Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Evening Star, Issue 7259, 9 July 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The session of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was opened at the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, lately. The inaugural address of the president, Mr E. H. Carbutt, was on "Fifty Years' Progress in Gun-making." In the course of his remarks, the president stated that, except in the superior composition of the metal, cannon cast in the reigns of the Georges exhibited little improvement upon those of the time of Elizabeth. The guns in use at the beginning of the present reign, in 1837, were principally the cast-iron smooth-bore 24-pounder and 32-pounder, with spherical shot. Some larger guns had been made before Her Majesty's accession, but apparently as an experiment—namely, six of 60cwt and four of 65cwt. They were tried on board, the Excellent later in 1837, and it was not until 1838 that 200 of them were ordered for the Navy. The highest service charge was 101b of powder, and the guns cost L 65 to L7B each. The highest service charge of the 32-pounder was 81b of powder. At that time all iron guns were bought by contract, many coming from the Low Moor Ironworks. It was not till 1857 that the Royal Gun Factory at Woolwich was instituted for the manufacture of the Armstrong rifled gun. No improvement was attempted in the mechanical construction of cannon until it was found necessary to supply the infantry with better arms. The Crimean War directed attention to the fact that our guns must be improved, and a great amount of inventive talent was brought into the field. The ordnance then used was the same as ordered for the Navy in 1833 — namely, cast-iron muzzle-loading guns with cast-iron spherical shot. With these it was impossible to secure accuracy of aim* or great range or rapidity of fire. The gun of to-day was made entirely of steel, and was provided with mechanical appliances for every movement in forts, in turrets, or on shipboard. Accuracy of aim was ensured by rifling. The length of range was increased by having an elongated Bhot which exposed as small an area of cross section as possible to the retarding resistance of the air, and also by the increased powder charges which the enlarged powder-chamber had made it .possible to utilise, Breech-loading had led 'to increased speed in firing, and had also rendered it possible for our large guns, from 35ft to 40ft long, to bo used on board ship. While the ability of many inventors had rendered all this progress possible, a good deal of it was due to the genius and energy of two of the past presidents of this Institution—Sir William Armstrong and the late Sir Joseph Whitworth.—(Cheers.) It was not until 1880 that steel was adopted in the construction of the large Woolwich guns, although in 1872 Sir Joseph Whitworth had made four guns of 12-inch calibre and 35 tons weight, wholly of steel, for the Neptune, which were able to fire a projectile of over I,ooolb weight. In the fort at Dover the turret carried two 80-ton muzzlereloading guns, rotated by steam power. At Elswick much larger turrets were being constructed for the Italian Government to carry a pair of 120-ton guns, to be worked and loaded by hydraulic machinery; the turretß to be rotated by hydraulic power, and the magazine cranes to be worked in the same way. These turrets had the very unusual advantage of enabling tbegunsto be loaded in any position of training; so that either the loading could take place immediately after firing, without training to a loading station, or, should it be desired to train the guns and embrasures away from an enemy's fire during the time of loading, they could be turned to any position which would give the desired protection and there bo loaded. With these very large turrets the arrangements were such as would give at least twelve rounds per hour from each 1 gun, or twenty-four grounds per hour per I turret. He then dealt with the work turned ' out at Woolwich, stating that since 1859-60 'upwards of 11,000 rifled guns had been issued from the Royal Gun Factory, varying from the 7-pounder of 1501b weight to the 17finch muzzle-loading gun, and from the 6-pounder rifled breech-loader to the 13£-inch breech-loading 69-ton gun. For fifteen years Woolwich was practically the only manufactory in the country making guns for the nation, as the guns ordered from outi aiders did not amount to more than L 1.500 !a-year throughout that period. The threatened war in 1878, the year of the L 6,000,000 vote of credit, made the Govern- < me'nt revive their position, and led them to ' apply to private manufacturers. Down to ! 1875-76 the British artillery, Colonel Mait- ' land said, was as good as that of any other nation; but he admitted that a period of I stagnation then followed, and we fell to lee- ' ward ; and it was fortunate we were not caught napping by an important war. To the fact that we no doubt fell behindhand the Government were not fully alive, and they were endeavoring to make up the leeway. They had given out large orders, so that the work could go on steadily and regularly, and were not waiting for another panic to drive them into abnormal expenditure. After contrasting the 65cwt gun of 1837 firing the 681b Bhot with 101b of powder, taking ten men to work it, costing lis 9d a bhot, with the breech-loading gun

of 1887, weighing 110 tons and firing an I,Boolb shot, the gun being trained and fired by one man, with the aid of hydraulic power, Mr Carbutt proceeded to review the expansion of Woolwich from 1837 when 136 men were employed there, to the present time, when there were 12,550. He also described in detail its vast machinery. In conclusion, he touched upon the experiments in gunnery still being made, and remarked. that the cost of L7OO for each trial was expen; sive work. But, he added, amid cheers, we must proceed ; we have the richest country in the world to defend, and if the skill of our engineers is utilised during the time of peace, we shall avert a temporary defeat should we unfortunately have to defend our shores. It is surely advisable to work steadily on rather than to suffer from the wasteful extravagance invariably associated with panic in trying to make up for lost time.