New Britain herald., 1915-03-18
MAY Arm BATTLESh|PS
With l6-|NCH RIFLES
New Navy Gun Delights Officials
With lis High Efficiency.

Washington, March 1S.-The two
battleships provided for in the cur
rent naval bill may be armed with
sixteen-inch rifles, the heaviest naval
guns ever designated.
While tentative plans for the new
ships contemplate vessels similar in
general design to the $4,000 tons
giants of the California class now
building, details of armament and en-
CINE equipment are being given I'M
usual attention by navy designers and
the results obtained from the fifteen
inch main batttries of the newest
British and German battleships are
being closely watched.
Subjected to Tests.
Already the new sixteen-inch navy
gun has been subjected to tests at the
Indian Head proving ground and
while details of it's construction and
performance are closely guarded, it is
known that the gigantic weapon has
given proof Of its efficiency which de-
lighted navy ordnance experts. The
gun was built at the American naval
gun factory and has been undergoing
tests for several months.
Some idea of the probable size of
the new American gun may be gath
cred from the fact that each of the
eight fifteen-inch guns of the British
hattleships Queen Elizabeth weighs
. ninety-six tons, while similar rifles
designed in the Krupp works for
German battleships laid down this
year each weigh more than eighty
two tons. The fourteen-inch rifles of
the battleships New York and Texas
FOR the five new American dread
thoughts now under construction,
weigh 633 tons each and it is certain
that the new sixteen-inch weapon
weighs more than 100 tons without
It's mounting.
Designate 16-inch Gun.
Krupp engineers have designated
sixteen-inch gun which fires pro-
jectlle weighing 2.O2S pounds against
the 1875 pound mass of steel hurled
by the flfteen-inch rifles adopted for
the German navy and the 1870 pound
projectiles poured into Turkish fort
resses Of the Dardanelles by the Brit
ish battleship Queen Elizabeth. None
of the German or British vessels or
the first line carry any weapon exact
ly similar to the nerican fourteen-
inch gun, jump having been maze
last wear from the standard twelve
inch rife to the ffteen-inch type.
The New York, Texas, Nevada and
Oklahoma each carry ten fourteen
inch guns while the Pennsylvania,
California, Idaho and Mississippi
each will carry twelve, placed three
to a turret These weapons throw
projectiles weighing 1,400 pounds, as
Is the case with the fourteen-lnch
guns designed for the four Japanese
battlesnips estimated for in 1914.
Shortened By Erosion.
With the increase in size, the LIE
of the gun is shortened by erosion,
due to the heat generated by the eX-
plosion of the huge charge OF powder
necessary to hurl nearly a ton OF
metahffteen miles that is said to. be
the range of the American l6-inch
weapon The rifling of the gun burns
out under the blast. Drops of melted
steel are visible in the bore after each
shot and it is said that the life of
the Queen Eliza beths 15-inch weapons
is less than 100 shots each. After that
the gun is so inaccurate as to be vir-
tually useless.
Navy gun designers have overcome
that obstacle somewhat, 1T is said,
with the new American 16-inch gun;
but the life of the gun is still far
below that of the 14-inch.
The Krupp works. before the out