Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-10-08

of the weapons has been pointed. nor. II mortars
are to be used, even been loaded.
The plotters marks upon his paper a hfth poin'
ahead and in line with the four other dots Ihis
is his predicted point where the enemy vesse
should be minute later In this interval OF
time IT is necessary for the men in the plotting
room to do a number of things necessary TO make
it possible for the weapons to score MT ne
mere range is not enough to know. Let us as
sumo that the foe is to be attacked by means Oh
mortars and that the projectes arc to soar
thousands of feet into the air upon their long
hight that may take the better part OF two
minutes before plunging upon the Vulheraoie
decks of the hostile dreadnaught
It is needful to know how long the shells VIII
be in the air at that range: how far the target
will move during the flight of the missiles: how
much the path of the projectiles Will be innu
enced by drift due to their own rotation ana the
effect of the prevailing wind: the exact powder
charge that will be needed to propel the shells
this being determined by the range and the state
of the atmosphere; and finally. how much ahead
the mortars must be aimed in order to allow for
these factors These complications are due tc
the method of indirect fire employed. and In this
particular the mortars are not so accurate as the
big rifles and therefore, more difficult tc
handle in order to insure good results. The final
point set in the plotting room is No. 6 and two
minutes further along than No. 5, the predicted
point" the latter being verified by the angles
given by the observers at the spotter stations
when the vessel is duly reported at the proper
moment.
All of this has taken longer to describe than
actual performance calls for, because the error
factors which have been just mentioned are tabu
lated and are quickly worked out graphically by
means of cunningy devised apparatus. II must
he evident that In an interval of four minutes
a big ship IL 900 10000 yards on would not get
measurably closer. and once the proper range is
found and the mortars loaded the shifting range
is quickly verified and the guns set accordingly.
The men in the towers and those in the plot
ting room are at work all the while. At definite
intervals the instructions are sent by telephone
from the plotting room to each battery or mortar
pit and lest these vocal directions be misunder
stood the figures and orders are visibly repro
duced. For this work the teautograph is EN-
ployed and thus words and numbers in writing
check the telephone calls
AS has been said there are four mortars in
each pit. and general thing there -four
of these pits at each defense station. In other
words a salvo of l6 high explosive shells can
be launched by Indirect fire at a foe II but
two OF these hit the enemy she would either be
destroyed or gravely damaged. because none oi
her decks would be able TO withstand such an
assault. In practice the performances OF such
battery have been splendid As matter OF rec
ord one mortar company has fired as many as
ten shots in minutes 20 seconds and In that in
terval made six hits, while another company has
scored eight times out of ten shots during
span of minutes 2S seconds These mortal
projecttles weigh from 500 to 900 pounds ant
are charged with from so to 60 pounds of higf
explosive.
For the disappearing guns the modus operand
differs in some particulars. The time of hifh
of the shot is far shorter than in the case of tn,
mortar shell. the powder charge is not varied tt
suit different ranges and the state of the atmos
phere is not a deciding factor. Therefore cor
rections are more easily made. for the rias wher
it does fire is pointed right at its target TIL,
principal concern of the battery commander Il
to know the range. and this is telephoned an,
reproduced by the telautograph at the firing sta
tions
The battery commander also follows the enem,
ship with telescope range finder that employ
a short vertical instead of horizontal base Tht
serves as a check and at each gun there Is a teIe
scopic sight which is functioned independent o
the weapon-the operator looking over the para
pet and following continually the moving quarry
BY swinging his telescope horizontally he cause
the lateral angle to be indicated at the gun sta
tion below, and there the trainer swings III
weapon in unison and the elevator raises tn
muzzle agreeably to instructions from the range
finders
When the rifles have been loaded and the me
for action arrives these great war dog
rise upon their steel launches and thrust thei
muzzes above the heavy parapets of concrete
Instantly there is thunderous boom-tbe speed
ing projecties are on their murderous mission
Before the thin veil of smoke has been SVEN
aside the guns have sunk behind cover and bu
for the momentary flashing of their muzzles ther
is nothing to show the spoilers on the bostiI
craft where the attacking guns Iie