ORDNANCE. 



105 



16-in. guns weighing ilO tons each 44 



14-in. " 80 " " 6 



12-in. " 60 " " 203 



10-in. " " 27 " " 222 



8-in. " " 13 " " 102 



12-in. mortars 700 



10-in. mortars 24 



The rifled mortars have been found to give grea 

 accuracy in fire, it being possible at two miles to dro] 

 50 per cent, of shells fired inside the horizontal area o 

 a large ship. 



Mortars were first used afloat in 1679, during th< 

 French attack on Algiers. Nelson used bomb-ship; 

 at the battle of Copenhagen, where they materially in 

 fluenced the result. During the American civil war ou 

 mortar fleets performed most efficient service. In thi 

 civil war the mortars were all of the short smooth 

 bore variety, firing a spherical shell. A 12-in. muzzle 

 loading rifled mortar was built and tested by the armv 

 in 1885. A range of nearly 5 miles was obtained with 

 52 Ibs. of powder and an elongated shell weighing 

 610 Ibs., the elevation being 45 and the time of 

 flight about 4 1 seconds. A breech-loading mortar of 

 the same size- was tried in 1887 and with 65 Ibs. of 

 powder and a 025-pound shell, the range was 5J miles, 

 with better results than with the muzzle-loader. Th 

 body, forming about two-thirds the entire weight, is of 

 cast-iron, over which are shrunk two steel tubes ex- 

 tending from the breech to about the length. The 

 weight is about 14} tons. 



It is proposed by the war department to place these 

 mortars in sunken batteries, in groups of sixteen, so 

 arranged that as many as desired can be fired in one 

 direction, thus greatly increasing the chances of strik- 

 ing a vessel or other object 



The estimates of the fortifications board for the de- 

 fence of 27 ports is as Mows : 



Land defencet. 



Masonry and earth-works $.11,863,000 



Armor 20,300,000 



Structural metal 3,320,000 



Armament. 



Gun* and mortars 28,554,000 



Carriages _ 9,41 1. -MO 



; >i "tlfriet and armament 18,875,000 



Submarine mintt and adjunct* 4,334,000 



Torpedo boat* _.. 9,720,000 



Total $126,377,800 



This with E population of 60 millions is only $2. 10 a 

 head. 



The estimated cost to defend our coasts in 1840 was 

 $57,000,000, or $3. 35 a head, and then the valuation of 

 property was $4,000,000,000 ; while it is now probably 

 over $50,000.000,000. We see that the cost now is 

 but little more than twice the cost of defences in 1840, 

 when the most formidable line-of-battle ship cost 

 $500,000, while now the corresponding ship costs 

 $5,000,000; ships increasing tenfold in cost, while 

 the defences against them only increase about three- 

 fold, and the value of the property to be defended is 

 vastly greater. 



The number of serviceable naval great guns, not 

 eimriMng those for the new steel cruisers built and 

 building for the navy, is : 



Smoolh-borei .............. 



20-in. calibre 

 15-in. " 



10-in. " shell 

 10-in. " sh.> 

 -in. ...... . 



8-in. " ................ 



32-pdrs. " . 

 ParroU miatlf-hadiny riflrt ............................... 990 



150-pdrs ............................................... 28 



100- " ...................................... 267 



3 



76 



.;;;. 357 



12 

 21 

 1011 

 346 

 .". 378 



2204 



JN*i 75 



30- " 375 



20- " ..:.:::"245 



S-m. rifles converted from 11-in. Dahlgrent 50 



Parrott breech-loading rifles converted.................. 41 



80-pdrs ........... 9 



60- " .,...._. 27 



30- " ,...,...._ ,.....,.... 5 



Total. 



...... ......... .... ......., ..... s O0 ., 00 00,003 ... 3285 



Upon the new steel cruisers, armored vessels, and 

 monitors there will be mounted 2 12-in., 24 10-in., 14 

 8-in., 102 6-in., and 2 5-in. steel breech-loading rifles. 

 These guns and the vessels carrying them are actually 

 completed or building, and the batteries of 8 new ves- 

 sels, while not yet fixed, are provided for, and also a 

 number of pneumatic dynamite guns. 



Congress, March 3, 1883, appropriated $20,400 for 

 the purchase and completion of 3 cast-steel 6-in. guns, 

 one of Bessemer, one of open hearth, and one of cru- 

 cible steel. Such guns were advertised for and con- 

 tracts were made for cast guns of Bessemer and open- 

 hearth steel, costing $3300 and $5300 respectively. 

 These guns, rough-bored and turned, have been de- 

 livered at the Washington Navy- Yard, where they will 

 be machine-finished and then tried. Much interest is 

 centred in this trial, and by the advocates of aast 

 guns much is claimed, and their success is expected to 

 stop the manufacture of the built-up gun. Happily, 

 however, the manufacture of built-up guns is now on 

 so secure a basis that the much-needed defence of the 

 country will not be delayed by having to wait till this 

 question is settled. It is probable, however, that if 

 guns are cast it will not be aoove 6-in. calibre and the 

 material a bronze lined with a steel tube. 



The powder used in the guns mounted on our older 

 vessels and in our forts is unsuited to the high-pow- 

 jred modern guns. A certain amount of German 

 i>rown or cocoa powder was purchased abroad by the 

 lavy department for experimental purposes, and hav- 

 ng given excellent results it was endeavored to have it 

 reproduced in this country, and with great success. 

 The Messrs. Du Pont & Co. have lately submitted 

 samples which performed satisfactorily. The success- 

 ? ul manufacture of brown powder in this country is of 

 he greatest importance and renders us independent of 

 breign manufactures in obtaining the only powder at 

 iresent suitable for use in high-power guns. 

 _ The Lyman-Haskell multicharge gun is a gun de- 

 signed with a number of pockets along and opening 

 nto the bore. Charges are inserted in these pockets 

 mil in rear of the projectile, and being ignited suc- 

 cessively by the inflamed gases of the breech charge 

 f ollowing the passage of the projectile over the open- 

 ng of each _ powder- pocket in the bore. A 6-in. gun 

 uade on this principle was tested at Sandy Hook in 

 883-4. The gun weighed 25 tons, and was of cast- 

 ron lined with a steel tube. It had four powder- 

 jockets, loaded by pouring in powder from the ex- 

 -erior, the regular chamber charge being inserted 

 hrough the breech. With a powder charge of 96 

 bs. and a projectile weighing 71 Ibs. an initial 

 elocity of 2101 ft. per second was obtained. The 

 rdinary built-up steel rifle weighing about 4| tons de- 

 'elops an initial velocity of over 2000 ft. per second 

 with a 100-lb. shell fired with 50 Ibs. of powder. 



The naval 8-in. breech-loading rifle is shown on next 

 age. 



This gun weighs 25,720 Ibs. and is 264} inches 

 ong over all." There are in the bore 32 rifle-grooves 

 05 of an inch deep. The rifling begins at the junc- 

 ion of the bore and powder-chamber, with a twist of 

 ne turn in 180 calibres, increasing to within about a 

 oot from the muzzle to one turn in 30 calibres, beyond 

 rhich the twist is uniform. The breech-block, weigh- 

 ng 314 Ibs., is secured in place by a slotted screw 

 nd is fitted with a modified De Bange gas-check. A 

 muzzle velocity of 2008 feet per second has been' ob- 

 tained with a 250-lb. shell fired with 1 1 3 Ibs. of powder, 



