Evening star., 1908-01-18
THE BIG NAVAL GUNS
Turning Out Thirteen-Inch
Firers at Navy Yard.
FORGINGS ARE SENT HERE
Delicate Operation of Fitting on the
Jackets.
ONLY ONE MISTAKE EVER MADE
Need Of a Foundry-Plant Here
Valued at Over $11, 100000.
Last Years Output.
ONLY ONE MISTAKE EVER MADE
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

un0er contract ana manufactured unOei
! the supervision of naval officers who are
assigned to each furnace. and whose duty
it is to see that the steel Is pure and per-
feet and that 1t corresponds to the speci.
f1cations. The government spends about
three million dollars a year for materials
of this kind, and there are about two mil
lion dollars worth of guns partially fin
ished at the navy yard in Washington al
the time. The forgings come in the rough
but have been hammered into the shapes
and sizes desired according to drawings
furnished by the ordnance bureau of the
Navy Department
Every twelve and thirteen-inch gun is
composed of nine separate pieces. Each
piece is so exact in it's measurements that
they will all fit together like the works OF
a watch. Each gun is manufactured after
a design and measurements that are
sketched upon a blue print such as an
architect furnishes to the builder Of a
house. Battleships are constructed the
same way. Every plate of steel. every riv-
et every bit of machinery, every wire and
steam pipe, every electric light on a man.
of-war has it's picture made before II
comes into existence, and is shaped ex-
actly on the lines and of the size indi-
Gated by the measurements that are
marked upon the blue print
The forgings for thirteen-inch gun
! the largest that is now made, which will
throw 2,4OO pounds of steel twelve or thir-
teen miles, and hit a target five or six
miles distant with as much accuracy as
a revolver In a shooting gallery, vary in
| weight from twenty-five pounds to twenty
tons. and are brought by rail over the
Pennsylvania tracks into the gun factory,
| where they are picked up and carried to
| the places assigned them by travelling
cranes that don't make half as much noise
as sewing machine. The biggest one can
handle no tons, another 60 and another
40 tons. as gently and as easily as a
mother will raise her child from the era
/ die. The cranes pick up thirteen-inch
guns and carry them the whole length of
the factory which is longer than the Cap
itol builoing-a thousand feet from end
to end-and lay them down in parallel
rows like knives or spoons In a silver
| chest.
Work at the Navy Yard.
Every kind of gun and ordnance ma
terial is made at the navy yard-torpedo
tubes, cartridge cases. swabs. rammers.
canvas covers, rope work for the gun car
riages and sight, which the gunners use
to find the range and tell them where to
shoot. They make all sizes OF guns there
also. varying from the one-pounder which
Is four feet long and about One-inch bore,
to the big thirteen-inch thunderer, which
Is forty-five feet long and made of metal
| that is four inches thick at the muzzle
and seventeen inches thick at the breech.
| The six-pounder Is six feet long and has
a bore of PA inches. A thirteen-inch gun
| Of the latest type costs $4,000. Every
| thing that belongs to a gun Is made at
i the navy yard except powder and pro-
jectiles. The powder Is made at Indian
Head and the projectiles at Giesboro on
the Potomac, four miles south OF Wash
ington; A factory was recently erected
private corporation, which has a contract
| for furnishing $2,OOO.OO0 worth of pro-
| jecties for the navy
There is splendid equipment at the
navy yard for gun building and every
thing that is required except foundry
| for making the forgings. The Navy De-
partment has been trying for years to get
| an appropriation for that purpose, so that
ent of private corporations; but those
| same interests have been influential
enough to prevent Congress from giving
| the money. A recommendation for $500,
700 has been renewed by the President
and the Secretary of the Navy this win
| ter.
The value of the plant here is put down
| in the books as $11. Az 400. The improve
$U7,676; the cost of maintenance was
| SSo6. lO1, and the value of the output was
| ST.. 2294, 500.
This is rather surprising statement
and shows that for the last two years more
| work has been done here in Washington
than in New York, Boston. Philadelphia,
San Francisco or in any OF the other big
navy yards, although the value Of the
| plant and the cost of maintenance has
been very much less.
| For example, the Boston navy yard rep
| ressnts an investment by the government
of $50. 164, 1S2. The amount spent for i'm
provements last year was $275 Ats; the
| cost of maintenance was $1,u25, 596, and
| The value of the output was 81 $40 4S4.
New York navy yard represents an in
vestment of $3O6i2. 135; the improvements
/ last year cost $414.9O4: the cost of main
tenance was 81 ,994.s2S and the output was
valued at So, 512, 164.
Although the cost of the plant at Bos-
| ton was nearly nine millions more than
that Of Washington. and the cost of
| maintaining 1t last year was 3169. 4S9
more, the men in the Washington navy
yard produced work of a value of s., 1885,
| 232 more than those at the New York
-.32 omre than those at the New York
navy yard which represents an invest
nent nearly three times as great and
| costs 81, l3S, I'll more to maintain.
| Destruction of Navy Yard
The navy yard at Washington was
established shortly after this city was
made the seat Of government. The site
cost $4,000, and during the early days
of the republic 1t was a busy place The
most famous Of the old frigates and line
lof-battleships were fitted out here for
the war OF 1912. and the yard was de-
stroyed August 1s. 1914, to keep it from
falling into the hands of the British.
The loss was $417.725, which was a
large sum in those days. Sir John Cock
burn and Gen. Ross, who commanded
his majestys forces, claimed that they
destroyed the yard, but they didn't have
a chance to do so. The officers in COM
mand blew everything up because they
J weren't able to defend the place.
Many historical characters have been
associated with the yard. Robert Fulton
; of his inventions for many months. Ad-
miral Dahlgren was twice commandant
and he was the founder Of the gun fac
tory. Admiral Buchanan was In COM
, mand at the outbreak of the civil war,
and went from there to the Confederacy.
, Admiral Raphael Semmes and John s.
Surratt were prisoners there, the latter
having been brought from Rome by the
gunboat Swatara. Formerly ships OF al
most any ships could go to the dock. but
Of late years the Anacostia branch OF
the Potomac has been filling up SO that
nowadays the channel has only twenty
} feet of water, and 1t is risky thing for
J any ship of size to undertake the pas
sage.
: A new regime began at the navy yard
| I'm 1889. That was the beginning OF an
Industrial activity that has produced the
ordnance now in use aboard the cruisers
{ and battleships OF the American navy.
I At present there are forty-two officers
, on duty and 1000 mechanics and ma
, chinists are employed. with pay roll OF
! s11. 900 day. The average of wages is
; $2.75 day. and they run from $1.25
) for apprentices up to 81 for machin-
: lists and Sc for master mechanics
lST ~