The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-10-02
MOST POWERFUL GUN
NAVY WILL HAVE WEAPON OF
GREAT RANGE.
1t Will Travel Half Mile a Second
and Penetrate Two Feet Of Hardest
Steel Armor at the Muzzle.

Steel Armor at the MuZzle.
Officers of the united States navy
are preparing to test the giant 14-
inch breech-loading gun being built
at the works of the Midvale Steel
Company, at Philadelphia. The gun,
when completed, will be the largest
and most powerful weapon of war
in the world. 1t will be delivered
to the Government last Of this month
and the official est will occur at the
naval proving grounds at Indian
Head, Md, this month or some time
in November. Other guns of the 12
inch type are being built. They will
be mounted on the 26,000-ton battle
ship Arkansas and Wyoming for
which bids were opened Aug. 1S.
The new 14-inch gun will have
an extreme range of Is miles, al
though the range at which it would
|. fire in actual battle would be about
5000 yards, or five miles. The range
of naval battles has more than treb-
OlSo SiuSO IAC lCCla
war. Then it was thought that bat
ties on the sea would be fought at
5000 yard range.
Guns were built accordingly. All
heavy American naval guns are now
built powerful enough to engage
the enemy at five miles distance.
The 1,400 pound shell from this new
gun will leave the muZzle of the
weapon at the rate of 1000 feet per
second of time, and its muzzle ener-
gy will be $4,000 foot tons. So great
is the penetrative power Of this new
1,400 pound shell, when fired with
the full load of 365 pounds of powder
from the new 14-inch gun, that the
prejectile will be able to penetrate
22.7 inches of the latest Krupp steel
armor at the muzzle. This would be
equivalent to a penetration of not
less than 25 inches of Harvey nickel
steel st the muzzle.
/! But this does not measure the full
power of the gun for naval esSrposes,
the muzzle penetration being merely
a proving ground factor, for after
the shot hurled from the 14-inch
gun has travelled a distance of 5000
yards it. will still have the -remain41
ing velocity of 1924 feet a second,
which would enable It to pierce at
that distance thickness Of 1877
inches of Krupp steel armor. After
it has travelled 5000 yards, or 5000
yards distant, the she'll will have
a remaining velocity of 1903 feet per
second. giving It. at that range, q
penetration of 1877 inches Of Krupp
steel.
There is great 16-inch gun at
Sandy Hook proving grounds, built
under the auspices of the Ordnance
department of the army. Thirteen.
fourteen and sixteen-inch guns have
been built by foreign navies, but
this was before the days of cordite
or smokeless powder, and before
modern ordnance had reached any
thing like the excessive pressure and
Temperature of today. The construc-
tion of the larger sized bores has
ceased In many navies, but the 12-
inch gun has been developed by all
powers. Now it has reached a point
where the United States is construct
Ing guns Of 50-calibre length, which
is the limit to which the guns can
be developed.
The shot projected from this new
American 14Hinch gun will weigh
$50 pounds more than the most
powerful 12-inch gun now in the
service of the American fleet on the
target grounds below the Virginia
capes. Stated another way, the new
shell weighs more than half ton
and will be as tall as man. After
it is fred the shell will travel a
distance of 542 inches within the
bore of the gun. There the grooved
rihing of the gun will gmpart a
rotating motion, which will make the
she'll spin around rapidly on its flight
through the air, and prevent the
huge projectile from turning on end