THE BIGGEST GUNS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 122, 16 October 1914, Page 7

THE BIGGEST GUNS.

PRIDE OF BRITAIN'S NAVY. THE 15-INCH RIFLE. Perhaps the most tefcriking difference 'between the British ami tdie German licet is shewn in the gun they carry. The policy of Britain ha* been to outdo her most formidable rival navy for navy. si.ip for ship, and gun for gun. And a. wayg the British ships have carried the heavier metal. Nearly, every ifehtieg battleship in the British Navy carries guns of 12-inch calibre, or bigger, whereas it is only within the past live or six years that a 12!-inch gun has <mude its appearance in German ships. Our grent naval enemy has as yet no bigger gun mounted, amd only thirteen vessels, all Dreadnoughts,: cairy fchemt—l4tt gum's altogether. Bni- ] fain has now two ships completing and I two building with eight 15-inch guns; fourteen commissioned carrying 13.5inch puns; sixteen Dreadnoughts armed I with 32-inch; and 35 pro-Dreadnoughts j each armed with four I'2-tinoli, as wel'l as smallca- guns. The 13.5-inch gun was first mounted in the Lioin, laid down in IJX)9; Genmany's first 12-inch gun ship was laid down in 1008, and she is now buildng two vessels with lomch. guns. A REMARKABLE WEAPON. It is worth while to notice the 15ineli gu,n especially, for it Is a verv remarkable weapon, and is a particularly interesting example of the way in which the British naval authorities put sound fan till in their own experience. The 13.5-inch giun, following upon the 12-inch, was found' to be not only as imuch more powerful as was anticipated, but exi,re.niel|j'| accurate. Its "life," or the number of rounds it would fire without becoming seriously inaccurate through wear, was excellent; and the Admiralty decided to "go one better." j As a rule, a new gun is not adopted except after severe and exhaustive trials; but the 10-inch gun was adopted virtually on paper. It.was designed and built on the merits of the 13.5-i,nch gun, and proved itself worthy of the faith • that was reposed in it. Because the j .full power of which such a gu,n. is cap- j able is so far ahead of requirements, the gun Itself as a piece of construction has an ample reserve of strength, and resistance to wear in. the conditions ini- , .posed upon it, and the IC-incJi gun): Vhicli i s now bain# placed in several of )! the latest ships has an extraordinarily I kng life. '|, TUB BEST GUN ME 11 AYE iILVD. I

I Exact particulars of the weapon seem j y<-t to nave remained umoUl, but, an idea of tile ,nature of it can be gathered from the following remarks ,by tlho First Lord, Mr Winston hlUurchiil, on the subject: "We ordered the whole of tho 15-inch guns for tile ships of the ]I) 12-13 programme without ever making a- trial gun. We trusted entirely to British naval science in marine artillery, .to the excellence of our gun-making system, and to the, quality of British woilnncuiship. 'When the of these guns was tried it yielded ballistic results which vindicated with what is to -the lay mind marvellous exaeiiiude the minutest calculations o£ tliei d<y,igncr. It is the best gun we have ever Jiad; it reproduces all the virtues of the 13.5-inch gun on a large scale, and it is the most accurate gun at all ranges that, we have ever had. As it is never pressed to its full compass by explosive discharge it will be an exceptionally long-lived gum. Its power may }>e measured by the fact that, whereas the 13.5-in<-ii gun lmrI B a 14001b projectile, a 15-inch gun discharges a projectile of nearly a t'on in weight, and can hurl tihi's immense mass of metal ten or twelve uuilts. That Us to say, there has. been an increase of rather more than 30 per cent.—l am purposely vague on this point—in the wuight of tihe projectile for an addition of l'/j-iueh to the calibrs.

"This increase in the capacity of the shell .produces results in far greater proportion in its explosive power, and the high explosive charge which the 10-inch gun can carry through and get inside <l >e thickest armor afloat is vtiry nearly half as large again in the 15-inoli gun as was the charge in the 13.5-ineih." This 1.'5.0-inoh gun throws a shell of about ISSOH) weight, as against the 8501b wmt of-the 12-int-h gun. The 12-inch gun throws a shell weighing about lfloOl'b. The gun itself, as far as can bo gathered froim the figures available, weighs, in the 40-calibrc typo, 85 tons. The charge used for firing is flb&ut .'IKIM> of cordite. Roughly, the energy developed by tile 1.5-inch gun is IS) pur vent, greater than that of tile lli.fi-inch, and the ell'eet, if should prod-nee on an wniruy tKip is , r >u per cent, greater.