Evening star., 1912-11-24
MAKING GREAT NAVAL GUNS.

great many drop forgings" are made at
the yard; the number in one year being
$50. The forgings produced at the
forge shop amounted to 1852 pounds.
The value Of a single years work at the
navy yard amounts to approximately
$S,OOO,OOO, that including
Yearly both material and labor.
c..4 OF that amount about
ooS'' half is spent for material
and more than one-third for labor. In
addition to manufacturing guns, gun
mounts. cartridge cases and other ord
nance are made at the yard.
Almost equally as important as the gun
shop is the cartridge case shop. Here are
manufactured the brass cartridge cases
for minor caliber guns. from the one
FOUNDER to the six-inch For the smaller
cases electric presses are used, and for
the larger ones hydraulic presses. These
cases are made from brass slabs which
are cast in a small foundry near the
shop. When first received at the cartridge
case shop these slabs are rolled, trimmed
and "annealed, heating process which
prevents them from becoming too brittle
to handle. After cooling the slabs are
scraped in order to detect any imperfec-
tons, following which they are rolled
about nine times to obtain the proper
thickness. When the right thickness has
been obtained discs are cut out. their size
depending upon the size of the cartridge
case to be made. The process Of actually
constructing the cases then begins, and
consists of placing this fiat disc under
into cup shape. After each such oper-
alton the disc Is annealed in order to
prevent cracking. About twenty opera
tlons are necessary before a six-inch car
fridge case has reached the proper
length. After several drawings that
being the term applied to the lengthening
process. the case is taken to q machine
which dents the head in. The case is then
put through series Of operations which
complete 1t, among these being stamping
the inspector and the year and place Of
construction on each case thus Identify
ing it for all time.
Once constructed. the cases are by no
means ready for shipment, as the most
important part Of the
Gaug1ng work yet remains. This is
rasa, gauging them for their
accuracy. A cartridge
case must be exact, otherwise when a
gun is fired on shipboard disastrous ex-
plosion may be caused. For this reason
several tests are made before the cases
leave the shop These are made by the
use of various gauges. Each gauge is
composed Of two parts, one which must
fit the corresponding part Of the case,
while the other must be too large.
The usual difference In the two parts of
the gauge is about $1,000 of an inch,
that being the only margin allowed. In
testing the primer plug no margin is al
owed whatever, as that has to be exact
to the minutest fraction of an inch. Each
case is tested in about five to ten ways.
cases are made, while the annual output
is from 1900 to 10000. according to the
demand.
At the gun carriage shop are manufac-
tured the gun mounts for the navy, the
two styles used being the turret mounts
and pedestal mounts. The seven-inch Is
the largest pedestal mount the s, 10, II.
13 and IA being turret mounts. For ex-
ample, a pedestal mount for a six-inch
5O-caliber gun consists of a heavy steel
pedestal, the upper part of which acts
as pivot for the top carriage the lat
ter being fitted with training gear ETC..
and free to move around the pivot The
mount is also provided with a shield and
two platforms for the gun pointers to
stand on.
are mounted in pairs in turrets, working
Independently, excep t
Turret for the training. Turrets
are m ad e of heavy
MouAtS. armor, securely boted
to steel frame, with large holes IN
front through which the guns project.
The gun platform is formed of four heavy
steel girders bolted to the inside of the
turret, and to these are bolted the gun
mounts proper. The mount itself is made
in two principal parts. the bottom, which
is bolted to the girders. and the slide, in
which the gun rests. These mounts COM
plete weigh about 100 tons.
In an average year the output OF
mounts may be small. if complete mounts
are counted only, when as matter or
fact thousands of parts may have been
made and shipped. Much of the work
done at the navy yard is repair work, or
manufacturing the less important parts.
In this way the actual work done Is
enormous, whereas a list or complete
articles made might be small.
In the secondary mount shop are manu-
factured the fittings for the secondary
battery guns, which consist Of the one.
three and six-pounder, the one-pounder
automatic, and the one, three and SIX
FOUNDER semi-automatic guns. These guns
are thus designated on account of the
weight of the projectile used, which Is
one three and six pounds, respectively.
A rapid-fire gun is one that uses fixed
ammunition, and Is loaded and fired by
hand. about twenty five discharges min
ute being possible A semi-automatic
gun is one which is loaded by hand, while
the gun automatically extracts the empty
cartridge. About thirty discharges min
ute are possible with this style. The auto
matte gun is self-loading, and continues
to fire as long as the finger is held on
the trigger, about fifty shots minute be-
ing fired.
The navy yard also has pattern shop
where the various patterns used in the
foundry for casting steel, iron, bronze,
etc. are made Ammunition boxes, sight
boxes ETC., are also made. A tool shop,
gunners' workshop, storehouse and MS
cellaneous shop are also included In lie
navy yard factory.
BENJAMIN Stoddert, first Secretary of
the Navy, is responsible for the establish
ment of the Washington
Growth Of navy yard. as it was he
;, who urged Congress to
the 4aru. appropriate 81 100000 for
building six large men-of-War. Six cities
were named, in each Of which was to be
a yard where one ship was to be built,
and Washington was among these. Forty
acres of land were purchased, and B. Il.
Latrobe, architect of the Capitol and
other public buildings, prepared the plans.
This was in 1900 Up to 1906 three gun