Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-16
HAVE COST MANY LIVES.
Fatal Results of Explosion Of Gun
CHARGES

Explosions of gun charges during target
practice have cost the navy heavily in
lives since target practice was taken up In
earnest about five years ago on the princi-
pie that rapidity and accuracy of fire arr
the vital elements in gunnery. The great
est loss of lives has come from the ignition
of powder in gun turrets filled with officers
and men. These have not been explosions
in the strict sense of the word for smoke
less powder when ignited in loose state
burns slowly. The more closely 1t Is con-
fined the more rapidly it bIrns. Acct
dents of this character are sim ply frightful
fires The victims are not bio 1n to pieces,
but either burned or suffocatei to death.
The powder charges for eight-inch guns
| weigh 100 pounds and are divided into two
sections each. The powder grains are
cylindrical in shape, about one inch in
diameter and two inches long. The sec
ticns are bagged, each containing fifty
pounds, and at the base of each bag there
is a rim of quick powder which, when ig-
nited by the primer. quickly flashes and
ignites the entire charge.
In target practice the crews Of eight
! inch guns fire them as rapidly as possible
for periods varying from two to four min
utes. Three shots minute is good score,
but it is rather doubtful if the Georgia
was up to this speed. The rules under
which tho firing is conducted provide that
fresh charges shall not be brought above
the shutters which rparate the turret from
| the ammunition HOSTS until the charge in
| the gun has been fired and the gun bore
cleared of all combustib!e gases and the
breach entirely opened.
Has Safety Appliance.
Every gun on the Georgia is now equipped
with a compressed air gas ejector This
consists simply of a piping arrangement,
which serves to blow all combustible gases
out of the gun as soon as the shot is fired,
hot fIn
fresh charge shall not be lifted into the
turret until one of the gun crew has looked
through the breech to see if the bore Is free
of combustibe gases and that there Is no
danger of a flare back, which Will ignite
the fresh charge. an
The fatal accident on the battleship Mis-
souri, three years ago. in which thirty-two
officers and men lost their lives, was caused
by a flare back" At that time the am
murtion HOSTS We're not separated from
the turrets by shutters and fire dropped
into the handling rooms adjoining the mag
azines below. The Missouri accident
brought about the equipment of all ships
With shutters in the turrets and with gas
electors on the guns.
The Kearsargc Accident.
The Kearsarge accident. in April. 1896
was caused by a member of the gun crew
making electrical short circuit by bring
ing a pair of tongs in contact with an
exposed fuse box A piece of molten metal
thus produced dropped the powder
charge which was about to be paced in
the gun. This accident led to the protec-
ton of all fuse boxes in such a manner
that repetition of the accident would not
be possible from a similar cause
In view of these material precautions in
construction and the strict rules which
have been put into effect as a result of the
fatalities ii is impossible to conjecture the
cause of the disaster on the Georgia, I'M
less some defect suddenly developed.
Gunnery officers say they do not believe
the rapidty of gun fire due to the competi-
ton In target practice can be held re-
sponsible for this accident. 1t IS realized
generally. however that in their zeal to
make a high score the men of a gun crew
frequently will take a great risk If they
caH gain time The general attitude of the
service IS that rapidity of gun fire is as
necessary to naval efficiency the ships
themselves, and that it is much better that
the guns and gun crews be tested to the
limit of their capacity. so that possible de-
fects may be corrected, than that these de-
fects should remain undiscovered and prove
far more disastrous in time of battle.
The fatalities attending the development
Of gunnery will reach with this accident