796 



UNITED STATES NAVY. 



Rapid-Fire Gnns. Rapid-fire guns and revolv- 

 ing cannon have hitherto heen procurable only 

 from abroad, the principal type that of the 

 American inventor and manufacturer Hotch- 

 kiss being made in Europe. In 1887 the Navy 

 Department contracted with the Hotchkiss 

 Ordnance Company for the supply of ninety- 

 four rapid-fire guns and revolving cannon of 

 domestic manufacture, at a cost of $121,400, to 

 include thirty 6-pounder rapid-fire guns, twenty- 

 two 3-pounder rapid-fire guns, ten 1-pounder 

 rapid-fire guns, thirty-two 37-millimetre re- 

 volving cannon. The material for these guns 

 has been supplied by the Midvale Steel Com- 

 pany ; the guns are made by Pratt & Whitney, 

 Hartford, Conn. ; and the ammunition by the 

 Winchester Arms Company. 



A new type of rapid-fire gun, the invention 

 of two naval officers, known as the Driggs- 

 Schroeder gun, has been designed and manu- 

 factured in this country. It has been tried 

 and favorably reported upon. 



Kapid-fire guns are light guns using metallic 

 ammunition, in which the operation of loading 

 is performed wholly or in part by hand, although 

 the empty cartridge is mechanically extracted, 

 and the gun recovers automatically from re- 

 coil, if any is permitted. Aiming is done from 

 the shoulder, and the guns, up to 6-pounder 

 caliber, may fire about fifteen aimed shots in a 

 minute. The largest gun of this type adopted 

 for service is the 36-pounder (4*72 inches cali- 

 ber), which in England has fired ten carefully 

 aimed shots in a minute and thirty-eight sec- 

 onds ; its penetration in wrought-iron is seven 

 inches. In machine-guns the operation of feed- 

 ing, loading, and extracting the metallic ammu- 

 nition are successively performed by a continu- 

 ous action of the breech mechanism ; no recoil 

 is permitted. The rapidity of fire is great 60 

 rounds from Hotchkiss revolving cannon and 

 up to 1,000 rounds from the Gatling gun. 



GUNS IN SERVICE IN iSS4. 



M. L. R., muzzle-loading rifle ; B. L. R., breech -loading 

 rifle ; R. F. G., rapid-flre gun ; R. C., revolving cannou. 



Dynamite-Gun. The dynamite-gun is the in- 

 vention of Mr. Mefford, of Ohio, developed and 

 made practicable by Capt. Edmund L. G. Za- 

 linski, of the United States Army, and produced 

 as a marketable weapon by the Pneumatic Gun 

 Company, of New York. The original gun of 

 this system was of 2-inch caliber (see " Annual 

 Cyclopaedia " for 1884, page 273). After experi- 

 menting with other guns of 4 and 8 inch cali- 

 ber, the Pneumatic Gun Company has produced 

 15-inch guns for the "Vesuvius." These are 

 55 feet long, placed at a fixed angle of 16, and 

 throw projectiles containing from 500 to 600 

 pounds of explosive gelatine and dynamite one 

 mile, or sub-caliber projectiles containing 100 or 

 200 pounds of explosive up to 4,000 yards. The 

 projectiles are discharged by compressed air, 

 at a pressure of about 1,000 pounds, which 

 gives an initial velocity of about 800 feet a 

 second. The trajectory is of course very much 

 curved. The most valuable feature of the sys- 

 tem is the electric fuse, which is entirely the 

 invention of Capt. Zalinski, so constructed 

 that the projectile may be exploded upon en- 

 tering the water or by delayed action explode 

 at any desired depth beneath the surface. The 

 dynamite-gun is not intended to replace the 

 service powder-guns; it is really a torpedo- 

 gun affording a safe means of throwing shells, 

 which are virtually torpedoes charged with a 

 large amount of the highest explosives, through 

 the air to a considerable range and with accu- 

 racy. If the chances of dropping its projectile 

 at the desired spot are only fair, this, when 

 successfully placed, will secure results that no 

 other single projectile or torpedo can produce 

 the probable destruction of any vessel yet built. 



Torpedoes. There are no automobile torpe- 

 does in the United States service. We here 

 occupy an entirely unique position, and have 

 been far in the rear in this, as in many other 

 respects, of Brazil, Chili, Japan, and China. 

 But contracts have been made with the Hotch- 

 kiss Ordnance Company to supply the Howell 

 torpedo. This torpedo, the invention of Capt. 

 J. A. Howell, of the United States Navy, is 

 thought to be superior in most respects to the 

 celebrated Whitehead. Its advantages over the 

 Whitehead are comparative smallness, inherent 

 directive force derived from the gyroscopic 

 properties of its fly-wheel, and large explosive 

 capacity. Its disadvantage lies in the fact that 

 it requires an appreciable time to prepare it 

 for discharge. Power is stored in a heavy fly- 

 wheel, in the middle of the torpedo, which, in 

 about thirty seconds, is spun up to a velocity 

 of 10,000 turns a minute by means of a motor. 

 This fly-wheel imparts its power to two pro- 

 pellers, which drive the torpedo. The sub- 

 mersion is automatically controlled hy a hori- 

 zontal rudder, actuated by a hydro-pneumatic 

 cylinder, the piston of which moves with the 

 varying pressures at different depths. 



The contractors will furnish a torpedo 

 whose size and performance are guaranteed to 

 be within the following prescribed limits : 



