New-York tribune., 1914-12-22
COAST DEFENCE
BOARD REPORTS
Plan to Increase Range OF
Guns Said To Be One
of Suggestions.
TRIAL SOUGHT FOR
NEW 16-INCH GUN
Advised That Shortage in Am
munitiOn and Men Be
Made Up.

From Tie Tribune Bllesul
Washington, Dec 2l.- The special
board Of army experts having under in
vestigation the condition Of the fortif-
cations Of the United Stares coast line
has reported TO Secretary Garrison
numerous recommendations as 20
changes in the equipment OF coast de
fences. The report viii not be made
public for the present, and from the
attitude assumed by the Secretary to-
day a considerable part of 1t viii never
be revealed.
The impression prevails, however, IN
Washington, based on the known views
Of experts closely affiliated with the
heads Of the various bureaus OF the
War Department cOmprls sing the board,
that several recommendations have
been made 20 Secretary Garrison, who
in turn. viii put them before Congress
in his own insistcnt fashion.
Among these recommendations, II rs
believed is a modification in the car
rages OF the - and ~ inch guns with
view 20 increasing their range, 10
meet improvements ln the range o.
the naval guns Of foreign nations. Inc
general design Of the disappearing gun
carriages IInIdIAtu III Niif AWcthN w. ..'t
cations OF the United States restricts
the elevation of the weapon TO 10 de
grces above the horizontal. With TINS
restriction the range Of the l2-inch
gun is only about 10000 yards. The
range of the l4-inch gun is less than
$4,000 yards.
By changing the carriage model and
this will involve the installation Of
new carriages at every fort of the
coast line the elevation can be IN
creased TO 10 degrees. and the l2-lnch
gun Of the present model VIII have an
increased range Of more than 5000
wards. The 14-inch gun Of the type
implaced I'm the fOrtiiicatlons OF the
Panama Canal by the increased eleva-
tion thus afforded Will become the
equal in range of the new 15-inch
rifles installed on the new super-dread-
noughts of Great Britain and Germany,
or a. least so nearly equal that the
difference between a gun lmplaced on
land and one mplaced aboard a snip
will cqualize the pcnetrative and de-
structivc force Of tho two arms.
u is believed that the board has
recommended further increase IN the
calibre Of the guns of the main bat
teries Of the Notifications. Several
years ago, as an experiment, l6-inch
gun was built for the army Il is now
at Panama awaiting implacement. Il
is the belief Of ordnance and artillery
experts on the board that this is en-
tirely practicable. The impact of its
gigantic projectle far exceeds in de-
structive force the impact of any pro-
iectile thrown by any naval gun Of any
of the ships of European powers. A
fair trial OF this gun. with a proper
carriage beneath H.. Will be found, IN
the opinion of many of the ordnance
experts. sufficient 10 convince the heads
OF the army and the appropriatinG pow
crs on Capitol Hill that there Is justi-
fication for the claim that the United
States should keep in advance of the
world i'm the manufacture of ordnance
rather than occupy the present unde-
sirable position Of trailer
Recommendation have also been
made, il is said, with regard 10 com
prehensive increases in the amount of
munitions to be carried as permanent
stock" by the army. There is a con-
fessed shortage of ammunition. par
ticularly Of heavy shell. This was
shown in the testimony of General
Weaver. chief Of the coast artillery
corps Of the army, before the House
Military Committee. The board is un-
derstood to have recommended vast in
creases i'm the amount Of shell TO be
carried permanently i'm the arsenals
and magazines of the army.
II is expected that the type of shell
will be changed. Lighter projectles
insure greater range, and therefore will
probably be recommended as more de-
sirabe i'm view of the recent European
developments. The shape of the she'll
it is expected, viii be changed from a
long barrel and a stubby nose TO one
more conical and much sharper at the
impact point.
There also are suggestions as to the
equipment of the coast defences with
turrets for the major batteries. The
sudden destruction Of the steel-clad
turrets Of the forts surrounding Licge
and Namur by the Kaiser's "Big
Berthas" is not accepted here as a con
vincing argument against this form Of
shelter for the crews of the coast de-
fence artillery. In Belgium, where the
42-centimetre guns wrought such fear
full havoc against the Liege turrets and
single shell burst the steel cap of q
turret. the destructive shell had a ira
jectory impossible to artillery implaced
on war vessel, and the purpose OF
coast defences is not 10 defend against
+ land, but against sea attack.
An increase in the personnel Of the
coast artillery corps has also beer
recommended by the board. II is known
that all of the experts favor large
augmentation Of the coast artillery
BY some the necessary increase ha,
been placed as high as ! 900 men
Secretary Garrison has not received
an invitation TO appear before the
House Committee on Military Affairs
lie will probably not be called before
January or g. When he does appear
he will have had time to satisfy him
sci as TO the recommendation Of his
/ chosen Investigators. and then all Ot
the report which is not OF too highly
confidential nature will be brought out
10 is expected.