The Washington herald., 1908-03-15
Practice Soon to Begin in
Magdelena Bay.
THOUsAND-POUND PRoJECTILE
Present-day Object of Department.
JaDRnese Did Effective Work with
"Deck Piercers" During War with
RuSsia-MarLsmansh Means a
Great Saving of Money in Battle.


branch of the service.
The record established recently by
Lieut. John II Ferguson, who. out of
twenty-five shots. made twenty-five hits
from an elght-ineh gun in the after-turret
of one of the war ships, will, no doubt be
duplicated more than once when the
crews settle down TO practice after the
arrival on the drilling grounds on the
Pacific.
In View Of the completeness with which
the Navy Department sa " 20 the equip
n ent of the war vessels. especially rela-
tive TO the amount Of projectiles placed
aboard. II has considerable interest to in
quire into the construction Of these shells
that mean death and destruction TO the
enemy when in the charge OF American
gunners.
1t is safe TO say that in case of actual
conflict there would be no such percent
age Of lost and wasted projectiles as Oc-
CURED with the Russians when the more
clever japanese hit the marks at which
/ they aimed with such remarkable success
and 10 such utter destruction Of the
Cars war ships
The projectiles sent 10 the bottom rep
resented large sums Of money. This item
alone would be enough 10 make the Rus
| slams feel sorry for the war.
Gunners' Point of View.
While IL Is the duty Of the arm0r plate
to offer the fullest protection TO the vitals
Of the ships. the gunners concern them
selves but little in this direction. To
them the all-important question is in how
trating the enemy's armOr and put him
out OF action. For this reason. where
once the steel and nickel belt around the
war ship has been placed into position by
the builders for whatever protection il
can afford. and is left 10 Itself. except for
a coat of paint now and then, where the
] projectiles are concerned constant changes
are taking place. The newest improve
ments are watched by the government
with the utmost interest Whenever
something different than that already in
service is offered, the merits are inquired
/ into by the Navy Department. experts
and, il found satisfactory. the shells are
ordered
/ The first American mOr-piercing pro-
| iectiles submitted 10 the United States
government came from the Sterling Steel
Company. at Pittsburg. They We're tested
on the naval ordnance proving grounds
at Indian Head. Nd and ihe experiments
proved an unqualified success. The re-
/ qUirements were that the armOr-p piercing
projectile should be able 10 perforate. un-
broken. an ordinary steel arnor plate
oil tempered and annealed. OF a thick
ness equal 10 the caliber Of the projectile
1 The tests took place in December. 1891
and from then on the world took notice
that henceforth American war ships did
not require 10 go abroad for the shells
with which 70 feed the American guns.
Weight of Large PrOjeetIIes.
Some OF the projeCtnes used on the big
ships weigh more than l. 000 pounds The
Seni-aTmOT-p piercing shell is rather thin
walled the l6-Inch size carrying a charge
OF nifty pounds OF powder. This charge
is OF the bursting variety. and. dropped
into one Of the great Office buildings. fol-
lowing its advent there would be nothing
left TO tell what kind Of a building had
stood on the spot.
on the other hand. a solid project.le.
one not intended TO explode when aimed
. at a large building would simply pene-
trate and continue on its destructive mis-
sion through block after block without
receiving a decided check until its veloci-
" had been expended.
The present-day object OF the gunnery
7 department OF the navy is 10 obtain a
shell Of equal strength 20 the solid pro-
jectile, and with a similar power Of pene-
TatiOn 10 that which the heavier piece
OF ordnance possesses The ranid-firing
guns now IN vogue on the United States
war ships require that a shell suitable for
all purposes be at hand.
A third kind Of projeCtile which is de-
structiOn persOnified to everything ii
( touches is the deck piercer" This is
I loaded shell, capable Of being fired at a
considerable angle and enabling il 10
descend on the deck Of the enemy's man
of-war. Since its destructive power is
tremendous. IL may be guessed that there
Is always considerable apprehension dur
ing naval conflict whether the enemy
has in his possession such guns and pro-
jeCtiles as would move suddenly 20 the
attack. The Japanese. IL is believed did
great work with the deck piercers" dur
ing the struggle with the Russians. and
they evidently offered the world a number
Of valuable object lessons in gunnery.
Fired from Coast Guns.
The coast gun projeetie Is, perhaps. in
class of its own. From the vantage
point Of a solid footing the aim is natu-
rally the more perfect than where the
ship is bound to rock more or less in
the open sea Some Of the most interest
ing tests show a projectile weighing more
than loo pounds fred at a distance of
l,300 yards against and eighteen-inch thick
armor plate. The result was fatal TO the
plate The steel was split into four
pieces. the projectile penetrating and
burying itself in the sand bank back of
the plate. II is quite true that the pro
jectile was likewise badly used up fol-
lrwr~
however. showed its capability and proved
cOnclusively that at the distance in ques-
ton It held the balance Of power
AS a natural supposition. the utmost
secrecy attends the making of the pro-
jectiles. Whether manufactured on the
government premises or by private con-
Germs. the guards stationed at the gates
will allow no one to enter without the
best kind Of credentials Thus provided.
however, the privilege of visiting the pro-
jeetile factory can be made one of the
greatest interest Several phases of the
work, however, are not for outside eyes
This applies especially 10 the department
where the ingredients used in converting
the Swedish iron into steel are mixed
with the metal
The molten steel is poured into mOlds,
and then sent TO the heating furnace as
tue HeAl stage VI h4diiuiACtuTe. IL the
forging shops the immense hammers beat
the ingot into shape. In the machine
shops the filing, saving, and grinding
processes are putting the finishing touches
to the projectile. Finally, if the 13-inch
projectile is the size in question, It stands
complete weighing LOO pounds But
the end is not quite yet, II seems. For
while a most pleasing object in its bril-
liant. shining metal. the regulation coat
of paint has to be applied. The Navy
Department, besides, designates different
kinds of paint for different shells. and