The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1912-05-10

~ WENTY fourteen-inch guns, the
largest naval guns in the
world, are being constructed
at the Washington navy yard
for the New York and the
Texas, first-ciass battleships OF the
dreadnought type, which are expected
to be ready fore launching about a
year hence Later on twenty or more
of the great bores are to be built Tor
the Nevada and the Oklahoma dread
noughts to be completed in 1914, and
the United States will then have four
war ships armed with larger guns
than any other navy possesses, eacn
of the four battleships capable OF
hurting seven tons OF projectile dis
lance of thirteen miles with each dis
charge of its batteries. writes Arthur
M. Evans In the Chicago Record-Her'
aid.
Two or three larger guns. fifteen
and sixteen inch bores, it Is true, have
been built by other naval powers. out
they have either been smoothbore or
have had faults in mechanism that
have made them unsuccessful OF oper'
alton, and they are not listed In the
battleship armament OF the great
powers.
The fourteen-inch monsters In the
shops at the navy yard are rivals OF
the Washington monument, the capi
tol, the White House and the congress
sional library in attracting the inter
est OF visitors in Washington, and q
continuous procession OF sightseers
streams through the factory to watch
the manufacturer of the giant roar
ers. The navy yard is an ordnance
factory, and its machine shop is one
O. the wonders of Washington. Up to
two years ago the thirteeD-inch gun
was the largest manufactured, bu!
since then the fourteen-inch monster
has been the pet product of the plant,
a great black bore, fifty feet long
that stretches almost to the width OF
the shop when 1t is in the lathe and
that weighs more than sixty-three
tons without its mount. .-
What They Cost.
The guns are forged at Bethlehem
Pa, and are finished here. They are
made In sections, with successive
Jackets and hoops shrunk upon the
central tube, just as blacksmith
shrinks tire upon wagon wheel
The jacket is heated In an electric
furnace that produces temperature
- Am 70 6O0 da0rooS tho cora fc I'm.
serted and the jacket Is then cooled
off, shrinking until 1t encases the tube
almost as closely as II both were one
piece of metal The gun made up
of layers of steel in this way Is much
stronger than one formed of one piece
of metal.
Travelling cranes pick up the gun as
II 1t were a toothpick, and place fl
In the barrel-boring lathe, where pow
erful machines bore out the barrel
and chamber, after which the ritiing
lathe cuts grooves on the inside Of
the bore to give the projectile a ro-
tary movement In the lathe the i'm.
mense gun itself is rotated upon the
cutting instruments.
BY the time the fourteen-inch gun
Is finished II has cost $62,208 The
mount costs $4,000 more. The life OF
the gun before lining Is necessary is
225 rounds, and the cost of each round
of ammunition in warfare is somewhat
in excess OF $500, of which the pro-
jectile itself costs $500. In target
practice the cost OF each shot is about
5000. The fourteen-inch gun throws
a shell weighing 1,400 pounds a dis
lance OF nearly thirteen miles with
such accuracy that the expert gun
ners can land the projectile some
where within a rectang!e with twenty.
foot sides. The shell leaves the muz.
gle of the gun travelling at velocity
of nearly half mile second and at
a distance of 10000 yards 1t rs capabIe
of penetrating 1873 inches OF face
hardened armor. The twelve-inch
guns penetrate 1916 inches of similar
armor at the same distance.
In the yard is display of trophies
tfst illustrates ~vividly the great
progress made in the machinery of
WdEIdE6. hS SOiuW dlllS DdtIeTy,
captured at Yorktown, is arranged in
a circle on concrete stand. Com.
pared with the immense fourteen-inch
guns in the shop, with their length
of fifty-five feet and their weight of
sixty-three tons, the cannon of Corn.
wallis look almost like watch charms.
Each is about the size of a length of
drain tile. Some OF them have handles
on their tops like satchels. They
look as II they might be carried in
shawl straps.
1t requires about eighteen months
to construct one OF the fourteen-inch
guns, and already six have been COM
pleted and taken out to the naval
proving ground at Indian Head, where
they are tested. The rest of the TWEEN.
ty guns are In various stages OF max
ing. but all are expected to be ready
when the New York and Texas are
launched next year.
Although the fourteen-inch beauties
are the Creates attraction to visitors
just now, the other naval armament In
the shops il Of tremendous interest.
Tvsive-inoh giants Weighing nfty-six
tons stiak ~ from tAe Iathss- Thay