The Yale expositor., 1914-04-16

for some months haStenlnB
the work of terrifying the two
approaches to the Panama
canal. Once in a while the public has
heard something OF this, but as a
rule the work has gone on rather qui-
city and it is only of late that some
of the facts have leaked out regard
ing the scope and character of the
defenses which are being prepared.
A little more than three years ago
congress appropriated nearly $20,OOO,-
600 for the fertilization of the canal.
So energetically has the undertaking
been pushed since then that before
traffic passes through the waterway
our coast artillery will be prepared
there for any contingency. Out of the
total appropriation about S2.500,O00
has been apportioned to the guns and
carriages for seacoast batteries.
According to official figures the
16-inch gun is capable Of hurting a
projectile of 2,40O pounds a distance
of 1880 yards, and at a range of 2.S
miles that armor piercing shot will be
able to bore its way through 81 inches
of steel. The projectile carries a de-
structive bursting charge of no less
than 1875 pounds Of dunnite.
The gun alone, when hung in the
yoke of the disappearing carriage,
will represent a suspended weight
of 100 tons, and this will be aug
mented by the 2,400 pound projectile
and the propulsive powder charge OF
666 pounds. But this is only part
of the story.
Mortars to Cover Three Zones.
For indirect attack upon a foe the
seacoast defenses at Panama will rely
mostly upon the new design of IL
inch mortars. The very latest re-
port of the chief Of ordnance of the
army says:
"A number of the more powerful IL
inch mortars of new design referred
to in my last annual report as being
under manufacture for the fortifica-
tons Of the Panama canal have been
ompletedandsucce lytested They
will have a maximum range of slight
ly more than IL miles, as compared
with approximately eight and a half
miles for the most powerful type pre-
viously in use"
In order to send these missiles upon
their destructive mission the NOR
tar can be elevated to an angle of As
degrees. AT this elevation the shell
would 5oar skyward until 1t had
reached the climax of its curving
flight at a height of little less than
5000 yards and then would begin to
drop toward the distant target, which
Is the deck or turret tops of the ad-
vancing ship. In this, you see, the
army strategist counts upon hitting
the foe where he is weakest, for the
decks and turret tops are only thinly
clad with protecting steel. These
cannot be reached by the direct and
fatter fire Of the guns, but can be at
tanned by the plunging fire or the
mortar shell.
The moment the powder Is ignited
and the generated gases drive that
great shell seaward there will be de-
veloped within the weapon an Inn
pulsive energy amounting to more
bhdu of,OVO lOON eOung mat 10, uuOIIVe
force equivalent to lifting more than
$4,000 tons one foot in one second.
There is no action without reaction,
and in this case the recoil is equal
to the driving energy back of the
shot, and all of this must be absorbed
by the gun carriage so nicely and cas-
lily that the weapon shall sink without
violent shock to the loading position
with the muzzle again below the par
apet. This is like bringing a racing
express to a stop within the space of
a few feet.
The weapons that will count most
against a foe at Panama are the IL
inch guns which the army has been
developing during the last few years,
and these are to measure strength
with the best that foreign naval
power can offer.