15-INCH GUNS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11805, 14 December 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

15-INCH GUNS.

The announcement thuit- ,the new German Dreadnoughts will carry 15-inch guns, weapons weighing over, 300 tons, and firing a projectile'qf nearly threefluarters'.of a ton, has aroused the keenest interest among naval authorities in this, country, says the livening' Standard. .

At present -the largest gnu mounted on a British warship is 10.0-in.. firing a. 140Uib shell, which.- is 2501b lighter than the new German projectile. According to Admiral. Sir Cyprian Bridge, the present British guns are capable of destroying . any warship yet built or contemplated. . • "Nayal architects can, of course, build ships that, can carry a gun even bigger than- a. 15-in. gun," says Sir Cyprian, "but that is altogether beside the question as to whether these big guns are practically valuable. My strong belief is that their introduction ■is .altogether- retrograde tactics. There •is absolutely nothing whatever to show ■that any -existing or contemplated warship cannot be put -out of action by a very much smaller giui than even a 14-iu. or 15-in. gun. "Therefore, I say that as regards tactics they are a mistake. At the bottom of this ' crazo for great size and power in guns is what \is called moral effect; Moral effect is merely another pseuflo-scientific : name l for 'funk.' Why do not these pseudoscientists, with all their craze for scientific terminology, call it funk straight' away? My ; belief is that 1-3-in. guns are quite sufficient for the British Navy. Up to the present there is nothing to show that they are not-, and the,existence of a. bigger gun does not prove that they are not sufficient." - ..Sir Hiram Maxim, the veteran inventor and. expert artillerist, took father the opposite view, and considered that the fleet with the guns of the greatest range could' inflict great damage, on smaller-gunned ships without itself running any risk. Sir Hiram believes that guns of 20-in. boro are possible.

.'"'Tho Germans are good mathematicians." said Sir Hiram, "and they, would never think of putting a 15-in. gun on a ship that would not stand th« recoil.. The recoil is not very difficult to deal with, because very longhydraulic buffers are used. But there is nothing new about these big. guns.. I think the Americans have had highpower 16-in. guns for some years, not on ships, however, but on the fortifications of New York.

"As to the question- whether our present guns could not smash np any ship ye,b built, or thought of, yon must remember it .is not so nruch a. question of dealing with: ships at short range, but at a very long range. The larger, the longer, and jhe heavier the pro T jectile, and;the higher its velocity, (the greater distance will it travel, and the greater will he its smashing effect whe/i tha target.is-two or three miles away. /'When the American fleet, engaged the Spanish; fleet at Santiago di iCuba the. AmerieaTis kept so far away from ths Spaniards that they received no diiDiage, and-yet with -a bigger and stronger gnn and better marksmanship the.v were able to destroy thc-Span.isli ships. /

■ "Some time ago I learnt that there were, several firms in England, "and at least one jin Germany, and two or (three in- tlia United States, that* wore quite ■prepared-,--.if required/ to make a very high-pressure gun of -20-in. bore, but we.have not come to ; that yet. •"When, cast-iron smooth-bores were used .in; the -N;avy. t-Jwy kept increasing in -size until became very largo indeed. .There is: no reason why the steel guns.of to-day should not mount to the; same bore as those old cast-iron ones." . . - . ..