The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-16

tuaI warfare. The men take their daily
round OF shots on mechanism noinf-
ing and training the big gun as AZ
regular target. The expense is ver,
slight and the results are excellent a
careful record of each mans shootina
is kept, and when it reaches a cars
tain degree of accuracy he is in train
ing Tor the real gun practice. which
II he is successful, will give him the
much-coveted title of gun captain and
that extra 81 a month
One of our best and most y,odor,,
oattleships, the Alabama. has lately
made a record of target practice tbat
any snip IN any navy might be proud
OF. The Alabama has an armament of
-FOUR thirteen-inch guns in turrets.
fourteen siX-inch, sixteen six-pounders,
SIX one-pounders and four machine
guns. With thirteen-inch gun two
hits were made on a target in two
minutes. Gunner Bright with No. A
gun in the after turret made four hits
in two minutes eight seconds-thts
while the target was 1000 yards away
and the ship was steaming at the rate
of eight knots an hour.
Rest Gunners in the World.
Seamen Allen and Fletcher on No. 8
gun scored LII hits per minute, the
highest average to date for any guns
Of sixteen shots all hit the target
but one and that hit the floating
frame on which the target rested The
target was a rectangle of canvas twen-
ty-one feet wide by seventeen high.
This miss" fired at a battleship would
have struck the vessel Just on the
water line, a most vulnerable place.
The percentage of hits with the big
gun was 93 75
The result of all this rapid accurate
work in actual warfare would be some
thing tremendous. 1t has been proved
that the Alabama's thirteen-inch guns
can be fired so that each gun makes
ia hits per minute. They throw l.
100 pound projectiles and if the four
guns were brought to bear on the same
point 4,400 pounds of steel projectiles
loaded with high power explosives,
could be hurled in one minute and
quarter. The she'll for the siX-nch
guns weigh 100 pounds. The Alabama
carries fourteen six inch, seven on
side. OF course only seven can be
fired at the same object, but if the best
average of the gunners was kept up
1885 shots could be fired, with accu-
rate aim, hurting 45S5 pounds of she'll
through the air each minute Eight
of the sixteen siX-pounders can be
trained OH the same target, so with
the record of 059 hits a minute with
} the eight guns, S475 shots would be
, falling on the enemy's vessel a minute.
Meantime the one-pounders and ma
chine guns would add their steel hail
to the storm. That's the way the naval
experts reckon it, and they claim that
with such accurate shooting three min
uteS would be enough to put a quietus
on any hostile vessel afloat.
A Formidable Weapon.
When one takes into consideration
the size and weight of a thirteen-inch
gun it seems impossible that such rec
ords could be actually made. but the
test has proved it. The thirteen-inch
gun mounted on the American warships
weighs sixty and a half tons. 1t is
forty feet long and the length of the
rifling-that is. from the muzz1e to the
charge CHAMBERS 37O.5 inches. The
powder charge of black powder is $50
pounds; of smokeless, $50. The LOO
pound steel projectile leaves the muz-
zle with an initial velocity of 210O feet
a second and would penetrate 1875
inches of wrought iron at the time it
leaves the gun. With the muZZle ele-
waited at the proper ballistic curve, a
little less than an angle of forty-five
degrees this projectile would go twelve
miles. 1t is not possible to get this
elevation on ship, however.
The Navy Department realizes the
importance of good shooting and takes
care that lack shall take more than
an ordinary interest in his work at the
gun. Besides the glory and the extra
money there are other emoluments
coming to the record men in gunnery.
shore liberty, which is the sailor
mans chief delight, is served out Hber-
ally to the best marksmen. and often
the officers OF ship chip in and give
extra prizes. There is aboard the Ala
ban1a silver cup, purchased by the
officers, on which the names of the pest
gun crews are engraved each year. Inc
man who gets his name on TINS cup -
fIIad with worthy pride. and it is ru-
n1ored that on special occasions he may
have this cup filed with the best ana
+raat his friends from it.