Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-10
THE GOVERNMENT AT WORK.
VII-The Department of the Navy.
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.
Department o:

: made all the big and little guns with
which the American warship is equipped.
| The big 12-inch guns are so accurately
| made that the American sailor has been
| able to fire five rounds with them at a
distance of ten miles. all five Of the shots
hitting within a field 100 yards long. In
the Santiago battle, Admiral Evans esti-
mates only 5 per cent of the shots hit
| In recent naval practice the American
gunner has hit from 60 to so per cent, and
| Admiral Evans thinks that 40 per cent
of hits would be registered in actual
war. The guns of the Connecticut shoot
| five times as fast as did those of the
Oregon at Santiago, and Fighting BOD
| figures that in five minutes the Connect
| cut would hurl $1,000 pounds of steel
against the enemies vessels. whereas the
Oregon landed only 100 pounds. And yet
| the Connecticut is behind the North Da-
| kota and her sister ships.
The newest guns the navy are 70
use 14-inch projectiles, Weighing 400
pounds, and their recoil will be equiva-
| lent to 65.COO foot-tons. The guns are
made of nickel steel. and are rifled to
| make them shoot straight. The rifing
consists of grooves which start straight
at the breech but turn once every TWEEN
ty-tive feet in a Pinch gun. There is a
copper band soldered fast to the shell.
which fits in the rif1ing groove, and as
| the shell speeds onward it is made to
turn around orce for every twenty-five
4 !
also is engaged in providing supply of
| torpedoes for use in the event Of war.
| The heads of these are prepared to be
filled with guncotton. the center con-
tains chamber for sufficient compressed
| air to drive the torpedo 1900 yards and
! the rear end has a compressed air en-
| CINE, two propellerS and gyrOScope. The
compressed air drives the floating thun-
| derbolt and the gyroscope steers it hor-
izontally, through rudders, by maintain
! ing itself parallel to the intended line of
| flight at all times. Another instrument
registers the prescure Of the water, and
is connected with other rudders which
prevent the torpedo from going too deep
into the water or too far out of it.
| X
| The bureau Of construction and repair
| is responsible for the structural strength
! and stability of
Superintends Building naval vessels,
of War Vessels. sn - u s uTssgn-
tends the building, fitting and repairing
of the ships of the navy. The bureau Of
steam engineering supervises all machin-
cry details of the navy, except in the
case Of electrical apparatus. The bureau
of medicine and surgery looks after the
| health Of the men who constitute the
naval service.
the navy and all things which do not
strictly pertain to the equipment of war
vessels comes under the jurisdiction of
| the bureau of supplies and accounts. The
| single item Of coal costs 81, 600, OOO and a
years supply would require 400 f1fty-car
| trains to transport it, each car carrying
fifty tons.
The photographic Office has charge of
all work of surveying the harbors and
coasts Of this country not included In
the continental shore line: the collection
of foreign surveys for the information
Of American naval and merchant marine
! officials; the publication and supply of
| charts. sailing directions and nautical
| works. and the dissemination Of nautical
| and photographic information. 1t keeps
track of all derelicts floating on the high
seas By having bottles thrown over
board containing requests for their re-
turn it investigates the currents of the
sea. 1t has more than a million dollars
worth OF plates for printing nautical
charts.
::
The Naval Observatory looks after the
question Of time on shipboard. furnishing
all navigating
Important Work of officers with
Naval Observatory. oS'i as squ,pmen'
al charts and other information to enable
them safely to navigate the seas under all
sorts and conditions of weather All
chronometers and compasses are tested at
the observatory. The variation of sim
gle second in the time of chronometer
would throw the calculation of a ships
position a full mile out of killer, and this
might decide battle or turn the tide of
| a war.
| The Navy Department is the worlds
| greatest user Of wireless telegraphy, hay
| ing half million dollars invested in
wireless equipment. This amount will be
doubled within a few years. The instru- |
ments are so tuned up that outside in
strumentS cannot gather its messages I'M |
less they come within 3 per cent of having |
the same number of vibrations per Sec
ond. 1t is the intention of the depart |
ment ultimately to have four big wireless
towers. with a range Of 5000 miles. One |
of these will be located at Washington, |
another at Panama, another at Honolulu |
and the fourth on the western coast of
the United States. This would enable the |
Navy Department to keep in touch with |
its vessels in all parts of the world at all |
times. 1t Is intenCed, furthermore, to |
equip two or three of the large scout |
cruisers with similar wireless outfits so |
that on land and sea the United States |
will have the greatest system of wireless |
telegraphy in the world.
TOmOrrow-THE GOVERNMENT AT |
WORK. VIII. DEPARTMENT OF