New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-01
Blu Ghcrardi Davis


through the powder chamber, wnich Is "''
rifed and when the charge is fred the cop
ner band. being forced into the rihing nlahe'
n perfectly tight joint, and starts the pro,
iectilc moving with twist which IS increased
toward the muzzlc The proJectile IS u
cylindrical shape with pointed nead' ShaPou
M. unlike an old-fashoned sugar cone, or
better still. the top Of Gothic window
hence the term "ogival head oglvsi behs
French term applied to the Gothic arch)'
The proiectile leaves the gun, as have pre-
viously described, with tremendous energy
and great velocity, spinning very rapidiy as
il travels along through the air, and IL Is TINS
sninoing motion Cor rotation) which keeps
The elongated she'll continuously moving IN
the same line Of flight as that in which II
leaves the gun and prevents its "tumolihs.
In early rihed guns, the shell, being poorly
balanced, would sometimes tumble end over
ord after a while and, Of course, did not
come al all near the target. This practically
never happens to-day and a truly almeo
shot will hit the target with its point at all
ranges.
Factors Of Error
u u,ould be too technical to attempt 70 ex-
nlain how the spin of the projectile tends 20
throw IL off it's course. or how WIND blowing
,cross The line of fire may affect the shot' or
how these and the rolling Of the snap ana
.,.c .hip's own as well as the enemys mo-
lion are allowed for. Suffice it to say mat
TARGET practice Of the most elaborate Hlnd ID
needed and is had in our navy TO teach every
tody how to shoot straight.
Some proiectiles, known as armor-pierclng
shells. are made Of the very finest quality OF
steel with a hardened sharp end covered
with a soft cap, the combination being neces-
sarv to make the shell pierce the srmor.
such she'll has what is known as delayed
action fuse-that is, fuse that Is lgnited
when the she'll strikes, but is slow enough
not TO explode the charge until the she'll 10
inside the ship. In our old smoothbore guns
the fuse was ignited by the flame of the gun,
but in modern guns the gases cannot escape
until the shot leaves the gun. Pictures Oh
shot lust leaving gun with no smoke SHOW
ing have been frequently printed IN Inc
Tribune. Some fuses ignite when the shot
strikes target; others are ignlted when the
shot begins 10 move. In most cases the ignl-
ton IS caused by loose pin being driven
into cap. the exploding cap firing COM
nosition which burns a fraction Of second
or MANY seconds, as may be desired, and
which itself fires the bursting charge. The
loose min moves when the shell starts in the
gun or hits a target and stops, just as a per-
con in a car will move il the car is suddenly
started or the moving car is suddenly stopped
Then. too, shells are fred with fuses which
leave a train Of smoke by day or show flame
at night. so that the trajectory may be FOL
lowed by the eye. These are called tracers
Froiectiles of various qualities are painted
different colors so as 70 be readily distinguish
able on board ship. The powder charges are
in silk cartridge bags, in four sections for the
largest guns, two for smaller guns and IN
one section for still smaller guns. ~ and
III inch guns and rapid-fre guns have the
powder in metal cases, into which cases the
base of the projectile Is in serted so that
their appearance is like huge rife cartridge
and bullet. This ammunition is hence called
fixed ammunition" The weights of the pow
der charges and Of the bursting charges for
the XIV, XII and " inch guns are: XIV inch,
3s5 and 81 pounds; XII inch, 1888 and q
mounds; " inch, IS and l pounds. These
bursting charges tear the shell all 70 pieces
destroying men, guns, decks and all else near
them. Of course, where cartridge bags are
used the shell is first inserted in the gum
then the cartridges and then the breech IS
closed for all modern guns are breech leaders
Krupp Guns and Others
Krupp. the great German steel magnate,
prior TO 1870 had developed breech-loading
gun the general principle of which is stil
applied to all German artillery. It consists
of block of steel which passes through the
rear end of the gun from side to side. 10
open the breech the block is showed out to
one side: to close it it is showed back. Very
early examples of breech-loading cannon can
be seen in many a museum abroad. lhey
must have been extremely dangerous to
their gunners, but, oddly enough, the system
most frequently seen Is not at all unlike the
holt system Of a modern rife. The French
developed the so-called interrupted screw
breech. For such mechanism the rear end or
the gun has the thread Of screw cut in it, IN
continuation Of the bore. The cylindrical or
conical breech block has a screw thread cut
Il fit the other. In its simplest form three sec
lions of the screw threads are cut away, so
that the breech block has three surfaces
with threads on them alternating with
three depressions which are smooth The
threads in the gun barrel are cut away in
the same manner. Hence the term Inter
rupted screw breech" system. Now, it is clear
that if the breech block is pushed into the
gun with the threaded portions sliding in the
smooth spaces in the gun, and when pushed
home the breech block is turned, its screw
will engage in the screw threads Of the gun,
and turn equal to one-sixth OF its circum-