Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-03-03

PA
Kas
Our large CmEiAre gRns haa 10
saESca ngsd saSa llEnsiy gggl.l gsso
positaOn 10 Nra upon The 81
aina as Mtesay. EaDn ron and
CCkaans. whe straits lcaI ssas mhlrh
wns Our hsg1ess hopa was ssnets Nle
had cut the enerays main line 81 eona-
ID ta0aa md nOtEliEg bat ssirresl-
der a. aa ssica 60ns savs his
army grsa c0EnDlaee disaster Z
General g0hm Fshfng u Thus
qucaa III tia report Of Rear Admiral
Charles Piunkett. United States
Naval railway batteries, 20 Josebhun
Daniels. secretary of the navy. On the
operaklOn With shs nrnafes Og france u
the heretofore mysterious lz-inch So
caiibre naval railway batteries. re-
ported apparently er-oneously. %
have sslenced the Big Bertha which
bOsnharaed Paris from . greas dis
tance.
T.l1e quotation from General Perish
Ing re9sgs to the last phase OF the
Aasuac- Argonne offensive. Admiral
Plunkett leads up u what General
Pegshing HIS TO say with the CONE
nent
After the signing of the arTnistice
EE0ntnedy, Longuyon Mangiennea,
LoupDy and Remolville were visited
and some Of the results Of the firfng
tof Americas mammoth naval guns1
we're obtained from observation and
from questioning the civilian popula-
ton that remained. The targets we're
struck frequently and tie traffic was
stopped completely, NOT only during
the acEual firing but from sir to ten
hours each day after the firing had
ceased. As the railroad running
through Longuyon and Montmedy was
the only line over which troops could
he brought to Sedan. other than rail-
road running Ear to the north through
Belgium. the cnttingg of this line was
d strategical victory Of great inport-
ance.
rive Guns Cost sa,Ss 20
Ata total cost 81 Sd ,s37 $40 the Navy
department built Ave OF these giant
guns, mounted them upon specially
constructed cars, built and equipped
locomotives and 4 complete train 0t
living and supply cars for each gun,
and manufactured 2,40O Id inch shells,
Made IN the United States, tho various
parts we're shipped I'd France and set
mp III record time ST st, Nazaire.
These bic guns aere designed to de-
stroy the enemy'g transportation facil-
tiles behind the lines, and testimony
shows that they did just that. The
total length of the gun car over all Il
eighty four feet eight and one-haIi
Inches. and It's height above the rails
when the gun Is depressed Is thirteen
feet seven inches It's maximum width
! Is nine feet fiye inches.
I'm operation tfe gun fires from the
rails at angles Of elevation up 20 fifteen
degrees, says Admiral Plunkett's re-
port At this elevation the standard
class B / 400 pound projectiIe Il
thrown distance Of 22. $50 yards, OF
liz $40 miles. approximately The gun
III capable of being fred at angles d
elevation DID To eogty-Hs degrees. al
which It's range IS $500 yards, or D
distance OF "A 2-I0 miles approximate
III.
The antire mount III covered with
arnor plate, some eight tons Or 500
square feet Of plate. being required
for this purpose "
All og the big guns and equipment
we're transported to St. Nazaire by the
Nay Overseas Traslsport Service p
tss al Pers & e hest
nlral PIunkeft mites Id his re-
port laat the transport T'exel was the
second ship sunk BY the German sub
marine U-I61 operating OF to Amer
lean coast. whether Germany had ad-
vance knowledge o the fact that she
was carrying parts of the bis guns
that we're Ia prove sha und0ing Of the
Germans III probienatical
The first sun train was set up and
ready "a leave 81. Naxasre August If,
and the arst two guns LETT there tor
the front week lister Trains 3 and
we're completed, equipped and load
ga September IL, train s, September
is and the star train the next day.
Late ii September No | Battery
vas ordered 10 s0in No Z Battery with
TIE Tenth French army, and mas