The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-25


and with primary batteries fully equal
to that class they mount secondary
guns IN such fashion as to make the
/ com bination almost uneQualed in naval
architecture. The big rifles, four in
number are mounted in two turrets,
one sweeping the entire sea from di-
I rectly ahead, fully half way astern. the
other with equal range, placed so as to
command the sea from either bow
straight astern. These are of 13-iuch
/ caIibeT. vet the British navy now con-
fines its guns to 70 inches. In inches
The difference seems small. Yet the
American gun has about % per cent
more power.
BOLD EXPERIMENT.
At this point in the armament of the
ships the American designers have en-
barked in a bold and enterprising ex-
pertinent. the result of which viii be
awaited with interest by the whole
maritime world. Instead of descending
at one move from the heavy primary
I battery to the small-calibre rapid-fire
guns. as is done in the case of cruisers,
it has become the custom of naval ar
chitectS to interDOSe a battery Of me-
dium-calibre guns, six or eight-inch
guns. for instance, and these are placed
in smaller independent turrets about
the ship. 1t occurred to the American
with the weighty and space-conSuming
machinery attached to these turrets,
such as the turning engines and ma
chinery. independent ammunition hoist
shields and the Ike, much more engine
power could be placed in the huh Of
the ship and much more armor could
he carried. They solved the problem
by rigidIy attaching the smaller tur-
rets, each containing two eight-inch
rides. to the top of the big 13-inch tur-
rets. The plan had another advantage
than Weight-saVing. Theoretically. 1t
tended to a terrible concentration of
the fire Of the ship. Probably the
craft does not float that would survive
the awful impact from the four guns
of one Of these combined lurrets upon
one small section of its hull, and be-
cause they are trained in unison their
pro5ecUiles must strike close together.
AMERICAN INVENTION.
With this saving in weight the de-
signers were able TO give splendid ar
NOR protection to the ships. All Of this
arm5r is Of Harveyized nickel-steel. of
American invention, and the best in
The world up to this date, as is shown
hy the many European efforts to equal
il by Other processes of manufacture.
Moreover, IL is Skillfully disposed so
a. 10 make every ounce OF steel count
tor the protection of the crew. The
big tUrrets are l. inches thick in front,
diminishing in thickness 10 10 inches
in the rear. where they, are less liable
to be struck, because in action the guns
are supposed always TO be turned to-
wards the enemy. The smaller tur-
rets above for a like reason, vary in
thickness from II to inches. To make
sure no stray shot strikes the ammu-
milton hoists leading to the magazines
TO the tu-rets. the former are enclosed
i'm tubes of hardened steel Is inche. in
thickness. Mounted in this fashion.
the guns are almost invulnerable from
the eight-inch rifles mounted high in
air with good range and capable of
piercing the walls of most armored
ships at fighting quarters, TO the big
13-inch guns that can project their ar
mOr-pirrcing shot a dozen miles across
the sea