BIG GUN SHOOTING. FINE PERFORMANCE BY PETONE NAVALS.
TWELVE FULLY EFFECTIVE ROUNDS. By the courtesy of the Chief of th« General Staff, The Post's special correspondent went out to the Petone Nav.il training camp at Fort Kelburne last night, in order to witness the classfiring practice from 6in B.L. guns. For information of the public, it . may, be premised that this firing is carried out with loaded cartridges. On occasions of annual training the fort presents a very busy scene each evening, from the time the men go into camp, at 5.30, until "lights out," at 10.15 p.m. The garrison gunner is usually fond of his work and his guns, and the Petone Naval s are no exception to the rule, for they drill every day from 5 a.m. to 6.30 a.m., and from 6 p.m. to 8.45 p.m. — a total of four and a quarter hours per day. Aftor drill hours the men are still busy, some signalling, others studying their Wxfc books, and preparing for examination, which each man has to undergo before being classified as v first-class gunner. This morning at 4.30 o'clock the reveille was sounded, and all hands very soon were preparing for their first test in class-firing. The Janie Seddon, with two Hongkong targets, appeared off Point Halswell, at a range of 4300 yards, and the guns opened fire at 5.30 a.m. The gunners soon proved that they were quite as efficient as in previous years, for shot after shot fell apparently so close to the targets that ,it was difficult for the inexperienced observer to decide whether the splash made by the impact of the projectile was over or short. The service of the guns was excellent — an improvement on the first series of last year's practice — • good as that was. v The following were the results of the shooting as given by the umpire :—: — 1 Rounds fired, 12; hits, 12, or 100 per cent. Mean time series, smin 22sec. Ranging allowance, Ismin. Time for i series, smin 7sec. There were no errors or deductions made for fire discipline. The figure of merit was 1.269, or firstclass. Results observed by sango officer wer» as follow :—: — Round 1, plus 70. Round 2, plus 60. Round 3, minus 30. Round 4, minus 10. Round 'S, plus 30. Round 6, "range." Round 7, plus 20. , Round 8, "range." . . Round 9, "range." Round 10, plus 40. Round 11, plus 50. Round 12, plus 50. "Range" means a water-Kne hit. Any shot falling forty yards short would be a ricochet bit, which, naturally, would be less effective in an actual engagement. It will be seen from the above table that Petone' s hits were of except tional excellence. Considerable interest is being, taken in this year's practice of the Petone Navals, owing to last (year's performance being so .eniarkably good, and there were several officers of the other garrison artillery companies in the district present on the range boat, and a number of visiting officers witnessed the shooting from the battery. The battery commander for this morning's shooting \vas Lieut. Ellis, hia assistant being Lieut. Robinson. To-morrow morning the socoud series will beared, under . Lieut ,R. .Price, uiidei^ .sunilar conditions to this morning.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 108, 3 November 1908, Page 2
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535BIG GUN SHOOTING. FINE PERFORMANCE BY PETONE NAVALS. Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 108, 3 November 1908, Page 2
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