Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-23

giants really represent in the way OF
offensive and defensive might Occasi
ally we learn something of the ire
mendous power of our modern ordinance
but most of us are supremacy ignorant
Of the damage our heavy guns can be
counted upcn to infiict in time Of strife
II does not serve the end of official
wisdom 10 tell all that these weapons
AN do.
II is at the naval proving grounds.
Indian Head. Md, that the government
makes sure OF what our battleships and
their guns are capable of, because il is
there that every military element of our
feet is fully tested before winning the
right to take it's place in our line Of
battle. At Indian Head the navy fights
ont its problems between the gun and
the defensive armor. and there too.
nowder and shell are tested with an eve
single 10 the destruction of the heaviest
steel Mating II is AT the naval proving
ground that one can see for himself the
havoc which the modern she'll can work
u0un the sturdy walls of glasS-hardened
steel and. too. learn something of the
rctaIiatorv action Of the armor plate
against all but the most perfectly fash
toned prnjeCtile.
Twelve inches of face-hardened steel
might seem 10 the layman TO be strong
enough to hold out against the attack
~ any shell. and yet our armor-riercing
rroiectiles are required not only to per-
forate this mass. coming out behind it
urdeformed, but they must be CAPABLE
Of bursting with their maximum degree
Of violence for penetration. This is not
always the outcome of the attack, and
the unbruken plate and the shattered
she'll tell the defensive part Of the story.
showing the measure of obstruction
which is Ia lie between an enemys shot
and the ''vitalS'' of our ships.
Imagination fails utterly to grasp the
magnitude of the energy in a twelve
ircI shell AZ it leaves the muzzle OF one
of our latest navy rifles of this cahher.
but the ordnance engineer tells US that
this pent-up force is equal 10 something
mere than - GOO foot tons,
This IS the energy that reveals TO US
that the seemingly rigid. hardened plate
Is, after all. really plastic. even though
rs face be proof against the point OF
the Shar3eSt drill Converted into terms
of easier understanding. this force-
diminishing with the length of hight is
the substantial counterpart OF fuiiy
eight times the power of the engines
driving one of orr biggest tWenty-knot
IattleshipS at fun sDeed.
Further nv way of COMPARISON, on one
II our great railroads there is Type o. oo
locomotive weighing nearly $4,000
mounds which is able to haul on ieVei
track fifteen passenger cars at Speed
Of sixty miles an hour. and. when doing
this. develops about 1000 horsepower
Our twelve inch arrlor- piercing pro-
ie,tile weighs only so pounds, ana yet
at the instant !; leaves the gun. and only
cOnCen-
trated energy nearly forty-five times
as great as the maximum power deVei-
oped by that big locomotive The IN
strrIInent within which is developer
this tremendous impulse Is a gun
weighing not quite lifty-tive tons, ana
vet SO sk:llfully fashioned IL II or fne
SteeIs of variable strengths that II can
safely explode within its walls the 500
pounds of smokeleSS powder required
TO start the she'll on its way with a
speed of more than 1000 miles an
hour. II is the proving of these Won