CLEARED FOR ACTION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1963, 21 January 1914, Page 10

CLEARED FOR ACTION.

ILM.S.-NEW ZEALAND. '' ;V : -S' .SBS-M#' ■ HER BATTLE PRACTICE HERE. ■ [BvlOl a jbrSft' ya 11 ¥ ■'-'-"XVel 1 i 11 g ton ■K^lli8 v fonov;inß-ife f a. : craphift;account of "I , ."■■tlic batllc.'practicc made off'Akaroa by :' .11.M.5.-.-.S'cv.-"Zc'ilniul.' Accounts of the f shootingjwore:-not * made public at- the -. J'timc,-but- a iiuihter of-Keiv- Zealand '■ rv.'crt'; .on . bp-ard by ' invitation, ■;'i. The articlo/is reprinted lrom'thu last ■ £.'issu6-'tof thc.-v"New ■, Zealand Military . s f ■■'During? l her ivisit'!. many'hundreds saw New .Zcaiiiiid.'s- bis'.-battle-cruiser. snugly'-, berthed alongsicie.'.a wharf, ■or sleam.iiig peacefully ~-in :sunshi)ie upon water smooth as" velvet:';'"Many hundreds more .'saw.; hciv.jMt-. at, aii ! save through tlio nVedluiri.'of .the.'.mind's ere as focused by accounts' 111 r.he newspapers. The .following-record- 1 -by.-one of a few privi-leged-to-be on • board off. Akaroa -shows the big figlititig-macliine cleared tor-, action—at-.it,>so'.to.speak,'-, with the gloves ofF.V&y^. '.- Early- in' the ."afternoon 1 of Tuesday, May "7,'.H;M.S; L 'Ne'iv" Zealand put.to sea from" Akaroa < Harbour to carry out sub-calibre'practice from her 12iii."gnns preparatory to, tho'-"real 1 thing" on the morrow. The weather was fiiio with a fresh breeze, and the sea ' somewhat choppy,' occasioning ■ a mishap, to tho target. This was a. large wooden latticework structure about 12ft. by 16ft. measurement; mounted on a heavy raft-, similar to the Hong-Kong target's used by our Garrison Artillery, but backed with red canvas. The weight of the water-soaked cauvas ill the fresh southeast breeze then blowing was too great' for its 1 stability,' .and the whole thing collapsed. 1 After'-bomg hoisted aboard the canvas,,was put. on in strips, a modification- wliich served .. very we'll. First Day.—Sub-calibre Practice, H.M.S. Pyraraus acted as the towing vessel, and several series of sub-calibre rounds were fired, serving a twofold purpose in practising the' guns' crews and .in affording-.-a good test of com-, munications,"] dials;-'and telephones, besides furnishing good observation practice, for the turret ■ commanders and spotters: A 6-pr. gun is screwed bodily into the 12in,, the breeeh-blook arid airblast gear of the -big gim being temporarily removed,thus enabling 0 small and inexpensive ammunition- to be used. In •connection*';with this it is interesting;-'; to...;hote ."that in the absence of iiie air blast, for driving the gases out,of the'guns' muzzles tho turret became filled'with cordite fumes, this- being . especially- noticcable in tho starboard turret, whose muzzles were laid right into the wind— ■with the.-result-that two or three men were rendered ill.thereby. 11 A large , proportion of the sub-calibre rounds iell considerably short of the target, from , what cause I c-ould not ascertain, but.the grouping of the shots fired from all four turrets (eight guns in all) within a. given radius seemed excellent i ■■- *'J - i ■ In tho Conning-Tower. . Jiuring this practies the visiting officers spent some tiiue in the loivor coiining-towcr watching aiid -trying to understand the many ingenious mechanical devices and clials by which tho ship's course, the ranging, and transmitting of orders and corrections are governed. People who live ailoat always seem to have- a different wav of doing things to landmen, « fact w)iieh was evident in many of the fixtures and fittings we saw. The manifold devices for ensuring accuracy and 1 saving time on a modern battleship are certainly staggering 10 the unaccustomed mind. The secondhand third alternative method of doing things is ahvavs in evidence, showing that those , who design these shins or war intend them to go on kicking all the- time and' not to bo .put out of action by some unlucky shot or mishup. The science of the electrician and. the emming of tho mathematician seem to have fuflj- kept pace—where they havo not outstripped—the improvements wrought in modern. year 3 f.y the designers and -builders, of the guns themselves. Second Day.—The Real Thing. That--evening, accompanied bv tho Pyra inn's, wo returned to Akaroa Harhour, and. oil'the following- morning (May 28) tho Pyramus, with target in tow, left port shortly before 8 a.m. Very soon afterwards the New Zealand got under way, and.steamed past tho frowning Heads on a course south-east by east. .Some ten miles or so off-shore she began to manoeuvre, steaming at full speed on several trial and sweeping round again in big circles Until the target-was 011 her port'bow. Your modern battleship, for all her vast weight and bulk, cleaves the water with very little iuss, and it was only bv tho swirl of foam in the distance lvhero she had turned on her heel that her evolutions could ho traced. In the meantime decks had been cleared for action, and everything ■ removable except stanchions and derricks had been stowed away. She presented tho appearance of a fastmoving platform with turrets traversed out of. their accustomed position in a most disconcerting way, in effect a huge guii-raft,-her eight monster specimens of ordnance trained slightly forward and to port,- - with their . threatening muzzles nodding and lifting their portentous heads in wicked unison while their layers followed the target. Officers .in charge of turrets were at the periscope and received reports from their juniors, who in some cases stood outside the manhole ou top of the turret.

The weatlier was dull and threatening, i

with fitful gleams of sunshine dully reflected by tho tossing grey waves. Our Dreadnought was solid as a rock, but ■'judging from the. .evolutions ,o£- the ..target there was a considerable''swell— sufficient at all events to inako.'marksmanship difficult. . ~ During her trial runs ■ tho funnels belched forth, volumes of black smoke, .l>nt just prior to .opening file this was discontinued, and the speed appeared' to . he reduced to something between 10 and ■20 knots. Shooting commenced at about 10.-15 a.m. at a range decreasing -from "000 0f,6300 to 5500 yards. Tho Now Zealand was steaming-obliquely to t-lio target-and somewhat in rear, so that the iciiir turrets were trained ahead on tho port side, ■ the raugzles of the starboard turret ("0") shooting across about. 30ft. of deck amidships, whilst those of the "after" turret were laid just alongside the base of the-after, bridge—of which more anon. Four rounds of practice shot (8001b.esch) with three-quarter charges of cordite were, fired from , each gun—viz., eight rounds per turret. "Q" turret, I think, opened first-, followed quickly by the aft-er, port, and forward-, turrets. Some good salvos were got off, but as a rule throughout the'series of thirtytwo rounds each' guu fired independently, and "Q" and the after turret had 1 finished before tho others, the forward turret being last." This we found out afterwards was due. to the cage hydraulic gear going out of order and a slower, service of ammuntiou supply having to be adopted. From observations tho shooting appeared to be very good;. barring one or two "shorts"—which might or might not count as -ricochet hits, according to whether or not these arc allowed in naval practices. Several of the rounds appeared to go clean through the target, which is remarkable shooting when one considers, what a small 'section of a warship the target. represented, v The Ssens in the Turrets. ■ " The service of the guns was admirable, and the time' should he held as pood considering that this was the New Zealand's first shoot, and that she had a very young c-rew, many of whpfli had never fired before. One fact that impressed me was the few men required per gun—five, including the middy in charge, seemed to be all the guns' crew actually employed on tho gun-floor iu action. Inside tho turret (lower manhole closed, upper nearly so) was an atmosphere of intense stillness; veiy few order?, and these quick and hard, but without military flavour; deft movements and nonchalent smartness characterised the meii. The calm was broken at intervals bv the rattle of the eago bringing up the shell, tile flap of iis as the cartridges roiled out, the subdued hissing of a wotcr-sprav phved into the breech and on the shelf, lohowcd by the staccato rattle of tho chain-rammer; a tenso moment, a slightbang, a little vibration, the shrieking of the air-blast followed, by the recoil of that, mighty mass of metal facing one; forward again it went instantaneously, load and fire igain, so the rounds went off, without a hitch. Occasionally the flash of the guu could bo seen through canvas between gun and turret ; once the gun-blast, made quite a suction through the partly-opened manhole overhead. The Effeet of Gun Blast. Outside on top of the turret the "blast" made itself felt, but the noioe did not strike one as being Considerable. Inside tho turret it was very slight. The "blast" from the muzzles of these after-turret gnus had upended a boat on the davits high up on tho bridge, and nad hopelessly smashed the neatly curtained glass doors of the SO-ton steam pinnaces, in the smart'appearance of which the junior officers take suc'h keen pride. Amidships "Q" turret's guns', or rather their muzzle-blast, had done'some damage, blackening the .deck, .melting the tar in the seams, wrenching up fireplugs, and blowing '-away about 20ft. of wooden beading on'the..ship's side, Directly below this is the guii-room and the middies' quarters. Knowing what they were in for, piotu.res and bookcases had been dismantled', piano laid flat on its back, crockery likewise; but notwithstanding these precautions a good- deal of breakage took, place here and in adjoining cabins. Other parts of the the vessel did not suffer, showing clearly that it- is the concussion caused by the "blast" where tho gun-muzzles are firing over a portkm of-- the deck that does the damage. Any other concussion or vibration that may be caused by a broadside.of 12in. guns no doubt has a momentary' effest on the decks above the waterline in depressing them 011 tltoir supports, but .the whole structure being pliant responds to the shock and recovers itself. There was 110 practice from the'sixteen 4in. Q.F. guns on this occasion.

After lunch gnus were cleaned and tho decks mado to recover their usual smart appearance, whilst the Xevr Zealand steamed at-easy.speed down the coast to Timnru, arriving there and anchoring just before dark—about 5 p.m.