Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-11-27

The gray battleship seems strangely
deserted and bare. for her decks are
denuded of men. while all rails and
other outstanding encumbrances have
been laid dat on deck for big gun
practice.
In the coming tower. with its twelve
inch armor, stands the captain. his
navigating officer. a midshipman OF
two and several other officers and men.
The small circular erection. barely ten
feet in diameter. seems very cramped
for all it has to contain.
Above the coming tower is another
armored erection. containing a range
finder. and inside this is the gunnery
lieutenant. with half a dozen more
officers and men,. He is surrounded by
strange looking instruments. while the
man at the range finder, with his eyes
at its rubber eyepieces. Is monotonous-
~ chanting out the distance of the APP
preaching target.
Inside the turrets themselves the ex-
pectant men are grouped around their
monster thirteen inch guns. The great
projectiles and the cordite charges be-
hind them have already been pushed
home by the hydraulic hammers. and,
since their weapons are thus fully load
ed, the guns crews are idle for the
time being.
But the gun layers-the men who aim
and fire the guns-and the trainers
those who keep them pointing in the
rgrbk dirootinn-or ooxinrclu kaapinU
the sights on the target, and every 10Y
and then, as they move their small
brass handles. there is a wheeling Of
hydraulic machinery. and the great
breeches rise and fall ever SO slightly.
while the whole armored structure con
tanning them reyolves an inch or so at
a time to keep the sights on.
A minute or two later. after an order
has come through from the control
position, the lieutenant In charge Of
the foremost turret suddenly raps out
the order. Bring both guns to the
readyi'
The men standing by the breeches
flick over their small levers. fright
gun readyi Left gun readyF" they re-
port III apt SUCCESSION.
The range meanwhile is decreasing
rapidly, and about ten seconds later
there comes the strident rafting Of an
electric bell.
1t is the signal to open fire. The gun
layer holds his breath. sees the cross
wires Of his telescope cutting the lat
ticework Of the target and then presses
an innocent looking brass thumb piece.
As he does so there is a roar, and, with
a blaze Of orange fame and a pail of
brown smoke, a projectile weighing
more than half a ton is sailing through
the air on its way toward the target
Outside the turret the conclusion Is
terrible, but inside 1t Is barely felt. and
the only means the guns crew have Of
knowing their weapon has gone off is
by the rocking of the turret and the
recoil of the gun. Back she slides.
with the water whistling and gurgling
through the hydraulic valves far be-
low. She stops and then. as the run.
ming out springs exert their strength.
Is driven back to the firing position.
The men meanwhile are working
like demons. Some one, by moving a
small lever which actuates a hydraulic
engine, has opened the breech. A cloud
OF acrid cordite smoke fills the turret,
but another man. turning a tap. sends
a Jet of water spouting into the cham
Der to e~xtinguish any still burning
fragments.
Everything seems chaos, but every
n@n IrnAUvc urha% 30 H. ~ 10. Ao~o
it time after time-and In less than
thirty seconds we near a sharp order.
Fright gun. loadr'
A man moves an upright lever. and
an arrangement looking like a NINA
ture lift climbs into view through the
floor. 1t has come up from the shell
room below laden with the new charge
rear of the gun.
Reposing In a tray is the shot itself.
Another lever is worked. and a flexible
chain hydraulic rammer. looking like q
snake. darts out of its resting place and
pushes the shot before 1t into the
breech of the gun.
1t is driven home with a dull thud
AhC idhlAhCA 10 Wllh0l0 IL dnOlicl
handle Is pulled and two enormous
brown cylinders of cordite fall into
the tray just vacated by the projectile.
They, too. are rammed home, and be-
fore we quite realize what has hap
pened the hammer and lift have disap.
peared, the breach of the gun has been
swung home and the great weapon is
ready for firing.
In the fire control position the gun
merry lieutenant has seen the first shot
tear a Jagged hole in the target and
promptly whispers an order to a man
at his side. The latter moves a small
handle, and thirty seconds later there
Ii another discharge.
In about ten minutes It i all over
and the ship is ~approachins the target
to see the result of her snooting.-Lon-
don Anrruarc