New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-18

second IN norltonthl dllcVN""' -
tho proiectile was IN flight twenty
seven and two-thirds seconds. 10 mus
go up vertically agains. gravity 10Y
half Of that time. or 1888 seconds ~
thc end Of which time 10 comes TO Ic',,'
as far a. vertical motion is concerned
and bcgiys 20 drop
Falls as Feet n Second.
"Wo know that falling body gains
81 . foot a second for each second oil
It's fall. The she'll. therefore. IN 1917
seconds would he falling nj the rate oil
$40 feet second Assume target that
is so feet high the side of a battle
ship and assume that the smell hltS
,he top Of this 30-foot target. ne sheil
is falling o. tho rate Of il1 iect 3 sec.
ord. and 20 fall thirty feet II would
take but onc-hftcCnth OF second nav
ing p horizontsl velocity OF 10 fcet a
second. 10 would 20 over the target m
one-ffteenth Of y second. or ioriy-eigh'
feet c-ifteenth Of ,2hl, which -
sixteen yards. so that in order 70 hii
this target, which IS 80 feet high, the
range must he known TO within sixteen
wards. otherwise the she'll would fall
either short or so over.
The time OF flight IS very long, and
there IRE many variations duo 20 speed
OF target. speed Of firing ship, wind,
density Of air. temperature Of powder
loading. pointing. rolling and the pitch
linz Of the shin. SO that the chances
OF hitting are very remote az TINS range
with these iS-mch guns. Likewise the
velocity o. the shell Is very low. lt
would be about the resultant OF the
horizontal ard vertical vclocities given.
which would place II about between 900
and 1000 feet o second.
81. must ne understood that l-.o'u
wards is the extreme range ~ vnicr
these ships guns fire. that shoul,
these Ships toe further than i2.05u
yards from the target the guns would
he O. 10 use vh1tever. These five snaps
have three knots speed less than tn
Slowest shin o. The dreGduOught ciasj.
SO it would be impossible for them 70
hold their position in feet OF dread
roughts. and an enemy fleet, having an
advaatace Of one or two knots In speed,
could choose such ranges rs 10 make
ships of the pfc-dreadnough' class IN
effective
Now. take a similar case OF tine H.
inch. 5O-cslibre guns Of tle NNomlnL
class OF dreadnoughts and compare
them with those Of the pre-dreadnorgnt
ships al the same range namely. L.
800 yards This distance 5 not the e.
IRENE range Of the Pinch. 5O-cai bre
guns Of the dreadnought class OF snip,
az the installation OF these guns makes
Il possible Tor them 10 fire prolec-
tile about twice as far as the IT, nch
guns mentioned IN the previous mus
tratiou.
The l2-;uch guns Of the Wyoming
class have y mule velocity o. -'9Vv
feet second and can cover l2.o5U
wards in 1874 seconds. . difference OF
1l2 seconds. The average houzonta.
velocity at this range can easily De
ascertainCd by dividing 3.6oO feet by
1914 seconds. the time Of fight. ana
thus we find .hat 1900 feet second IS
the average velocity. This average
velocity j. 600 feet second less than
the muzzle velocity. 30 that the re-
naming horizontal velocity ~ the tar
get is about 100 feet second.
Comes 10 Rest" in So Seconds.
AT the end Of 50 seconds the shell
has come to rest so far as movement
away from the earth is concerned, ana
Tor So seconds it falls. at the ed OF
which time 10 has attained velocity
OF 264 feet per second, II the sneiI
hits the top Of q target 30 feet high ~
vii! drop ne distance of 30 feet In l-'y
cf 264 feet. or l-9 Of a second ana
while dropping for 10 OF second Do
viii continue in a horizontal direction
for 10 o. 200 or 1873 feet SO yardsl.
The range must therefore be de
tImined within So yards for guns at
Ills distance 10 hit the target. ne
time Of flight is much shorter so that
-.2-e ac..vqte results cen be Cbtaired
each time the dispersion is much less.
I'm addition 20 this. the remaining We
l9citv 200 feet per second is so
f-rch greater that its damaging power
is orcetlv superior 90 that OF the l3-
inch she'll mentioned in the previous
evample. the energy varying with the
square Of the velocity when hitting.
"From this YOU will sec that the b.
i,cn guns OF Sims of the Illinois and
kearsaree class are not effective be
1ond 1850 yards because Of the con
s.ruction Of these vessels and their tur-
lets, guns. etc.
The cahbre of gun does not a.
vpys mean that IL is necessarily the
most powerful. This fact is illustrated
in the two examples cited. u Us Tor
iris reason that the strength OIL naval
mowers re generally based upon me
d.eaduought power Of the nations con-
Corued.
an bsttleships Of the pre-dreed-
nought type. the United States has an
advantage i'm that its guns arc more
powerful: but. for the reasons herein
before stated. the dreadnought strength
determines the power OF a navy, be-
cause without speed il is impossible to
use the guns.
Attention is invited TO the fact that
TWO naval engagements OF the prevail
ing war were fought az ranges begin
D. ny Al about $4,000 yards. and unle
the ships engaged carried guns that
could be employed At those ranges tneE
would be Of no value against the snlps
,.,e-,e-ir., 0uns Of greater range.