Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/106

* COAST AND GEODETIC STJBVEY. 80 gaged in the repairing and remodeling necessary to keep the instrumental outfit at a high stand- ard of effipiency. The accounting division, at the head of which is the disbursing officer, is not a division of the office in the sense of reporting to the assistant in charge of the office. This dis- bursing officer makes all disbursements on ac- count of the Survey, with the approval of the superintendent, renders a quarterly account of all such disbursements to the first auditor of the Treasury Dejiartment for auditing by him, renders a statement of expenditures and balances to the superintendent whenever required to do so, suspends returns for correction or disallows all items of expenditure irregular in form or in con- travention of law or regulations, and refers to the first comptroller of the Treasury, for de- cision, all apparently excessive or unnecessary charges. The editor, reporting to the superin- tendent, compiles the administrative part of the annual report and acts as editor in connection with all other publications of the Survey ex- cept the charts. COAST ABTHiLERY, or Fortress Artil- lery. Under tliis lu-ad are included the heavier guns and mortars, which are used for the arma- ment of permanent 'orks, usually on the sea- coast, and which are mounted on carriages not intended for transporting the gims. but only as supports from which they are to be fired. These carriages are designed so that the guns may be pointed in any direction at various angles of ele- vation and depression. They are classified as barbette, casemate, and flank defense, according to their use, and into front pintle (the pintle be- ing the pivot or bearing containing the axis of ro- tation) and centre pintle according to the manner of traversing. Uarliette carriages are intended to be fired over an open parapet, and are of two forms — fixed and disappearing. Disappearing carriages are hidden behind the parapet except when firing. They are of two classes — disappear- ing carriages proper and the gun-lift carriages. Casemate carriages are those mounted in a cov- t^red emplacement and fired through an em- brasure (q.v. ). The modern seacoast cannon in the United States service are the 8, 10, and 12-inch breech- loading rifles and the 12-inch breech-loading mortar. In addition there is a 12 cm. (4.7 inch) rapid-fire gun. using a projectile weighing 45 pounds propelled by smokeless powder. The 8- inch rifle weighs 32,480 pounds and fires a 300-pound projectile with a charge of 125 pounds of powder. The 10-inch rifle weighs 67,200 pounds and fires a 575-pound projectile with 250 pounds of powder. The 12-inch rifle weighs 128,- 719 pounds and fires a 1000-pound projectile with 487 pounds of powder. These guns are mounted on barbette carriages. The barbette carriages are non-disappearing and disappearing. The 12-inch breech-loading rifled mortar weighs 29,000 pounds and fires a 1000-pound projectile with 105 pounds of powder. The illustration shows in detail a typical gun and mortar for coast defense as used in the United States service. Other illustrations, including one of a United States disappearing gun, will be found in the article Orunance. The 16- inch breech-loading rifle of the United States system is one of the largest guns ever constructed. The Italian 17.7-inch, the French 16.5-inch, and the Armstrong 16.25-inch gims. COAST ARTILLERY. do not compare in point of energy and range with the recent American gun. With smokeless powder the gun requires a charge of 576 pounds (of the old black powder 1176 pounds would be needed) and fires a projectile 5 feet 4 inches long, weighing 2400 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 2300 feet per second, developing a muzzle energj' of 88,000 foot-tons, which gives a penetration of 42.3 inches of steel at the muzzle. These figures will be considerably increased when a suitable slow-burning powder is secured, but even now the gun sliows an enormous superiority to any of the large guns mentioned above. The Italian gun, for instance, with a projectile weigh- ing 2000 poumls and a muzzle velocity of 1700 foot-seconds (feet per second), develops only 40,000 foot-tons muzzle energj', not half that of the American gun. The French gun projectile weiglis 1700 pounds, and with 1700 foot-seconds muzzle velocity, develops a ma.ximum muzzle energy of only 36,000 foot-tons, while the Eng- lish gun projectile of 1800 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 2100 foot-seconds, gives a muzzle energy of 51,000 foot-tons. It is seen, therefore, that the maximum energy of the Italian gun is 45 per cent., that of the French gun 41 per cent., and that of the English gun 65 per cent, that of the United States gun. The maximum range of this enormous gun is 20.978 miles, the projectile reaching a height of 30,516 feet in this flight. The total length of the gun is 49 feet 2.9 inches; its weight about 130 tons. England uses both breech and muzzle-loading cannon in her coast defense. Her largest guns are the four 100-ton guns at Jlalta and Gib- raltar. Probably the most powerful gun in the English system is the wire-wound 12-inch breech- loading rifle, Mark VIII., which is 37 feet 1 inch long, weighs 46 tons, and fires an 850-pound projectile, with a muzzle velocity of 2367 foot- seconds. The coast artillery guns are the rifled muzzle-loading 64-pounders, 80-poimders, 7, 9, 10. 10.4, 11, 12, 12.5, 16, and 17.72 inch guns. The breech-loading, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9.2, 10. 13.5 inch and 32-pounder smooth bore. In all, England has 920 guns of various types mounted in her seacoast forts. Coast defense in France is intrusted to 17 batteries, each including 4 officers, 129 men, and 4 horses, four of which are at the different rendezvous for the fleet. The guns actually mounted along the coast are of about 12 types, varying from a 58-ton, 34-cm. (13.8 inches) gun, firing a projectile of 924 pounds with a 440- pound charge of powder, giving a muzzle velocity of 2450 foot-seconds, to the 8-'ton. 19-cm. (7.48') giui, firing a projectile weighing 165 pounds, with a 35-pound charge of powder, and giving a muzzle velocity of 1410 foot-seconds. Italy's fortress artillery has various arms, from 45-cm. guns (18.1-inch) weighing 101 tons and firing a 2200-pound projectile, formerly sup- posed to be the most powerful gim in the world, down to Nordenfeldts and double-barreled mi- trailleuses. In Belgium there are two brigades of fortress artillery having 58 active and 12 other batteries. The fortress artillery in Rus- sia has a variety of guns, which include the following: 4.2inch steel guns, 6-inch, 8-inch, 14-inch, 11-inch. 10-inch, the 10-barreled Gatling, and the 8-barreled Maxim automatic machine gun. A description of the various guns and mortars