Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/720

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��Popular Science Monthly

���prescribed for American infantrymen would, in all probability, be exhausted in four days' fighting.

The range of guns being one of the mQst important factors in war, the House of Representatives, by Resolu- tion No. 698, adopted on January 14, 1915, called upon the Secretary of War for information in respect to our sea- coast cannon. On the following day Mr. Garrison replied in a communicat ionto the Speaker of the House, in which he stated :

(i) That there were no guns mounted in the fortifications of the United States proper of a caHber larger than 12 inches.

(2) That the range of the 12-inch guns mounted on the standard disappearing carriage was not more than 13,000 yards, but that the range of the 12-inch guns mounted on barbette carriages was approximately iN,ooo yards.

(3) That the British dreadnoughts of the Queen Elizabeth type were ecjuipped with 15-inch 45-caliber guns, and that their range was ap- proximately 21,000 yards.

(4) That "It is true that the range of the guns just mentioned exceeds by over 4 miles the range of the guns as mounted in the defense of the United States proper, cither on the Atlantic or Pacific coast; but it is not true that the range of those guns need remain thus restricted, since by a slight change in the mounting their range will be practically equal to that of the 15-inch 45-caliber guns above referred to."

It was admitted by our leading ordnance experts and military officials that such an augmented range could only be obtained at the expense of diminish- ing the weight of the projectile and hence its penetrating power. The net result is thus in favor of the heavier British guns.

��The United States has four machine-guns per regiment. The French, among others, have increased the num- ber to forty

��The Coast Artillery Would Fire A II Avail- able Ammunition in Fo rty-five Min 11 tes A table prepared by the Chief of Coast Artillery on IDecember 1914, and submitted to the House Committee on Military Affairs, showed that on that date 1,299 guns had been mounted and 51 were in the process of construction — only one of the latter being of 16-inch caliber; that three 14-inch guns had been mounted — that is, outside of the United States — and 21 appropriated for; that 433 modern 12-inch guns were in position and ii under construction; while the remaining 863 already mounted and 18 appropriated for were old- fashioned 12-inch or calibers ranging down to 3-inch. Since high-powered guns have a life of only 240 rounds — cr if used at the maximum, 100 rounds — it is therefore self-evident that the arma- ment of our fortifications is sadly in need of being modernized.

On December 8, 1915, the Chief of Coast Artillery confessed to the House Committee on Military Affairs that:

"Of ammunition for continental United States we have now on hand and under manufacture 73 per cent of the allowance fixed by the National Coast Defense Board. That allowance for conti- nental United States is the number of rounds that any given gun would fire at the maximum rate of firing in one hour."

Let the reader realize fully what this astounding revelation means. It means that the guns of the fortifications in the United States firing at the limit of their capacity would expend every bit of ammunition that they possess within 45 minutes. And the present Chief of Staff, General Scott, submitted to the same committee a statement showing that if the mortars were similarly fired they would exhaust the last round of ammunition in 30 minutes. What would happen if our fortifications were sub- jected to a gruelling bombardment?

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