The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-07

Tsrr.nc Execusioa Wsrships eau PrOduc
with Their Big Guas.

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Tsrr.nc Execusioa Wsnhips eau Produce
with Thstr Mig Guss.
| Special Corr. chicago Chronicle.
That a naval battle between modern
| fleets armed with modern guns will be
a terribly destructive onc both to the
ships and to the lives of those who
man them. is conceded by all naval
authorities. The dcstructiveness- will
come not only from the tremendous
power and effectiveness Of the guns
but also from the fact that the shell
has replaced the solid snot in all cali
bers down I o the -one-pounder. so hat
to the penetrative effect of the projec-
tile Is added its explosive power and
the scattering of It's fragments I'm a
destructive and death-dcaling circle
many feet in diameter.
The modern armor- piercing shell,
made Of hardened steel and with its
conical point carefully fashioned for
the greatest penetrative power, has all
the armor-piercing effectiveness of the
solid shot OF the same shape. while Its
explosiveness makes II Infinitely more
destructive. The modern shell docs
not explode when IL first strikes the
side or armor of an enemy's ship. but
after Ii has pierced IL and has eX-
hausted its penetrative effect. The
percussion fuse Is in the base of the
shell. and is exploded by a pIunger
driven against IL by the force OF the
impact of the shell on striking. The
tim between the impact of the shell
and its explosion Is sufficient for IL to
have done its full penetrative work.
III penetration has been complete the
explosion Is the terrible one already
pictured; IL not complete hen the
armor has done the work for which
IL was intended. and though damaged
by the impact and explosion has still
saved the lives VI the men behind II,
and might still stand other blows un-
less delivered in precisely the same
spot.
1t is not believed by experts i'm gun
merry that the armor of any ship afioat
could resist the impact % The LOO
pound steel armor-piercing shell from
the 1s-inch gun at modern ranges
while IL Is a we'll understood fact that
even the shell from a three-pounder
will pierce the unarmored portion of
any warship afloat. The result of the
duel when transferred to the field of
war can. indeed. only be c~onjectured,
but everything points TO a tremen-
dously destructive one. II may and
possibly will come down to a question
of which side can get i'm the most ef-
fective blow.
The basis of rapid fire work is the
bringing together into one cartridge of
the primer, powder and shell. When
the limit of weight of Cartridge easily
handled by one man is reached the
limit of rapid fire action is also
reached, and, although the quick
moving breech mechanisms have been
applied abroad to guns Of as large as
eight-inch caliber, such runs would
rank as quick rather than rapid firing,
and would require powder and shot to
be loaded separately. There are sew
eral kinds of breech mechanisms for
rapid fire uns, including the briggs
Schroeder and the Maxim, but in all
the principle is that of moving the
breech block out by one pull at the
lever and in by another, as in the
small arms, while one man remove
the exploded cartridge shell and an
other inserts a fresh one. Three men
can handle h six, three and one-
FOUNDER guns with ease, and a well
trained gun crew can nre from so To
80 shots a minute. Larger crews are
required for the four and five inch
guns, and in these calibers a fire of
20 shots a minute has been attained in
practice.
The practical range OF the great
guns of a ship. the 10, IL and Is inch,
is not believed to be over live or six
miles, and even at that range the
chances of hitting a given object would
be very small. A city could, OF course
be bombarded with effect at such a
range, since the shell would do tre-
mendous damage wherever ii might
strike, but a city to which a ship could
approach no nearer than, say. sever
miles. Is safe from bombardment.
Boston is in such a position to-day
for the Spanish navy has no more
powerful guns than those of the Unit
ed States fleet m therefore. could dc
no greater execution. The nearest
point to the city which could be
reached by a Spanish cruiser or battle
ship without actually entering the
harbor would be one In Broad sound
about a mile from Growers cliff. OF
about fve miles from sthe city. In thi.
position, however. she would be com
pletely at the mercy of he plungine
fire from the mortar battery at Win
throp. as well as i'm effective range OF
the battery of 10-inch disappearing
uns at Long island head. and the
battery Of eight-inch guns at For;
Warren.
Naval authorities agree that tho
plunging fire of the Finch mortars
could not be resisted by even the most
heavily armored ship afoat. and the
chances are that wen one successful
ly placed shell from the rain which
the Is mortars of the battery would
keep up would compel her withdrawal
even II IL did not sink her.
Boston cannot be shelled from any
point outside of Boston harbor. for Il
is II miles from the city. In order &c
lombard the city a Spanish fleet must
therefore. either brave the Winthrop
mortar battery i'm Broad sound. oI
must force a passage either through
Broad sound or the main ship channe
to the inner harbor. This implies tn,
silencing OF Fort Warren. the Ions
island and Winthrop batteries. as wei
as the blowing up of $40 mines in both
channels. and is an undertaking no,
likely to he crowned with success $,
long as the batteries arc properl,
manned and worked.