The Yale expositor., 1913-08-14

~ " NCLE SAM is SChoOllidStSA
of the old type. He neither
spares the rod nor spells the
child. He has many pupils,
those who enter his service
in the government departments and
the army and the navy. His course
of training in the navy is rather Sc
we're, for he requires every man who
enlists for service under the Stars
and Stripes on sea to become skilled
artisan. Probably the most interest
ing of all of Uncle Sans trade schools
is the school for seaman gunners, at
the navy yard in Washington II is
here that the men who aim and fire
the great guns learn their principle
and mechanism so thoroughly that the
efficiency of the United States navy
is unequaled by any navy in the
world
There are more than 125 men in the
seaman gunners' class at the present
time, enrolled for six months OF the
hardest kind of study In the shops
and in the classroom Every one OF
these men is picked, and in the serv-
ice II is considered a great honor to
be chosen to join the class. Only
men who have been in the service
four years are eligible, and then only
when their conduct and service record
are exceptionally good Graduates OF
the school are the backbone of the
navy. Here the men are taught the
only really distinctive naval trade. and
II is here that the men who load, train
and fire the immense guns are made
Requires Much Study.
They learn the making of the large
and small guns. They learn by prac-
tical experience how to take them
down and assemble them again. The
breech mechanism, everything to do
with the practical part of ordnance,
the manufacture Of shells, fuses and
powder and torpedoes all require
thorough and extensive study. The
work is equally divided between the
naval gun factory shops and the class
room, where they have instruction at
the hands of skilled ordnance experts
and special instructors. In addition
to the ordnance course they are re-
quired to become proficient in the sci.
the manufacture and principle of the
storage battery.
Work on the big guns start from the
raw casting. This huge, 75-ton cylin
der of steel is bored out, trimmed and
grooved. The casing, another huge
cylinder of steel, is bored out, heated
white hot and shrunk onto the groov
ed lining. The manufacture of this
part of the monster 14-inch rifles take!
about four weeks.
Then the gunnery force enters tn,
forge and hammer shops, where the.
remain for two weeks. After this tn,
class is divided into small squads
some Of them going into the black
smith shop, others to the machinists
bench, the carpenter shop, the tin
smith, the coppersmith and tn
plumber for instruction. Each ma
must hammer and turn out from ray
metal every piece of steel which goe
into the complicated breech block me
chanism and the firing devices. Pre-
jectiles and smokeless powder ais
get a great deal of attention this las
phase of the work taking the schoC
to Indian Head, Md, for severe
weeks work
When these men graduate and leav
Washington for the various ships
the Atlantic feet to them falls tn
duty of keeping in repair every pc
ton of the ships armament. II du
ing battle practice a spring or bit
mechanism breaks, these seaman gu
ners must enter the ships machir
shop and forge or turn out ne
piece.
The gunner is in absolute commar
of his gun. He has under him an a
sistant In the big dreadnaughts
today. there are six turrets, with tv
guns to each turret Each turret
supplied with ammunition for ~
magazines Also there is a gum
in charge of the magazines. Besid
these, there are smaller five-inch rife
six and one-pounders located on va
Gus portions OF the ship. To the
smaller guns the recently gradual
class is always sent In time tn
are promoted and placed in char
OF a big gun or even whole turr
Severe With Students.
Uncle Sam is exceedingly SIEVE
with his students. They must tn
out promptly at 6 o'clock In the mo
ing. roll up their hammocks, save
out their quarters and be wash
shaved and clearly clothed for brei
fast at o'clock. At s o'clock II
enter the shops of the naval gun Z