The San Francisco call., 1904-09-13
THE WORLDS NAVIES

/ Or-pierc1ng guns are nhSiS~to ~
/ stitute the main batteries ana BRUSH
naval designers are seriously consider
/ ing the idea of the Italian chief con-
structor, Cuniberti. TO have the nam
I batteries composed OF 12-inch guns
solely. Italy. as usual. was the nrst III
I thus improving the fighting efnclency
! Of battleships by discarding guns OF
s-inch and less caliber and substituting
guns OF S-inch caliber. the penetraeiVe
power of which is about 5.6F incneS OF
Krupp armor at a range OF 0ooO yaruS'
Four battleships. the Vittorio Enlan
uele III. Napoli, Regina Elena ana
Roma, of 12.425 tons and calculated
! speed OF % knots. have been lald oONh
for the Italian navy since SeptenOer'
1901, and two of these are nearly feduS
for commission. The main battery OF
these ships is composed OF two lz-inch
and twelve S-inch guns and the sec
ondary batteries consist Of twelve ~
Founders and twelve S-pOunderS- 1heir
hull protection varies from SS4 lnches
to 4 inches Of armor and that OF the
gun positions from inches to s incnes'
so that neither the hull nor gun POSI-
tions would be seriously hurt by the
fire from guns of less than S-inch cali
OeT dl oOOU ydIuS IdHSC-
have undoubtedly been made in order
to attain the great speed Of q knots
and the advantage of guns that are
effective even beyond three miles
range. but the vessel that can choose
it's distance from an enemy and can
shoot farther and hit harder than its
opponent would seem to have decided
advantages over the slower vessels, the
~
long range
The Vickers 6-inch gun Of so calioers
and muzzle velocity of 500 feet is
said to be the best gun of its caliber
in any navy and it's penetration IS ng-
ured at 5s1 inches of Krupp steel at
5000 yards United States naval ord
nance, of 6-inch and so calibers, claims
velocity Of only 1900 feet and pene-
tration of 424 inches of Krupp steel at
5000 yards. The actual performance OF
both guns is subject to a reduction in
practice. in which our naval gun will
suffer more than the other. The Bu-
reau of Ordnance. on February last.
issued orders reducing its velocity TO
200 foot seconds, which, of course
diminishes it's penetrative power
Main Object of Guns.
The main object Of guns is to disable
! the enemy by destroying his gun posi-
[ tions, guns and crew. 1t is only by
mere chance that a well directed shot
could destroy a ship. Holes made by
either 12-inch or 4-inch shell can be
stopped and fighting still be carried on.
When it is considered. however. that
the penetrative power Of a 6-inch gun
is less than inches at 5000 yards. while
that of the S-inch is 5.67 inches, the g.
inch inches and that Of the 12-inch
over 12A inches, it appears worse than
useless to carry guns Incapable of de-
molishing gun positions of inches to
10 inches at ranges from 5000 10 5000
Yards In the latest American battle
ships of the Connecticut type. Of which
five are building and two are shortly
to be begun, the 6-inch gun has been
eliminated and the main batteries con-
sist Of four Finch. eight S-inch and
/ twelve 7-inch guns The latter gun will
penetrate AZ inches of Krupp steel at
5000 yards and may be considered as a
compromise. In the British navy the
eight battleships Of the King Edward
VII type laid down since 1902, the s.
inch gun is still carried, the batteries
including four 12-inch. four 92-inch
and ten 6-inch. but in the Lord Nelson
class, to be built, the armament will
consist CT four 12-inch, ten 9.2-inch and
a number of small guns to repel tor
pedO-bOat attacks. A similar re-
arrangement Of armament in armored
cruisers and other vessels is certain
to follow. resulting in somewhat sim
plifying designs of ships, which for the
past ten years have been hampered by
vain efforts to give each class con-
gIcmerate batteries regardless OF their
logical destination as fighters.
TweIve-Inch Gun Cracks.
The unpleasant discovery has been
made that one of the twelve-inch guns
on board the British battIeship Ex-
mouth has a cracked tube. This is the
first instance of its kind with modern
guns and a thorough investigation Is
to be made to ascertain il there are
other guns similarly affected.
An unseemly row has been raised
between the naval officers OF the New
York Navy Yard owing to their in
ability to agree on the invitations to be
issued to witness the launching OF the
battleship Connecticut on September
2s. An allowance of $500 had been
made by the Navy Department for the
entertainment OF 500 people and
stand zoo feet in length was built at
cost of $500 to accommodate the In
vited guests. which some OF the officers
intended to include chiefly prominent
naval officials and their families. A
dispute arose. however, over the as
signment OF seats and the argument
became so noisy that it reached Wash
ington, resulting IN an order from the
Navy Department directing the erec-
ton of a smaller stand, large enough
to hold those directly interested in the
launching. together with the Official
guests. The stand already built was
demolished and the pickering officers
will have to take their chances with