WONDERFUL GUNNERY.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13108, 17 May 1911, Page 4

WONDERFUL GUNNERY.

The new Dreadnought battleship Noptuno has bean carrying out ■<■ series of gunnery trials which arc likely to have an important effecl on the designs of our future battleships and armoured cruisers. An entirely new system of electric gunfire control has been fitted to the Neptune, in the designing of whicl Admiral Sir Percy Scott and Messrs Viclcers, Son and Maxim were concerned. Sir Percy Scott was on board all through tho trials, which lasted nearly two months. An exhaustive series of tests was carried out under the varying conditions, but with unvarying success. The big guns registered two hits to every three shots, which wore as ac curatci that no ship afloat could have withstood their fire. On one occasion five of tho Neptune's 12in. guns dropped shells within 150 ft. of a flagstaff 9000 yards— about five miles—distant, and consequently invisible from the Neptune's deck. In the now system of fire control the range-finding and gun laying arc automatically controlled from the firecontrol station either on tho vessel's tripod mast or in the armoured conning tower. The work of the gur crews is therefore limited practically to loading, unloading, and cleaning the guns.