The Washington herald., 1918-10-26
YANK BATTERY
OF SUPER-GUNS
HAMMER HUNS
Big Naval Cannon in Use on
West Front Since
August. u
MANNED BY SAILORS
MANNED BY SAILORS
Range and Caiber of New
Weapons Far Greater
Than Those of Allies.

Navy officials yesterday admit
ted that battery of huge naval
guns, mounted upon railway trucks
and manned by American blue
jackets, have played a great part
in driving the Germans from the
Flanders front
Military experts say that the
manner in which these great en-
gines of destruction spread death
and destruction among the re-
treating enemy ever since Septem-
Der I6 proved a dominating factor
in bringing to the German general
staff the realization that no mod
ern defensive system, either in
Belgium or on the Rhine, could
withstand the new weapons which
American ingenuity had devised,
forged and placed in action on the
Western front.
Up to this time all particulars of
the new mobile naval guns for land
use have been jealousy guarded by
the Navy Department. That the navy
had devised a weapon rivaling the
German guns which shelled Paris was
hinted at last April when Samuel NJ.
Vauclain, general manager of the
Baldwin locomotive Works, an
nounced that the first of America s
greatest siege guns had eft the Bald
win shops for proving tests. For the
present the Navy Department refuses
to permit publication of the exact
calibre and power OF the new guns.
1t is an open secret, however, that the
guns have a range which exceeds that
of the British and French. mobile
naval guns. weapons which easily
shoot twenty miles. Moreover, the
. American gun shoots a much heavier
and more destructive projectile than
, do the guns of the allies.
From the day when the plan fc-
| the production of the great guns for
: mobile purposes on railway lines In
France was adopted. until the picked
men in charge of the battery went
into action, the venture has been
| characterized by a series of exploits
| and feats of engineering and admin
| istration which will be the basis for
one of the brightest pages in the his
| tory of Americas participation in the
great war.
Mounted on Special Trucks.
During the closing days of 1917 it was
found that a change in design of a
series of projected battle cruisers
would prevent the use of specially
designed gun of great range and with
n record muzzle velocity. With the
consent of Secretary Daniels, the
navy's experts proceeded to the de-
sign and construction of railway cars
mounting the guns, locomotives and
cars sufficient to accommodate all the
operating personnel. together with
ammunition trucks. repair shops
cranes and other factors necessary.
In less than thirty days the designs
were completed and on January -
1918. work began. A large part of the
preliminary designing was done py
Cant. A. l.. Willard. Commander Har'
yey Delano and G. A. Chadwick. The
guns were forged in one of America S
greatest ordnance factories and were
placed upon the special trucks at the
plant of Baldwin Locomotive Com
pany in New Jersey.
The railway truck contains a pit
formation which permits of high ele-
walton for the rife. The body of the
truck can also be swung to any angle,
! thus permitting fire upon any point
in the compass. The first gun car
was completed in April The Standard
steel Car Company built the box cars
90 and the hinge
steel girders were fabricated by the
American Bridge Company. The
units of the trains are completely
covered by heavy armor plate, 1,6o(
square feet of plate being required to
protect the gun mount alone. Most
of the important parts of the gun
mounts were made at the Naval Gun
Factory at Washington. but many OF
the plates were so large that neces-
sary machinery for their production
was to be found in only one plant in
Pittsburgh.
First Gun Ready In April.
After the first gun was completed i'
was shipped at night To the army
proving ground at Sandy Hook, N. Y.
the only proving ground In the coun-
try where it was possible to obtain a
great range Sa1ely. "nen WOT0 went
out that the navy was to take big
guns into France and aid in blasting
way for the allies through the Ger
man hordes, every bluejacket quail
fed for gun grew service began to
importune his officer for transfer 20
the new units. The officers also were
pulling every wire they knew to gain
a place in the corps.
However. plans for the personnel
had been formulated almost from the
day that the factories began work on
the new guns. When the first gun
left the Baldwin shops April 25. 1918,
1t was in charge of Capt. T. A.
Kearney, assistant chief of the Bu-
reau of Ordnance and Lieut.. Com. IL.
B. Bye, also of the bureau.
The command of the proposed bat
terry was given IT. Rear kdpIiral
Charles p Plunkett, former director
of the Office of Gunnery Exercises
and Engineering Performances. Un-
der his direction the corps of officers
were assembled. the officers being
drawn from the regular navy and the
Naval Reserves. The enlisted men
were chosen, for tho most part from
units at the Great Lakes Training
Station, Chicago.
The training of both the officers
and the men was carried out on an