Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-06
WILL SHOOT FL MILES.
The Greatest Cannon In the World
Completed at Watervliet.

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Completed at Watervliet.
There has just been completed at the
United States arsenal at Watervliet, N.
Y. 16-inch B. L. rifle, which, accord
ing to Colonel ]. P. Farley, Of the ord
nance department of the United States
army, is the most powerful gun In the
world. 1t is the first of series Of sim
liar gigantic weapons to be construct
ed for the coast defense Of the United
States. The Endicott board, which was
appointed during the first administra-
tion of Grover Cleveland, had the whole
subject of seacoast defense under con-
sideration for a considerable period of
time and reached the conclusion that
1S of these weapons should be provided
for the protection of New York, that
10 Of them should be mounted at San
Francisco, at Boston and 4 at Hamp-
ton Roads.
Other rifled guns Of large caliber
heretofore constructed are the Italian
gun, caliber 1875 inches, the French
gun of 16.5-inch caliber. and the Arm
strong gun Of 16.25-inch caliber, which
is carried on the battle ships Benbow
and Sans Pareil. Not one of these
compares, in point of energy and range,
with the 16-inch gun just completed for
Uncle Sam. The range and energy Of
the American gun will vary with the
quality and amount Of powder used.
and the question Of the actual per-
formance Of the gun can therefore only
be determined by actual trial tests.
With smokeless powder as at present
proposed, the gun requires powder
charge of SIG pounds, but If the old
black powder is used 1,176 pounds will
be required. With a maximum powder
pressure Of between $1,000 and $4,000
pounds to the square inch 1t Is estimat-
ed that the gun will throw projectile
weighing 2,370 pounds with a muzzle
velocity of $500 feet per second, devel-
oping a muzzle energy Of $4,000 foot
tons but it Is not improbable tnat by
using a slower burning powder, giving
less maximum pressure, the gun
would develop even greater velocity and
and energy than this. with a relatively
small increase in the chamber pressure.
Even on the basis given above. how
ever, this gun shows enormous superb
ority to any of the large guns above
mentioned. The Itanan gun, for in
stance, throws a projectile weighing
1000 pounds with a muzzle velocity of
LOO feet per second and an energy of
only 10000 foot IONS, considerably less
than one-half that Of the new Ameri-
can weapon. The French gun throws
projectile weighing LOO pounds with
muzzle velocity Of 1,7O0 feet per Sec
ond and develops a maximum energy
Of $4,000 foot tons. The English gun
throws a projectile weighing 1900
pounds with a muzzle velocity Of 2.100
feet per second and total energy Of
81, 900 foot tons. The maximum energy
of the Italian, French and English guns
is thus As, Al and 65 per cent. respect
lively, of that of the American gun.
The most spectacular feature in con-
nection with Uncle Sans big gun Is its
enormous range, which Is estimated at
about q miles, or, to be exact, 2O.97S
miles. This theoretical range has been
calculated by Mai, James H. ingalls,.
Fifth United States artillery. for many
years instructor at the artillery school
for officers at Fort Monroe, Va. His
firing table. prepared especially for this
gun, shows that the above range is OBJ
tainable with a muZzle velocity of 1900
feet per second, with the necessary an
gle of elevation of the piece, and that
in ranging to the distance indicated the
shell would reach the maximum eleva-
tion Of 30,516. feet, or little short OF
six miles. This is much greater than
the maximum range hitherto obtained
by any other gun, the record Of actual
performance at present standing to the
credit Of the Krupp 9.45-inch gun,
which was fired in the presence of the
emperor of Germany on April 2S, 1892
The measured range was found to be
22.12O yards. or, roughly speaking, 12a
miles. The greatest height reached by
the Krupp shell in its flight was 21,456
feet, or little more than four miles,
and the time occupied between the fir
ing of the gun and. the striking Of the
projectile was 70.2 seconds. 1t was
pointed out that had this gun been
placed at Pre- St. Didier, in the Alps,
elevated 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.
But this performance great as it was,
becomes positively insignificant COM
pared with the capabilities Of the new
American gun. If the latter were set
up at the battery, at the lower end of
Manhattan Island, in the city of New
York, it's estimated range Of 21 miles
means that it's projectiles would be car
red northward as far as Hastings-on
the Hudson; northeasterly as far as
New Rochelle; southerly. far above and
beyond the southern extremity of Sta
ten Island; westerly several miles be-
yond Patterson. The extreme height
Of the trajectory of the gun being, as
already said, 3O,516 feet, it follows that
it's shell would be thrown to height
equal to the combined height Of Mont
Blanc and Pixies Peak, with about 600
feet to spare.
The contract for the forgings Of the
l6-inch gun was let to the Bethlehem
Steel company on December 80, 1896, to
be delivered within 18 months; but 9TH
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