New-York tribune., 1902-10-28
NAVAL ORDNANCE.
ADMIRAL o'NEIL ADVOCATES GREAT
BATTERY POWER FOR WARSHIPs.

Washington. oct. 27.-Admiral O'Neil. CHIEF OF
the Naval Bureau Of Ordnance in his annual re-
port made public to-day says that the ordnance
bureau wants s3ls2.sos next year Of when
100000 is be devoted TO arFnor and armament
FOR new ships He says that kor the first time
I'm years the manufacture OF armtr has made saus-
factory progress. 1872 tons haJng been delivered
Al the various shipyards. witbfrospects Of largely
Increasing the deliveries. 10 improvement worth
speaking Of seems to have been made in the quail
fly Of armor Of late. The manufacture OF smoke
less powder has made satisfactory progress so far
quality is concerned /out not so much as 10 the
amount delivered So FAR as the stability Of smoke
less powder is concerhed the results Of the year.
work have been Of ting most satisfactory character
and. with few exceptions. the ballisuc qualities OF
the powder have remained unchanged.
The most interesting occurrence of the year IN
connection with proJectiles is the development Of
new type Of shell combining the advantages OF the
arnor piercing with the common shell; that IS.
having the perforating power OF the regular armor
piercing projectile with the capacity for large
bursting charge.
novel device tried was the tracer which
renders shell visible at night 10 the gunner. but
invisible to the persons at the target. this being
accomplished by the insertion Of a burning com
position in the base Of the shell
Admiral O'Neil finds that the best way illus
trate the tremendous development of artillery in
late is to cite two cases. those of the 6inch
and the Pinch guns. The former used 10 weigh
only As tons. enly 80 calibres in length. with
muzzle energy ef 2 77S foot tons and practicable
rate Of fire of two and one-half aimed shots per
minute. The new type is so calibres in length.
uses smokeless powder. weighs eight tons can be
hrss eight times a minute and has a muzzle energy
of$sS6 poot tons In other words IL is per cent
more Powerful than the old gun. The l2inch gun
shows an increase in energy over the old gun OF
S5is per cent
There is TO be a general renovation Of the bat
teries Of the older ships. and II is said that
batteries will be placed on the Baltimore the New
York, the Newark and the Albany II IS recon-
mended that the Philadelphia have new battery
OF 6-inch guns. which would make her 1T for many
years more Of service. The bureau is considering
the feasibility Of replacing the present turrets Of
the Oregon. the Indiana and the Massachusetts
with new elliptical balanced turrets adding mate
rally 10 their efficiency.
Admiral O'Neil has much to say respecting speed
versus armament. He argues that a ship is natu-
rally compromise between various necessities. and
says:
States 10 provide Its vessels OF all classes with
eS sest ba{5efy power that Is 50 TO arm them that
class in that respect and that sentiment sti pre-
dinated all other elements to speed IL is not likely
10 occur again. and the consensus OF opinion the
oentsges Of weight for armor and armament
siIin h ma 20 ASSIGNING IL foT the purpose OF at
The bureau Is convinced that no mistake has been
m f fes OF ne ne speed pee @ saoT ena o
necessarily the one that quickly get in or
the Ihst can Remain III IN Battle the longest after
she gets there 1t is safe 10 say that any vessels
OF this class. OF equal displacement having
higher speed, are deficient in other i'm
portant qualities which these vessels possess.
OF submarine boats the report says that no I'M
portant Developments have taken place IN the last
year. either here or abroad. though a number OF
construction.
Adm admiral oNei went 10 Europe last summer and
looked over the great naval ordnance works there
he says ne was deeply impressed with what he
saw, but makes no comparisons between the diff
ferent establishments. merely rking that diff
ierent methods. all equally good preferred In
dlherent countries with respect TO gun construc-
uon- tie declares. however, that while there are
no such establishments in this country in point
size ano capacity as many OF the ordnance facto-
res OF Europe II Is gratifying know that such
as We have do not suffer in comparison with any
OF mem with regard TO the character OF the work
or the method Of performing il The last chaDter
OF the report is devoted 10 urgent plea for the
| better instruction or officers and men IN sunnery