Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-08-05

known that the greatest range ever al
tanned in the world was recorded bv a
| Nrupp 9-io-lnch gun on The Meppcr
! range IN Germany. The shot was fired in
, me Presence of the emperor on A1ri y
l>S2. The range WAS measured and found
70 ne 22.l20 yards, roughly III, miles. The
greatest height reached by the krupr
smell IN its flight was y l56 feet tn,
time occupied between the firing of m,
gun and the striking Of enc proiectile was
90 seconds The German artilierist-
poihteu with pride to the fact that had
me Eerman sun been placed at Pre- s.
oldler IN the Alps, with an elevation of
y degrees and fired, its shell would have
ranged N.%96-S feet higher than Mont
.t nc. ana Us IAN would have been in
the neighborhood of Chamounix.
Prior 70 the Meppen shot. the greatest
range ever attained was recorded by a ..
men English gun At Shoeburyness. Eng
Ithd. Inc gun was fired on the occasion
Or the queens jubilee, at II O'clock moan
Several months before the date of firinE
me Ehshsh officials sent out data to the
ltC1Srized artlilerY experts of foreign
countries. and the request was made thu
the range Of the shell be calculated Ma
I9f tthen captain ingalls, was handed the
tnSiish data, as the officer selected to
solve the problem for the United States
army Major ingalls, worked alone. ana
when his calculation was made. il was
duly sealed and forwarded through the
ilplomalc channels To the British war
department
1t was understood from the first that
tne papers We're not to be opened until
after the shot had been fired. To enable
tne foreign officers to calculate the more
closely. the English authorities furnished
all possible data in advance which might
be Needed. The data set forth the tyne
of gun. weight Of she'll nature ANA
weight Of charge. angle of elevation. and
table Of atmospheric readings showing
what conditions had prevailed at Shoe.
buryness for ten years back for the hour
on corresponding days on which the shot
to be fired
The range attained by the English sho.
was about II miles. " nen the papers of
the foreign officers. as well as those Of
the English officers. We're opened it was
found thar the closest calculation of all
had been made by Captain James NJ In
gals. The next best calculation was
artillerist. Captain ingalls, plotted the
fall of the shot only few hundred feet
short of the actual distance. The rival
r1lcplations placed the point of fall at
distances varying from 1900 yards short
10 scFcral miles short On overlooking
the data OF the firing with the actual
conditions of weather which prevailed at
Shoeburyness. on the day in question
Captain Ingalls, was able to place the
shell practically at the very spot where
it struck. in his previous calculations ne
had worked np the problem. using the
mean average atmospheric data for the
standpoint, Ingalls, wonderful showing
has nrver been edualed, and it is doubt
q
ciated for his great attainments in Eu-
rope than he II in the United States. In
gals works on ballisticS have been
translated into a number of languages,
and are standard text books, it is said. in
many foreign services.
The calculation which has Just been
made by Major ingalls, regarding the new
l6-inch gun is all the more interesting in
view of the estimate made not long ago
by an artillery expert of the krIppS. who
expressed doubt Of the American l5-inch
gun being able to attain II sroator range
than sixteen miles. The German expert
admitted that a sixteen mile range Nigh,
be reached on a muZze velocity of 260O
foot-sccOnds but he assumed that the
gun must he laid at an angle of elevation
OF Il degrees, ana this he thought could
not be accomplished except Oh an eXper-
mental carriage. II will bt noted Chat
Major Ingalls, takeg issue squarely with
the figures of the German expert and in
his table he works out the twenty-mile
range on an angle of elevation of only 40
degrees.
in connection with the 16-inch gun data
Major ingalls, has developed table for
the new Pinch navy gun which shows a
range attanable of 1885 miles on a muz-
zle Velucity of 5000 foot-seconds. The
maximum elevation plotted for the L.
inch shell is 32,515 feet. The weight Of
the Pinch shell he assumes TO be $50
pounds.