Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-07-28
MOST POWERFUL WEAPON
YET DEVISED BY MAN

English guns is thus As. Il and s. per cent.
respectively, of that Of the American gun.
Range Of Twenty-One Miles.
The most spectacular feature in connec-
ton with Uncle Sans big gun Is its enor-
nous range, which Is estimated at about
n miles, or to be exact, 20.97S miles. This
theoretical range has been calculated by
Mai. James II. Ingalls,, Fifth United
States artillery, for many years instructor
at the artillery school for officers at Fit.
Monroe, Va. His firing table. prepared es-
pecially for this gun, shows that the above
range Is obtainable with a muzzle veloci-
ty OF 300 feet per second. with the nee
essary angle of elevation of the piece. and
that in ranging to the distance indicated
the shell would reach the maximum ele-
walton of s0,516 feet, OF little short Of six
miles. This is much greater than the max
imum range hitherto obtained by any
other gun, the record Of actual perform
ance at present standing 10 the credit OF
the Krupp 9.45 inch gun, which was hred
In the presence of the Emperor of Ger
many on April g 1892. The measured
range was found to be 22,120 yards. or.
roughly speaking, IL 1-2 miles. The great
est height reached by the Krupp she'll In
its flight was q. 456 feet, or a little more
than four miles and the time occupied
between the firing of the gun and the
striking of the projectile was 70.2 seconds.
pointed
placed at Pre- st. Didier, in the Alps, ele-
waited to A degrees. and fired. its shell
would have ranged s,956.s feet higher than
Mont Blanc. and its fall would have been
In the neighborhood Of Chamounix on the
other side of the mountains.
Covers Enormous Radius.
But this performance, great as It was,
becomes positively insignificant compared
with the capabilities OF the new American
gun. If the latter were set up at the bat
terry, at the lower end OF Manhattan Is
land, in the city Of New York. its esti-
mated range of twenty-one miles means
that its projectiles would be carried
northward as far as Hastings-on-the-H
son! northeasterly. as far as New Ro-
chellei southerly, far above and beyond
the southern extremity Of Staten island;
westerly several miles beyond Summit, n.
j.; and in a northwesterly direction TO
point some four miles beyond Paterson.
The extreme height of the trajectory OF
the gun being, as already said. 50,516 feet,
it follows that its shell would be Thrown
to a height equal TO the combined height
Of Mont Blanc and Pixies. Peak, with
about GOO feet to spare.
The contract for the forgings Of the six
teen-ineh gun was let to the Bethlehem
steel company on December 80. 1886, to be
delivered within Is months, but other
types of guns being more urgently deman-
ded, work on these forgings was not COM
menced till May II. 1898. From that time
the work was carried forward as expe-
ditiously as desired by the government.
Weighed Nearly 100 Tons.
The total length OF the 16-ineh monster
is 40 feet 20 inches. The length Of the
main bore is 81 feet As inches. with d.
arpeter of. Is inches. The nickel steel in
got from which the tube for this gun was
cast at the Bethlehem works weighed 222,-
300 pounds, or 1872 gross tons. and the gun,
as 1t rests in the arsenal at Watervliet,
almost ready for shipment to Sandy Hook,
where 1t is to be tested. weighs $4,000
pounds, or 126 tons.
Here are a few other interesting facts
relative to the big gun:
Length of proJectile. feet inches.
Penetration Of steel, estimated, 1928 in
ches.
Cost Of firing the gun once, $1,000.
Weight of tube alone, 80 tons.
Weight of tube, Jacket, and hoops, 9S.5
tons.
Just when the gun will be tested is not
yet known. probably not before late fall.
No carriage has been made for II, and sew
eral months will probably elapse before
this additional work is completed. If the
gun comes up to the requirements Of the
ordnance board 1t will no doubt be per-
manently installed at Sandy Hook and
work on other guns of like caliber, for
Boston, San Francisco, and Hampton
Roads will be undertaken as soon as pos
SHE.