The herald., 1898-06-18
THE VICIOUS VESUv|US
SOMETHING ABOUT THE TERRI
BILE DYNAMITER
Condemned Until Tried-Now Admit
ted to Be the Most Formidable
Vessel Afoat


Of the Santiago harbor Notifications Mon
day night with three of her giant shells
Army and Navy men are talking about her
as reverently as If she were something su-
pernatural. Citizens generally compared
her with Ericsson's monitor and said she Is
a hundred times more destructive.
| De Borden Wilmot Is the representative OF
the Pneumatic Torpedo and Construction
Company of New York, which designed and
built the cruiser Vesuvius and sold her to
the United States government after she
had undergone series Of severe tests.
1.-THE Vesuvius," said Mr.. Wilmot, has a
battery of three pneumatic guns, mounted
in the bow at a fixed angle of IS degrees. The
guns are IS feet long, Is inches bore and
built rigidly into the vessel. From all 1
have read about Mondays trial with three
| shots am convinced that she has not shown
half of her ability
| What can she do? She can drop 900
pounds of nitro-gelatine nearly two miles
away with accuracy. She can repeat this
feat fifteen times in ten minutes. That
means three tons and three-quarters of high
explosive thrown on the enemy's ships or
| forts or whatever the object of attack may
| be.
l
side is almost beyond computation. 1t is
enough to destroy city, to wipe it off the
face of the earth and eliminate every trace
of its existence. The nitro-gelatine is half
as strong again as dynamite. Imagine the
effect of 3X tons of it.
1.-The moral effect of a bombardment by
the Vesuvius must be tremendous. By way
of illustration let me tell you one fact. The
dynamite cruiser Nictheroy put an end to
the late Brazilian revolution without firing
shot. Her mere presence was enough.
Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, sent Ad-
miral Saldema De Cana of the Brazilian
navy up here to find out how the pneumatic
dynamite gun worked. The admiral was
deeply impressed.
" I'd rather be with that gun than against
it, he remarked to me standing beside the
gun on the proving grounds at Fort Hamil-
ton, where he witnessed its range, accuracy
and destructive power. Within short
time Dom Pedro abdicated, a republican
form of government was set up and Mello
began his revolution. Admiral De Cana
was his chief fighter.
1.-The Brazilian government fitted up the
Nictheroy in New York with one small
dynamite gun. Her coming was reported
ian coast She steamed into Rio Janeiro
harbor cleared for action. There was moth
ing to fire at. The mere news OF her ad-
vent put De Cana and all his men to fight.
They abandoned all their ships. That ended
the revolution.
THE Vesuvius has not one small gun, but
she has three large ones. Their caliber is
Is inches. I can give you a suggestion of
Oh
mite guns at the Preside, near San Fran
cisco. AS test one of these guns sent a
projectile containing 200 pounds of nitro
gelatine across the Golden Gate into one Of
the mountains one mile away. The explo-
sion of this shell dug a crater in the solid
rock 80 feet deep and 65 feet in diameter.
OF course 1t must not be forgotten that the
Vesuvius Is using gun-cotton in her pro-
Jectiles. Gun-cotton is only one-fifth as
strong as nitro-gelatine.
"Where a shell strikes from one of the
guns of the Vesuvius the havoc is awful.
One of her projectiles dropped in the midst
OF regiment would eliminate 1t from war.
II any man In the regiment was not torn
to be bits he would not be fit for fighting.
Against ship the Vesuvius would be
deadly. One Of her big shells dropping ON
q.
exploding In vital part, would shatter the
Ship II one of these shells exploded In
the air or in the water within so feet of
ship of war 1t would crush her side or
bottom and sink her. If one of these shells
explodes within 90 yards of a modern wan
of-war it will render her useless for fight
ing, for the detonation will throw the bear
ings of her engines nearly out of line. dis
10 10
parts. Thus the ship will become a mere
helpless target"
Many leading artillerysts In the army are
in favor of the use of high explosives and
in their official communications to the War
Department have advocated its more ex-
tensive use. The only thing that has wor-
red them is the absence of a convenient
means Of firing it. The dynamite guns at
Fort Hancock and the Preside are, to
certain extent, regarded in the light of ex-
priments.
John P. Holland, inventor of the sub
marine boat which bears his name was en-
thusiastc over the favorable reports of the
)proctical test of the dynamite cruiser Vesu-
vius: He said:
Now, perhaps, they may give the vesu-
vus chance. There always has been the
the navy, just as there is against my boat
now. She never was given any sort of
real test and was utterly condemned by
naval officers for no reason at ALL It was
only after the hardest kind of a fight that
the government could be induced to build
her. and then she was step-child and was
blamed with everything. About four or five
years ago the board in Washington con-
cluded that she was useless and decided to
INTO little gunboat.
fortunately, they had no money avail
able with which to dismantle and refit her
and she lay around awaiting destruction
until the war broke out and there was
such demand for vessels of all kinds that
she had to be put in commission / heard
THAT even after she arrived at Santiago
her commander had to beg to be allowed
to have a shot at the Spaniards, and he
was finally permitted to fire just three
shots, one from each of her guns. The re-
suits seem to have been remarkably sue
cessful. I believe she will create revolu-
ton in naval warfare, at least with regard
to vessels Of her size and kind"
| Chief Engineer Albert F. Dickinson of
the Naval Auxiliary Board, who is now In
this city examining yachts and tugs for the
coast defense fleet, served for several
months on the Vesuvius.
"Most naval officers" he said, "lblve a
prejudice against the vesuvius at fri, but
after they have once served on her THY get
to like her. 1 put in four months u her.