The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1898-10-08
MEANS DESTRJJC JCT7ION..
SHELL FROM As MODERN 1e-
81 INCH GUN. 5.. .5s
What Shot from Our Uncle ssmueI's
4 Great Coast Defense Monsters Can DO
Z to An Enemy's Ships when It Hits
!. Them. 5Is SIg f<s.# 5s

## From the New York Journal: Just
what destructive power does great
l6-inch gun, such as that nearing COM:
pletion at the Watervliet arsenal, pos
sess? Could it put a hole through
the Vizcaya, or would it simply make
big dent in the armor? Well, most de-
scidedly it could put a hole through her.
1T could put wide, yawning hole
through her thickest armor and send
the big 2 2,300-pound shell flying into
hsr machinery and magazines. The
great power which this 16-inch coast
defense gun has is forcibly shown by
the, accompanying illustration When
the Worlds Fair Krupp gun was being
q tested as to its power of penetration, a
she'll was fired into a composite target,
consisting of armor plate, wood, stone
and concrete. The face of the target
was 28-inch compound armor, plate
of the most improved style. Back of
this was placed a solid wall of oak
twenty feet thick. It was built Of great
I oak beams fastened together securely.
Into one compact mass. Back of the
oak wall came one of granite five feet
thick. Great blocks of the solid stone
were cemented into one Back of this
bed OF hard concrete was formed for
about twenty feet. The great gun was
hred at close range into the center
OF this seemingly impenetrable target.
The shell passed clearly and squarely
through every bit of the obstruction
except the last few feet of concrete. It
went into this carefully constructed
target exactly thirty-eight feet four
inches. Such was the feat Of a gun
whose power of penetration is less
than the estimated power of our own
16-inch monster. The new American
gun will surpass Krupp's in every de-
tail that figures in the estimate of a
guns ability. The speed of the shell
as it leaves the mouth Of the gun will
be 1875 foot-seconds, which means
that the shell travels nearly 1000 feet
per second. The muzzle energy of the
gun will be 64,084 foot-tons, or power
capable Of moving that number OF
tons distance Of one foot. Such en-
ergy would send the great 2, ,300-pound
shell right through thirty-five inches
of the heaviest armor plate steel at
the muzzle and carry it far beyond
The. shell could cut through thirty
inches of solid steel placed $500 yards
away from the cannon's mouth. When
we consider that the heaviest armor
carried by modern battleship is but
eighteen inches, and then only in GER
tain exposed parts, it is easy to i'm
agine what would happen if a shell
from this new 16-inch monster were
to strike one of Spain's ships, fired
from a reasonable range. The heav-
lest armor on the Vizcaya is twelve
and a half inches thick; the wooden
; backing to which this is bolted is three
feet thick. Back of this comes the
one-inch steel frame of the ship. This
makes total thickness of four feet
one and a half inches through which
shell would have to pass before
reaching the interior Of the vessel.
In view of what has been said of the
power Of the big coast defense gun it.
can be seen that projectile would
easily force it's way through the Viz
caya's side and into her, engines, maga-
zines or whatever happened to be in
the way, to their utter destruction.
even if fired at distance of five miles
or more.
Great penetrating power is possible
with guns Of smaller caliber. At or.
dinary range there is no vessel afoat
which could Withstand the 13-inch
guns carried on the Indiana and Ore