El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-05


Af business Of blazing away at
w the fortified cliffs along the
Dardanelles comes TO a pretty penny IN
these days when the high cost OF liY-
inr makes ammunition so expensive.
Oordinarily explosive projectiles are
not very effective against rocks Hud-
son Maxim, the famous inventor OF guns
and wunpowder, suggests that guncot-
tom in large masses is what is required
70 accomplish results under such condi-
tions. and now is the time to turn to
account the aerial torpedo" which ne
has devised. s..t;,e
Imagine a cylindro-conical prefecture
l. feet long and two feet IN diameter,
carving a ton Of guncotton. This IS
the kind Of shell that, according TO MI
Maxiu's idea is to be fired from spe-
cialIy designed gun, to be carried Dy q
new type OF warshipi the toIPeuo
cruiser" Yet the gun viii be no
heavier than the 14-inch rIles "h I'LL
compose the main battery or our
latest dreadnaughts, such as the Pen
Furthermore, the ship will carry only
one such weapon, which, It is reckoneu'
will be amply sufficient, owing 10 Lhe
enormous destructive power OF project
tiles Of the kind described. Such a
fighting craft can be built for about
$500 600. or about one twenty -FOUR "a
Of the cost Of a DIRE dge3 tIinfonT such
cruisers could be constructed for
the money paid for a single modern
battleship.
The gun, as designed by Mr.. Maxim,
viii weigh sd tons; or one Of its giant
shells landing anywhere Wlthln 81
Yards of a battleship should disable
her. It will throw n ton OF guneolton
five miles, or half a ton OF the same
explosive nine miles. The inventor
suFreEts that the single formidable
weapon Of this type carried by cruls-
er might be supplemented by two tor
medic mortars. each of them capable OF
throwing 500 pounds OF guncoL .Il2I,. 10 VI
miles or one ton nearly two miles:
saws Mr.. Maxim: THE torpedo cruiser
will be much faster than any battleshlp'
It viii be long and narrow IKE os-
strover. and viii be equally swift, Win
a speed exceeding 50 k s5eG+ an ~ :;
This means that In fight at sea II
will be able TO choose its own distance
and position with respect to a battle
ship asseiled. 80.
but, unlike the destroyer, It's tactics
will not be TO dash in and run the
rauntIet Of destructive fire from the
battleship, on the chance OF delivering
g torpedo before fastening out OF
range. 1t win stand its ground and
firht-always at a distance, and in 8
armored head toward the enemy. All
important point about the torpedo
cruiser IS that it viii invariably ugn'
head on'-nOt being obliged. like the
battleshfp. to expose its broadside in or
der to make the best use Of its weap-
ons. Thus il will offer to the ad-
versary, a relatively small target, not
easy TO hit
'grhe 12-inch rifles carried by nearly
ali OF the battleships now in the ser
vice of the United States navy dis
charge, Of course, projectiles II inchet
in diameter. To double this diameter
means an enormous increase in the size
81 the shell A 24-inch projectile, j.
feet long. made for a torpedo gun
would weigh over half a ton, empty
4 e.. without the bursting charge o.
high explosive.
THE 'war-heaG OF a Whitehead sub
marine torpedo contains ordinarily %
pounds OF high explosive. A 24-incl
proiectile of the kind I have described
will hold eight times as much, and, 1
1t hits the target will be proportion
ately more destructive. Relativel,
small aerial torpedOes, OF 12-incl