The Washington herald., 1921-04-04
WORLDS BIGGEST GUN
BUILT NEAR BOSTON,

BUILT NEAR BOSTON.
The worlds largest piece OF ord
nance, a sixteen-inch high-power
gun mounted on a disappearing car
riage. has just been completed AZ a
United States government srsensl--
Maj. q. NJ. Barnes of the Ordnance
Department. told the recent meeting
Of the local section of the American
Society Of Mechanical Engineers
This big gun. designed for sea
coast defense purposes, weighs 11o
tons. while the carriage upon which
IL is mounted weighs an additional
$40 tons.
when emplaced in the seacosst
fertilization. the gun and carriage
will be behind an embsnkment OF
sand and concrete Of such thickness
that the highest power naval guns
will not be able TO penetrate IT," he
says. This embsnkment will reach
nearly to the height of the gun. 50
that when the latter is fired only the
Inuzzle can be seen. When fired the
shock OF discharge. which is equiv
alent to 7.75O.O0O pounds, acting
along the axis Of the bore. drives
the gun into the loading position.
which is twelve feet below the po-
sition Of the gun.
The great energy of recoil is alb
sorbed in a number of different
ways Some of the energy is alb
sorbed in forcing the gun down into
its loading position. which raises a
huge counterweight, weighing 5l5
tons. nine and one-quarter feet. This
counterweight is also used to raise
the gun back into its original posi-
tion above the parapet. The re-
mainder of the energy OF recoil is
absorbed in large hydraulic cylinders
located on the carriage. The car
riage is also provided with a num-
ber of hydraulic dash pot systems so
, that in going from one position 20
another. the energy is gradually abb
] sorbed in such a way that thefe is
no shock to the carriage"
For sighting. the carriage is pro-
I vided with a periscopic sight. SINH
lar to that used for submarines.
which projects through the srmor.
This sight allows the gunner to lay
/ the. piece upon the hostile vessel
without exposing himself above the
parapet. he explained. Although the
/ gun and carriage weigh $40 tons.
they can be easily turned in direc-
tion by the power eNerted by one
man applied at tho trsversing hand
wheel. In other words. the gunner
looking through the sight can. by
turning a small hand wheel. move
the gun and carriage in direction
and accurately place il upon the
target. The carriage is also pro-
vided with electric motors and hy-
drauIic speed gears, which allow the
gun to be turned in direction by
power under the control Of the gun
pointer.
One other Interesting feature
about this type Of carriage is the
fact that the elevation Of the piece
can be accurately laid on while tho
gun is in the recoiled position be-
hind the parapet. The rate OF fire
of this enormous piece Of ordnance
, will be a little better than one shot
per minute.
The heaviest armor piercing pro-
jcctile used with this gun weighs
24OO pounds. and gives a range Of
over twenty-five mfes. The powder
charge for the gun consists OF $50
pounds Of smoke;ess powder. Tho
projectile has sufficient power TO
penetrate any armor which can be
placed upon the largest naval ves-
! sells. and AT any range. one direct
hit with this piece of ordnance would
undoubtedly completely wreck a
Dreadnaught.
| The carriage is provided with
: armor plate. which protects the gun
! crew from small shell fragments
, stones and debris which might fan
, about the gun IL enemy shells strikH
, the parapet. The armor is also Of
! sufficient thickness to protect the
, gun crew operating the piece from
! machine guns mounted in aeroplane =
, A crew Of abort le5 men are re.
quired to operate, load ard nrc the
pfere