The Detroit times., 1915-05-24
Our National Defense
Comparison Of Big Guns Of
American and German Navies
BY z. JAMES

n.rranx has urotuced q new awe-inspirins
naval gun-a fresh contestant for the mas1ef'
n, the seas. a supreme instrument OF destruc
ton II is TO be the predominant armament o.
the kaiser's greatest fighting ships
when these new Observation-Disclosures are
three OF them. two 10 be completed in 1915. and
the third in l9iT--nose out from the protecting
fortresses of Heligoland shadow VIII faii upon
the pride and glory Of the American navy
Our great 14inch gun, that s3ton steel mon
ter which stands ready Mt all times 10 flash
1. 400 pounds OF death AZ q speed OF $500 feet
second. our most stanch and depended weapon
OF national defense. viii have been eciipsed
Those duh steel tubes, fftythree feet long
which we so love to photograph with score o,
more OF jaekies astride. must yield their world
position.
Even the monster Seton 15inch guns OF the
British Royal Sovereign. Queen Elizabeth, and
others OF their class must look sharp
While there Is slight difference in the de-
stroying efficiency OF the biggest guns OF the
three leading world naval powers. the United
States has a decided advantage over Germany
IN numbers. Two OF our dreadnoughts now In
commission carry ten each OF the 14-inch guns.
and OF the four steel leviathans soon 10 take
their place with the fleet two viii carry ten and
two twelve of the monsters. The three German
dreadnoughfs carry only eight 15-inch guns each.
England has six superdreadnoughts in com
mission near completion, OF the type OF the
Queen Elizabeth which bombarded the Dards
neIles, each of which carries eight l4.inch guns
There are six more authorized, which will carry
like armament.
SO with an advantage OF "A OF our big de-
structors on the high 70 "a possessed by
Germany. we can look with less concern upon
what Is apparently a slight suprem- In calibre
Of the individual German guns
Comparison Of Biz Guns
| Comparison OF worlds three greatest naval
guns can be shown best by the following chart
| Of performances:
England. Germany. America
S.lsis ton, ]: n d t i9
'jec,iie. p. 1870 lbs is7SIb. I.4oo lbs
AT per ss Sso8i'' =. ASST a,,on asoo IT
''T IN foot st. tons . 5000 $4,000 sssos
Penetration OF
ne he '' - ,'14 s72in o5in as7in
| minu,e-.....:. Ia
But Germany has produced an even more pom
derous gun than any Of these. II would seem
TIE Krupps are attempting 20 develop for use
at sea a weapon as destructive az the great ~
centimetre siege guns that battered 10 bits the
| fortresses Of Samur thought by their construct
ors 10 be impregnable
l At the Krupp works there has been construct
| ed ls-inch naval gun The caliber OF the ~
centimetre siege guns reduced to inches g.
1886 This 16-inch naval gun. however, has
not been accepted by the German naval engl
neers. II is doubtful II IL ever-vill be Their.
| Is limit OF advantage In the size OF naya
| gun. and American engineers believe that lint
has been reached In our 14.inch gun. II Il
pointed out that our superdreafnoughts carr,
! IL OF these guns 10 eight OF the bigger gum
carried by German and British ships
| Americans have constructed the largest OF al
naval guns. at least the biggest In calibre bu
u has not been found TO be practicable or eff
Gent. II is the ls-inch Bethlehem gun. II {;
lighter than any of the other very large guns
| weighing only sixty tons II fires a projectil,
weighing 2,075 pounds at initial velocity o
1880 feet a second.
The great advantage Of the American 14Inc,
gun over It's larger rivals In that n fires will
| almost twice the rapidty. And while its pene
| trating power at the muzale r. much less thar
| either Of the other guns. Il II almost equal q
= range q 10000 yards.
(Confinusd TcmxrUw)