Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE ARMAMENT OF A BATTLESHIP. 415 of 3-pounder guns. They fire respectively shells of a weight shown by their designation. In vessels of the improved Craft e^° Dreadnought type, sixteen to Armament. twent? 4‘inch Q are carriedi for of course the small weapons mounted in the King Edward VII. would, in the absence of a serious second- ary armament, leave such immense vessels practically at the mercy of torpedo craft. The proper calibre of anti-torpedo guns is a matter about which the naval Powers of the world are by no means unanimous. The United States mount weapons of 5-inch calibre ; Germany, according to various au- thorities, 6-inch and 4- 1-inch guns ; while France holds to the multitude of smaller weapons. Japan, again, retains her secondary armament, whilst bringing the main arma- ment of her latest battleships, the Kawachi and Settsu, up to the standard of Europe. One thing at least is certain—battleships, acknowledged to be the objective of the torpedo, will and must be provided with such an armament as shall counteract effectu- DIAGRAM TO SHOW THE ARMOUR AND DISPOSITION OF GUNS ON THE LEADING BATTLESHIPS OF THE VARIOUS NAVAL POWERS. ally the menace of destroyer or torpedo boat attack. The 3-inch (12-pounder Q.) was introduced to destroy torpedo vessels with a displacement in the region of 300 tons or under. This gun has remained where it started, except in the matter of muzzle velocity, though the boats which it was introduced to destroy have increased in size out of all knowledge. No one would have dreamt of repelling the torpedo-gunboats of ten years ago, displacing as they do 800 to 1,200 tons, with projectiles of only 12 lbs. in weight; and yet to-day these same pro- jectiles are expected to pro- tect the capital ship from attacks by boats considerably larger and infinitely faster, and hence more dangerous. The necessity for a small gun firing a large number of shots per minute is Need for Powerful Tertiary Guns. fast disappearing. The retention of the 3- pounder and 12-pounder gun as an anti- torpedo boat weapon cannot be sustained. A mere glance at the dimensions of the ocean-going destroyers Ghurka and Swift is sufficient to support the theory that future safety must be sought in a very much in- creased gun calibre. Ghurka. Swift. Length.........255 ft.. Beam...........25 ft. 7 Draught........8 ft. 10 ...................345 ft. in.................34 ft. 2 in. in,................10 ft. 5 in. What effect could a 4-inch Q. have upon the old battleship Nile ? Obviously none, and yet she and the Swift are identical in length, and the latter shows rather more hull, and thus (though of but a sixth the displacement) appears a larger ship in side superficies. The fact is, the resisting power of the modern destroyer has been much underrated, and