Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1891 — FIRING A 110-TON GUN. [ARTICLE]

FIRING A 110-TON GUN.

’■ • " - a -The Shot and If* Terrible Havoc —Ik Orapbic Picture. Pali Mali Gar.ette. A _ - 4 There are nine IK)-ton guns in the Brittish navy. These gigantic weapons are in Victoria, the Benlow,and the Sanspareil. The 110-ton gun is fired with slow-burning cocoa powder—“cocoa” because of its brown color. This powder is shaped in hexagonal prisms, this being the most convenient form for close packing.! Each prism is pierced with a hole in the center, so as to give ready access to the flame and secure an equable ignition. "Ten thousand of these prisms are needed to make up a full charge for this monster gun. The •powder along with the shea comes up drum tho magazine below in a hoist, and having been placed onthespouttray, is rammed into* the gun by a hydraulic rammer, the shell of course having been first driven forward into its place by the same instrument. In nearly all naval guns the powder charge is made up into four cartridg- - es, bi:e object being to got each cart—rige down to a weight that a man may lift. But on account of its extraordinary weight— pounds—tho charge fur the 110-ton gun is divided into eight cart rige;?. The gun having been loaded and lighted by the captain of the turret from his conning tower, is fired by him by electricity. The gun can be loaded and fired within two and a half minutes. The projectile fired from the gun when attacking ships or folks Weighs 1,800 pounds, and it goes out with a velocity of 2,104 feet per second, and has a destructive energy equal to 55,305 tong. If the gun were to be used against a body oi men or a flotilla of boats, sharpnel shell would he used—-dlTatas,v±hE:kmgrdruin-like cylinder of steel standing close to the carriage would be shot from the gun, and its contents—2,3oo four-ounce bullets — would scatter amongst the foe. THE BULLETS ARE PUT IN BAYERS, though not with mathematical exactness —they are merely shaken together. Melted rosin is poured in among them, in order to fill up tho interstices; else, when the heavy of tb? explosion cause, they womd on all ftaifeneit against £a<sa other. Directly the. sharpened case bursts, the? • bullets go flying on, while the spin of the shell, communicated by the- rifling of the gun. spreads them out by centrifugal force over a large area. But the gun will most likely be used for attack ing armored ships and forts; in this case the steel shell, with a strong, sharp point, will be used. These shells are first forged, then bored, and finally tempered. While they should be tough in the body, they must bo lumhut the striking point. The hardness of the point increases the penetrative power of the shell, while the toughness of the body prevetftsTfs'"swelling as it is entering the piate and so increasing the diffic culties of penetration. A good shell carries itself into the interior of the ship before it explodes. Tdneahelbis constructed to carry suffh an amount of powder as will cause it to explode and add its pieces to the destructive .split',tors froiq the broken plate. The i shelf used in this gur, it is stated, weighs 1,800 pounds, she terrible havoc which such a shell - will play when fired cith a full charge from | this gun. is most vividly illustrated I on the wall closet to the model. | There .is given a sketch of the course of a shell from the 110-gun of the -Sunspared at a trial at Shoeburyness in March last. Tim shell tore its way at the rate of 2.079 feet per second through 20 inches of compound armor specially manufactured; Binches | of iron fastened in a heavy wroughtii'on frameq -0 feet of oak baulks; 5 feet of granite blocks; 11 feet of concrete, and 0 - feet of bricky alter; getber dd foct'4 inches of a Wall unique in history, surely, for combination of width and variety ofstrength and material! For firing a full charge with armor-piercing shot from the 110-tou gun, the country pays for the powder. £80; for the shell and fuses, £l2o-total £200; not to mention a much more serious item if the., gun were continuously being fired with a full charge, tho damage from the erosion caused by the powder gases, which causes it to lose its accuracy, and necessitates its being re-lined, at great, expense and at the cost of long delay. But it is right to say THE OUN IS SELDOM FIRED ' with its fufi charge. Provisions, in the shape of sights and range tables, is provided, with all our heaviest guns, for three charges, namely, tho half charge, the three-quarters charge, and full charge. It is laid down in the regulations that tor “peacdpractlce the first is to be used, besides an occasional round of the second to test the proper working of the mounting; the full charge being ( reserved for special cases during war, when the position of the ship requires extraordinary exertions tc cripple her enemy. It b generally considered, say 3 Captain Noble in “Modern Naval Artillery,” that the life of the 67-ton guns may be taken at 120 rounds, and the 110-ton g. ns at 75 rounds, both with full charges.