GERMAN NAVAL GUNS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2344, 29 December 1914, Page 6

GERMAN NAVAL GUNS

POWER OF THE TORPEDO It was reported some time ago that the Germans were understood to be rearming their Dreadnoughts in tho safety of their harbours with heavier guns, so that the newer British battleships, with their larger weapons, might be encountered with bettor hope of success. Mr. Archibald Hurd, a distinguished naval expert, declares, in an article in the "Daily Telegraph," that such a tiling is impossible. Tho big guns of a battleship, ho saye, are integral parts of tho vessel; they are determining factors of primary importance when the vessel is designed. They are not ■ like siege guns, such as tho Germans have mounted on the concrete bases which thpy have found go conveniently in statu quo in Belgium. Ships oxist mainly for the guns, which aro not placed on the deck, but aro built into the ship, tho machinery for footling and firing them going down and down in an armoured "well," so to speak. Up this armoured "well" tho ammunition is passed to tho turret or barbette. In a Dreadnought with 10 la.oin. guns, for instance, tho.ro aro Juia and beneath ithein are.

five wells." Consequently to think of naval guns as being placed on the deck and their mountings boltod down is to misunderstand the rolation of the euhs to tho ship. They aro, in fact, part of the ship itself. Tho misooncoption, perhaps, arises trom tho statement that battleships are . gun platforms." This is true, but not m the sonso that chairs and tablee stand on a platform in a public, hall. l'rom tune to time some years ago some countries tried, in peace conditions, to reconstruction men-of-war— putting in heavier secondary guns, such as those of the 6m. typo, which do actually stand on the deck, and aro not an integral pant o f the ship, as a 12m. or 13.5 m. eun is. It seemed a comparatively simple operation, but experience snowed that, oven in the case of quick-firing guns of this description -comparatively lightr-the experiment was a failure. The Germans have learnt this lesson at a heavy cost .It may bo added that possibly the to the decks of the German ships withGerCTVv* PreSent S uns - Mo* £e^tiiUirss do f- ste ?dy- Even DxKuglS o -some of them rather badly-and in a seaway a vessel with heavy siege gls -raising the centre of gravity and iieignt—would be a far greater terror to its own crow than to an enemy ine idea.may seem plausible, but it was probably invented in Germany for &&£$*&&&& more powerful than the 12in F weapons, r t °f l l at n most 128 ot thoM. The rest ot the German vessels carry llin. or 9 2in.-ten o f them have the latter We haye not a single battleship In or with the 13.5 in gun-throwing, aB tne f~ 01 V, v e Ad °>iralty I'ae said, a. 12501b shell. Very soon we shall have ships with the new 35in eun J! Mr Churchill has stated " tw % i the mattor of s ull p°»-« there need be no nervousness. m ™?'lie sinking of the antiquated British cruiser Hawke by a German submarine, Mr. Hurd says it has been suggested that the German torpedoes are far more deadly than any in other navies, owing t<, the use of an explosive known as "T.N.T." It must .be concluded either that the Germans have been exceedingly fortunate in hitt ng the most vulnerable parts of the elnps we have lost, or they poseess in their explosive au agent far more deadly than wae believed. Certainly the experience of war haa not confirmed tho comfortable concluunder the attack of a einglo torpedo no ship suoh as the Hawke. except she was struck near a magazine, could bo sunk. She would, it was conjectured, get a list to port or starboard, or go down somewhat ahead or astern. Happily, in designing our latest ships, far more complete precautions were taken againet tho peril of the torpedo: the main bulkheads are solid—without a single door which may or may not be closed in case of a sudden emergency and which - may or may not resist the pressure of an immense volume of water.