PROGRESS IN GUNNERY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2967, 28 September 1882, Page 2

PROGRESS IN GUNNERY.

Writing of the bombardment of Al®*andria, the Pall Mall Gazette observes “ Though the practice of the guns ha 8 been good, quite as good on the average as the practice of the existing naval ordnance of other fleets, it is none the less true that the type of gun used-at Alexandria has been superseded by a better system. Take, for instance, the lOin and 9in gun of the fleet, and compare them with those lately turned out both from Elswick and Woolwich. The new Sin. guns, weighing less than 12 tons, are much more powerful than the old lOin. of 18 tons, and the old9in. guns with which the Invincible and Penelope are armed, weigh 12| tons each, but have not much more than half the muzzle energy of the new Bin. of li'7s tons. The guns of the Monarch weigh 25 tons, and are of 12in. calibre, and may therefore be fully compared with the new type lo‘4in gun of 26 tons. Only, the comp arisen shows that while the old 25-ton gun has a muzzle energy of about 7200 foot tons, its successor of the new type may be set down at as nearly as possible double that power. Mr Trevelyan, while Secretary for the Navy, promised that a supply of the new-type guns shall soon commence. The general feeling will be the sooner the, better. And this is quite consistent with the acknowledgment that no other fleet could have done better now. The fact is that other nations are improving their armaments, and we must do the same.”