Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE ARMAMENT OF A BATTLESHIP. 405 importance as judged by the battleship standard. Now, the business of the main armament is to “smash” or “sink” the enemy’s ship. Its blows should be paralysing, pulverising, and definite ; hence the tendency, as battleships increase in displacement, is to augment the size of the gun. For with every increase in the calibre of a gun there is a larger weapons. These smaller guns fire much more rapidly than do their big brothers, hence their name of quick-firing guns. Their calibres range from the 4-incli Q. (Q = quick-firer) to the 8-inch Q. ; and between these two sizes we find the 4'7-inch Q., 5-inch Q., 6-inch Q., and 7-5-inch Q., with, in for- eign types, the I’l-inch Q., 5-9-inch. Q., 6‘7- INSIDE A BARBETTE, SHOWING THE BREECH ACTION OF A 12-INCH GUN. {Photo, Gale, and Folden.) Note the “interrupted screw” device by which the breech-block grips the gun. proportionate increase in the weight and destructive power of the shell it fires. 2. Secondary Armament.—After the fleets have joined issue at distances commencing with 10,000 to 12,000 yards by means of their heavy, far-ranging guns, Secondary ^he natura] conclusion is (or Armament. wag^ that they would eventu- ally approach or “ close ” each other, in which event a judicious liail of shell flung rapidly by lighter guns might well complete the demoralization already commenced by the inch Q. (German and French), and 7-incli Q. (United States). 3. Tertiary Armament.—Lastly, we have the guns of the tertiary or anti-torpedo-craft arma- ment. They range from the rifle-sized many- barrelled machine-gun to the 4-7-inch Q., or even the 5-inch Tertiary Armament. Q. It will be noticed that there are certain calibres that enter, perforce,' into two categories. It is proposed to take a typical battleship, the King Edward VII., and describe her