The herald., 1898-04-03
IN ACTIoN-THE AFTER GUNS OF THE IOWA

ing bodily from the protective deck below
Within this great tube Of hardened steel
rest the foundations for the turrets and
the mechanisms vital to the management
Of the turrets and the guns; and up through
this sturdy passage are brought the pow
der and shot from the. sheltered folds OF
the magazines and shell rooms way below.
Each of these guns weighs forty-ive tons
as it rests upon its carriage; has a total
length of IS feet and a greatest diamete.
of nearly feet at the breech. The bore is
rifled with As twisting grooves that bite
| into the copper band on the base of the
projectiles and give them that rapid rota-
| ton so essential to accuracy of flight and
high power of penetration. With an i'm
| pulse of ago pounds of powder the $50
pound shot of hardened steel goes speed
| ing on its mission Of destruction with an
| initial velocity of some thing over AGO miles
an hour. With the greatest elevation per-
mitted by the turret ports, /. e., 10 degrees
| each of these guns has a range of quite
| so miles. Bombarding a city from that
| distance the shot would reach its des-
tination in a scant twenty-four seconds
| three whole seconds in advance of the
sound of the discharge that sent 1t. At the
| muZzle one of these guns could send an
armor piercing shot right through "a inches
| of solid steel, and a mile and half away
the same kind of shot would go undeform-
| ed through 10 inches of the same kind Of
| material. The destructive impulse latent
| in that shot as it leaves the gun is equival-
| ent to the force required to raise one foot
twice the total weight of the whole ship
| when heavy laden.
| FIRE 25o-POUND SHOTS
The S-inch guns are protected by five and
eight inches of hardened metal and fire
a 250-pound shot with force enough tc
pierce twelve inches of steel a mile away.
The 4-inch guns can fire eight thirty
three pound shot in a minute, easily able
to bore their way through seven inches OF
steel 1000 yards away; while the twenty G.
Founders could maintain murderous hal
of explosive shell into open ports and upon
| the unarmored portions of foe.
The torpedoes each with its deadly bur,
! den of $50 pounds of that three-fold power
full gun-cotton, could tear their way
through the toughest fabrications of stee
and make the mightest battleship bow in
| submission.
These are some of the powers placed al
the captains command.
| IN TIME OF WAR
Take your watch in hand and at the
| sharp shrill call of the boatswains whistle
| all hands are called to clear ship for action
| and scarcely has the last note drifted or
| the breeze before every man is at his post
and hard at work except the prisoners.
| You who have known the craft 81 times
| of peace and dress parade watch her now
| Down come all the shining ratings and
polished hatchway canopy frames and owe,
the open ways in the wake of the guns arc
| fastened battle plates of heavy steel AL
| unnecessary ventiators are slowed below
| and their deck holes filled with metal disks
Great anchor cranes are turned down on
of the way of shot and shell. and the decks
left bare but for the flash plates that take
the first blast of the great guns. The
anchors are freed from their cables and tho
chain, if not slowed below, is wrapped 70,
protection about unarrnored parts
PROTECT AMMUNITION SUPPLY
Boat davits are detached and slowed
| either down along the sides or bodily re,