•'• NAVAL GUNS FOR FIELTi ' SERVICE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11727, 20 January 1900, Page 3 (Supplement)

NAVAL GUNS FOR FIELD SERVICE.

■' '■ RbmarkabiiH Achievement. | Has the ingenuity of a handful of naval officers given a field gun of unequalled powers (says the London Daily Telegraph), and how have they effected the transformation ? These two questions, and other subsidiary ones, uave been much discussed since tbe news of the effective assistance of the Naval Brigade at liadysmith reached this country, atid curiosity was further piqued by the intelligence that some 4*7 in guns from one or other of the warships off the i South African coast hud been landed at Simonstown, and successfully mounted for use as field guns. In some qaartern the achievement was regarded!! as an impossibility, but those beßt able to judge — naval officers who are qualified in gunnery, and almost every war • ship has such an officer appointed to! her — look upon the conversion of the 4 Tin quickfirer, practically a gun of position, into a field weapon as a triomph of ingenuity and resourcefuliiess, but by no means as an 'impossibility. It ip, of course, tbe subject of good-natured banter that the navy shoald have thas come to the rescue of tbe army, and supplemented the weapons at the disposal of the military leader?, and it is also a snbject for hearty congratulation. It is not tiie " first time that big naval guns have been used effectively in the field. In the Indian Mutiny, Captain Peel, of the Shannon, and his brigade, with •which Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon served (winning the V.C by his gal- " lantry) took fionci the coast to Allahabad no less than six heavy Bin guns — Luge weapons, quite a ton* heavier than tbe modern 4.7 in gun, though far less effective. This was merely one of the many occasions en which naval officers ■ Lave ingeniously made the best use on land of the weapons at their command ■for 9ervice at sea. The 4:"7'Q gun ia one of the most beautifnl weapons in the world, and it works with an ease that is marvellous. It forms the main armament Gf all except the largest cruisers, and though not one of tbe biggest weapons, as far as naval guns go, it is must effective and reliable. It is instructive to watch tbe ease with which it is deftly handled by a gun' 3 crew. The seaman gunner known as No. 1 lean? his left shoulder against the padded shonlder piece, thus training the gun on the target without any effort, so smoothly does it work ; while his leEfc hand elevate 3 the gun by turning a small wheel, his eye is on the sight, and his right hand ij on the trigger. Near by are the fojr other men ot the gun's crew, opening and closing the breech, putting in the projectile and chnrge, and all proceeding at the rate of about twelve rounds a minute. Every shot is aimed, and there is no waste of ammunition. Such and accuracy of lire come from frfcqnent drill, good organisation, and discipline. Thi3 is the weapon now being used for field service in South Africa, ahd this is the type of men who are now, so far as we know, keeping down tbe euemy'3 heavy fire at Ladysmith and proceeding to the Orange Free State border from Capetown. It is a gun of many parts, and the weights are as follows : — Gun, 2 07 tons, cradle, 13-scwt. ; carriage, 27cwt, ; shield. 21 # scwt. ; breastplate and rollers, 2 tons ; length of gun, 161t. 2in. ; cordite charge, slb. 7oz : projectile, 451 b ; sighted to 8000 yards ; total weight of gun, mounting, &c, nearly 725 tons. It is an eminently adaptable weapon, since it can fire either lyddite, common shell with a base fuse, or shrapnel shell « with a time fuse. It fires direct at the target, at an elevation of only 15 degrees, where the howitzer " fires, not in a right line, but from a carve from on

hieb. ;" in other words, the army gun fires at a great elevation. It has been already stated that the gun can be sighted to 8000 yards, or even fonr and a half miles, but it carries of course mnch further, and is effective at six to seven miles, where, as a", Ladysniith, No. 1 may be in telephonic communication with a balloon taking observations of the effect oE the firiag on the enemy's position. To the highly scientific, but also highly practical gunnery officers of the Navy of to-day, the mounting as a field weapon of 7"4 in guns does not present the difficulties which seem insurmountable to civilians and officers whose acquaintance with the service is not of recent date. The gun to be^ mounted enn be readily hoisted out of a cruiser, almost certainly with the gunmetal cradle, giving a total weight of about 2 tons I4cwt. It id known that preparations had been made ashore at Dnrltun and at Capetown by parties of blncjackets, who hail apparently rigged np a suitable gnn-enrnage t'rom designs by Captain Peicjr Ssotfc. From old

J anchor" iron \t wonld'not have been difficult to build up a carriage, prbb'ably, jfor screwing down into a stoutlybailfc railway track.' ' before sending the weapon forward, by train, large, stoat wheels, to substitute for the small railway wheels, were probably provided. On the carriage reaching its destination these big wheels would be qniekly fitted to , facilitate transport, and , probably fitted at the rear of the carriage would be attached two " spades." to check the recoil. This is merely a theory as to the .means that have been adopted by Captain Percy Scott, bat it has the virtue of not being the idea of a mere armchair theorist. It may. however, be found that the carriage of the gun was removed from the ship and utilised in some way ; bat this is less likely, and expert naval opinion inclines to the belief that the blacksmith's shop with the reserve of mountings and other material that, would be available at Durban and Simonstown, back up l>y the ingenuity of Captain Scott and the undaunted ) labour of bluejackets and artificers, I worked the miraelp of fitting these powerful naval guns to improvised carriages for service at the. front. Aud when mounted how could those heavy guns be taken to the scene of action ? Those who have seen bluejackets at the military tornament, or at gun drill ashore at one of the naval ports, will readily believe that they are not easily beaten where there is anything to be drawn over the country at a smart pace. Every Jack Tar is a muscular giant, and is proud of his strength. It is a satisfactory fact that additional guns of this 45 pounder type are available at Durban, and others have been sent from England, wilb a quantity* of lyddite shells, so that if Sir Redvers Bullet deems the use of these weapons necessary," they will be at hand. Meantime, the efficiency of the ships at Durban, and Simon's Bay, from which the gnns were taken, will be secured by mounting reserve guns. Apart from the gnns of the te^ulir navy, at all Euch bases as Simonstown, and probably also at Durban, there are always many quickfiring guns and mountings on shore, in readiness for placing- on board the liners, for which the Admiralty pay an annual sub- \ vention to the owners.