Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1896 — MODERN NAVAL GUNS. [ARTICLE]

MODERN NAVAL GUNS.

Their Power Well Illustrated the Reaction of One of Them. Some time ago the English government experimented with a 13-inch gun on a ship of the Eoyal Sovea> e.gn class. At the first firing of the gun the entire upper deck was lifted from its position and sprung along its entire center, so great was the shock. The United States battleship Indiana has been specially equipped to provide against any such disaster and her decks have been constructed in such a manner that naval experts agree that no such damage can befall her when the 13-inch guns send out their fiaming message. Naval experts are agreed, however, say s’ the Philadelphia Times, that when she is in action and the four 13inch guns are performing their deadly work the explosions will shatter every piece of woodwork and glass in every portion of the vessel. That is expected and prepared for, and for that reason the battleship Indiana is composed almost entirely of iron and steel. She has been aptly described as an enormous floating steel fort with a ship built around it for purposes of navigation. Fully one-half of her could be shot away and she would still float and retain her unequaled fighting power. These facts and figures should bring us to a realization of what a serious thing war is in these modern times.