The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-09-18
MODERN WARSH|PS
And the Brave Old Wooden Fight
ers of a Century Ago.
THEIR BIG GUNS COMPARED.

ne OIo CONSTITUTIONS Twenty -four
Founders Were Great Cannon, but a
Modern Monster Gun Could Fire One
Of Thorn Bodily Ten MIIss.
The frigate Constitution, lighter OF
thirty nine battles and winner OF every
one Of them. today offers the student
an exceptional opportunity TO compare
the naval fighting machine OF hun
dred years ago with the superdread-
naught of the hour. Peacefully doat-
ing at a wharf In the Charlestown
(dass) navy yard, "Old Ironsides''
speaks volumes to the thoughtful Wis
itor who has perhaps just few min-
utes before stepped down the gangway
OF a modern ship.
Aside from the vastly different meth
DDS Of placing the guns, perhaps the
most striking contrast between the ma.
val architecture of century ago and
that Of today Is seen IN the actual
structure OF the hull and superstrue-
lures. The warship Of today has not
piece Of wood visible. with the possi-
BILE exception Of the deck, which Is
wood over a steel foundation. Stripped
for action, the modern fighting craft
presents a positively naked appearance
with every movable object cast over
board or slowed away.
The Constitution, on the other hand,
presents bewildermg array Of rig
cling and spars. and she u wholly con-
structed Of wood A single modern
shell exploding under her OF on her
deck would do as much damage proba-
bly, as an entire broadside from a ship
similar to the Guerrero This vast
change IN the design Is, OF course. due
b large measure to the introduction OF
steam as a means OF propulsion. Fol-
lowing this the all steel hun was intro
duced.
The gun deck Of the Constitution
stirs the imagination perhaps stiIl more
than does the spar deck. Topped by Q
low ceiling. which makes one want to
stoop as he walks, this deck savors Of
Q prison dungeon. CHANGING at the row
Of long twenty-four Founders, thirty In
number. one can readily picture the
smoke flTled atmosphere, the terrible
0tn, the sweating, ha3f nAiAed Agufes
strAining 10 reload he Clumsy pieces
Of ordinances and ever and anon ahot
crashing through the futile wooden
wan, sending spainoers IN all direc-
lions.
Stepping from the gun deck and the
turrets Of the Rhode Island to this old
time chamber Of horrors, the visitor
cannot fail to wonder how in her IA
nous engagement the Constitution suf-
fered q loss Of but seven killed and
seven wounded out Of a crew Of 456
officers and men. Perhaps the answer
Is found IN the inaccuracy of the guns
and poor Workmanship of the gun
ners. More likely, however, 1t is due to
the fact that the explosive shell had
not then been invented. Aside from
the splinters, twenty-four pound shot
through the hull stood little chance Of
doing really great damage unless it
struck a mast, gunner or the gun car
rage itself
The guns Of the Constitutions day
had an effective range OF possibly
mile, although history tells us that the
real execution was done at ranges
OF from one to three hundred yards.
Think Of the engagements Of modern
warships, wherein naval duels are
fought at ten miles range and where
the opposing ships are actually out Of
sight from the gun deck and barely
visible from the fighting topsl Think
Of guns aimed with the aid of mRthe-
maticsI What marvellous strides sci
ence has made In times Of peace and
In the short space of hundred yearsl
AS an Interesting comparison Of the
guns Of today with those Of 1872 we
may call attention to the fact that,
while the total broadside discharge
Of the CONSTITUTIONS battery would
amount to 6s4 pounds Of metal, sim
gle projectile from one of our coast
defense mortars weighs half ton.
Even more striking Is the fact that
the proJectile from modern four
teen inch piece of ordnance such as
that carried by the superdreadnaughts
weighs practically as much as one Of
the big guns of the Constitution. In
other words, instead Of hurting small
ball Of iron at its enemy the modern
fighter Of the seas could actually throw
one Of the Constitutions cannons itself
at the opponent were the cannon Of
suitable shape and form.
And. furthermore. the explosive
charge In the projectile would be great
ar by far in power than the entire
charge used to fire the old cannon.
This means that the modern engine of
destruction actually takes a mass of
steel equal in weight to the old gun
loaded with high explosive and lands
this entire mass on the deck or inside
the hull Of the enemy's ship, where 1t
xpIodes.-Thomas Stanley Curtis in
Popular Science Monthly.