sun., 1898-06-05

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} cost would be about one-third that Of fir
ing the thirteeninch rifles, while guns oil
the smaller calibres, SIX, five and four
inch, would be fired with as little regard
to cost as man putting five. cent cigar.
vi course this is not saying that the am
! munition is wasted or that there is any
reckless firing.
Every grn in the service is built for a
certain speed Of fire the rough or smooth
condition of the water retarding or 40
celebrating that speed Once having
cleared for action, it is the duty OF the
gun captains to see that their pieces
are kept up to the maximum of efficiency
during the engagement. A naval battle
is not play. The ship that lands the
greater number of projectiles and lands
them fairly is the winner. For this rea-
son it is false economy to carry on
hesitating fire when every extra shot
adds just SO much more to the chances.dt
victory.
The following facts concerning the
thirteen-inch guns of the navy, of which
there are just twelve in use, speak for
themselves. The projectiIe for a thirteen
inch breech-loading turret rifle weighs
100 pounds, little more than half q
ton. 1t stands four feet high and can
pierce, at the muzzle, 34.6 inches OF
wrought iron or 27 inches OF steel. Whik
in the muzzle of the gun at the moment
OF discharge, the projectile travels at the
rate of 2lO0 feet second. Worked out
under the mathematical calculations oJ
the Ordance Bureau at Washington, it
has been ascertained that the energy
sufficient to carry the projectile thirteeE
miles would move 33,627 tons one foot.
No patriotic American citizen would
begrudge the paltry sum of $500 fos
destructive operations against Spain
equal to the moving of a row of brick
houses. The weight of the 13.inch rife
is 603 tons, and it is 40 feet long from
the breech block to the tip of muzzle.
The regulation service charge for guns M
this calibre is $50 pounds Of brown pris-
matte powder, divided into two sections.
There are on the Indiana four 13-inch
guns, consuming at single discharge
powder and shell to the value of So, 100.
The eight S-inch guns, at $3.50 each,
aggregate another 1000. The remaining
four 6-inch guns adds $4OO more to the
above figures, and an extra $400 may be
counted for the smaller calibre rapid-fire
guns OF the secondary battery. This, III
is to be remembered, is a single dis
charge, and the total cost for all guns is
$1,000,
Computing the average rate of fire for
all guns combined to be, during an en-
gagement, at the rate of five complete
discharges of the entire main and
secondary batteries in every hour, it
would cost the Government $4,000 for
the Indana's ammunition during a
battle of an hours duration.
The North Atlantic squadron COM
prises, in addition to number of ar
mored and protected cruisers, five
armored vessels carrying heavy guns,
namely, the Iowa, Indiana, Terror, Puri-
tan and Amphitrte. A discharge from
the main batteries Of this formidable
fleet costs:
Iowa, 5000; Indiana, $4,000; Terror
$1,000; Puritan, $1,000, and Amphitrite,
$1,000. Total, $4,000.
And it could all be done in a secondy
But in the second that burnt up SlS,00e
in gunpowder as many pounds of steel
would have found their way into the
Spal lsh. At one discharge the Iowa
throws 5000 pounds of metal; the In
diana fires 1000; the Puritan follows
next with 5000 from her four great
Pinch guns; and the Terror and Amphi-
trite comes in last with 1000 pounds
each. One hours work of this kind,
figuring on an average OF five complete
discharges of the fleets entire available
would mean to the govern
ment an expenditure of close on to 500,
600.
Fifty tons of projectiles, varying in
size from shells weighing one pound te
100 pounds, would be thrown and the
energy expended would represent suift
cient physical force to erect couple OF
city sky.scrapers in a day. ...
The reason for the enormous cost OF
modern steel projectiles, especially those '
OF the larger calibres, is obvious. The
process OF making a l3-inch shell occu-
pies two weeks and requires the handling
OF at last dozen skilled workmen dur.
ing the different stages of manufacture.
After being cast in the metal and forged
out under the hammer, the big cone, still
in roughed.out condition, is put in
lathe and accurately bored out and
dressed down to the size designated by
the governments blue prints.
Two metal rings of copper alloy are
shrunk around the circumference of the
finished projectle into two grooves, pro-
viding soft substance for the steel riff
ing of the gun to cut into in order that
the projectile may be given a powerful
motion when it leaves the
muzzle of the gun, and thereby bore
through the air without deviation from
its course.
Brown hexagona powder costs about
fifty cents IL pound. For charges of 500
pounds, such as are used for the l3-inch
guns OF the navy, the cost of firing a
single shell amounts to nearly $500, the
$500 necessary to bring the
Drice of discharge up to $500 being con-
'umed by the cost of the shell itself and
he explosive charge it contains
A discharge from the Indiana's four
arge guns would burn up 2,2O0 pounds
II powder, or enough, to fill coal wagon
o the ''honest ton" height. The differ
nee in cost between ton of the best
oal and a ton of the most powerful pow
Ter is S3,095.25. A ton of coal might be
BILE to push a batt'eship weighing lO,-
100 tons distance of a quarter of a mile.
me ton OF powder will Dush two tons of