Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-01-26

at distance of five miles. could lit
orally annihilate battleshi- less for
liable than herself inside en- min
utes. Such a "salvo" Gas it is now
called in naval parlance) would de-
liver enough striking energy to lift
10000 tons so feet in the air-and
this, be it noticed. twice every min
ute
The up-to-date method of sea fight
ing is to concentrate simultaneously
all the guns of number of warships
upon a single vessel of the enemy,
thus rendering her quickly hors de
combat, and then to turn the attack
in similar fashion upon another mem
Der of the hostile fleet Suppose that
1--WE shall start building two more like
her next year, were to concentrate
their gun fire in this way upon an
enemy's battleship, how long could
the latter, even though herself fern
liable craft. Withstand the assault?
For many years there was great
rivalry between armor and guns, and
1t was a question which would win
out But. as things stand today, the
gun seems to be far and away the
winner. Offense has become stronger.
apparently, than defense can ever
hope to be. How are human hands to
fashion any floating object that will
resist the impact of projectile cap
able of piercing 26 inches of solid
steel-a projectile that strikes with an
energy equal to that of a ton of steel
dropped from a height of II miles?
Such a projectile, in striking bat
tleship fairly. may not penetrate. but
it is likely to dish the armor plate
1t hits and to start leaks. This is what
is technically known as "racking eff
feet"
The big naval guns of today are
strikingly different in shape from
those OF few years ago. The latter
were strengthened by enormous steep
hoops at the breech, to Withstand the
sudden explosion of the old-fashioned
gun powder But the modern smoke
less powder burns very slowly, and In
consequence the rifled cannon of late
pattern have "spindled out" In sur
prising way, becoming very long. and
thus giving the powder plenty of time
to resolve itself into gases before the
projectile leaves the muzzle- When
one comes to think OF the matter. 1t
seems surprising that the world
should have been satisfied to get
along with substantially the same kind
of gunpowder from Biblical times
(when the Chinese used IT'D up to the
twentieth century, or very nearly
Then came the smokeless powder.
which made necessary change in
guns.
A projectile fired from the fourteen
inch gun has a muzzle velocity OF
1900 feet second. The shell fired
from a twelve-inch gun leaves the
muzzle at 1900 feet per second. But
it weighs only $40 pounds, as against
400 pounds. This difference In
weight signifies that much less energy
Is delivered in striking the target.
Greater energy means more penetra-
ton. Furthermore, the heavy shell
ignores wind and variable air densi-
ties.
These great guns which will COM
pose the formidable armament OF the
Texas and the New York are deemed
by the navy department ths most ef-
ficient weapons ever made. they can
hit harder blows. and strike with
greater accuracy, than any other riiled
cannon now existing In the world. IL
1t be asked how the ships carrying
them win be able to with stand the
shock of their own gun IRE. the an
swer Is the explanation lies in their
huge size and in the enormous weight
Of the gun mounts. These twin yes
sells will each have a displacement OF
81 900 tons. and. OF course. the chief
idea held in view In their construc-
ton Ii that they shall serve as gun
platforms.