ARTILLERY IN COAST DEFENCE. 
481 
the use of too wet a sponge, a gas-check or wedge-wad forgotten, the 
charge not properly rammed home, will all result in a loss of muzzle 
velocity, consequent loss of range, and the certain throwing away of 
that shot; and will probably so mislead the Fire Commander as to 
cause him to make a false correction for the next shot, thus throwing 
away that also. 
As regards laying, any error in setting the sights, or in actual laying, 
or in not remembering to depress last, will cause errors in range and 
direction; again misleading the Fire Commander (or operator). 
When depression range-finder is used if the Gun-Captain does not 
fire the gun in the precise time laid down, the Fire Commander’s 
correction for “ time of firing ” will be thrown out, and as he cannot 
know to what cause the error was due, he will be misled as to his 
corrections. 
This point should be impressed on Gun-Captains, that the order 
from the Group Officer to commence firing’ means that the guns are to 
be fired if they are properly laid (Case II.) or if the laying is com¬ 
pleted in the proper time (Case I.) It is better for a gun to miss its 
turn and wait for the next prediction than to mislead the Fire Com¬ 
mander. Gun-layers, of course, must not give the signal that they are 
on, unless they are properly laid. 
Group Officers must be careful to give the order to commence firing 
the instant the dial shows the required range, if any delay occurs the 
“ time of firing ” correction will be vitiated ; they must, therefore, 
watch the dial closely as the hand approaches that range. Should a 
Group Officer become aware, after firing, of any circumstance which 
might render the result of the round unreliable, he should communi¬ 
cate at once with the Fire Commander, through the Group Commander 
if there is one, in order that the Fire Commander may not be misled. 
When group salvos are fired there is less chance of an error, in the 
service of an individual gun, misleading the Fire Commander; as the 
average result of the whole of the shots would be taken to base the 
correction on; and any considerable difference of one shot from the 
others would show that something was wrong with it; this is a further 
advantage of firing by salvos. This does not, however, excuse any 
relaxation of watchfulness over the fire discipline; under modern 
conditions of objects moving at high speed, and a comparatively small 
number of heavy guns taking considerable time to load, the number 
of shots that can be fired at the object is not great; and we cannot, 
therefore, afford to throw away ammunition. The number of shots that 
can be fired under given conditions can easily be calculated; for example, 
a 10-inch M.L. gun in a casemate is able to bear over an arc of 70°, 
this gun takes If minutes to load and lay ; suppose a vessel passes 
parallel to the front of the battery at an average range of 2000 yards 
and at a speed of 12 miles an hour, she will cross the arc of fire in 
about seven minutes ; therefore, if the gun was ready to fire the 
moment it could bear, five shots in all can be fired at her. 
The necessity for superior accuracy of laying with modern ordnance 
is further shown, if we consider that, an error of five minutes in lay- 
