Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/803

* EAPID-FIRE GTJNS. 709 RAPP. niinute. In the larger calibres the speed depends chiefly upon the mechanism of the mount and drill of the crew ; in the smaller pieces, the speed depends chiefly upon the drill alone. The rapid firing of modern guns has had a most marked effect upon battle tactics (see Tac- tics, Xaval) and design of ships. So far as the effect upon the former is concerned, naval critics are not fully in agreement, but in regard to the latter there is more unanimity of opinion. Battle- ships and armored cruisers are now thinly armor-plated over a very large portion of their sides, the plating being of sufficient thickness to keep out all shells from very rapld-worklug guns except those of the larger sizes at close range. Were it not for this armor the sides of battleships and the interior arrangements above water would soon be wrecked by the vast number of small projectiles which the numerous guns of a modern ship can deliver in a short space of time. The effect of this armor is to separate more widely the armored from the unarmored vessels and to render many old battleships unfit for rnodern fighting; but it likewise tends to de- crease the differences between battleships and armored cruisers. Notwithstanding the destruction effected by the rapid-firing guns of small calibre, the damage they inflict is rarely vital and decisive blows can only be delivered by large shells. In the naval battle of Santiago the smaller guns caused much destruction of life, but the damage to the Spanish ships, which caused three of them to surrender in about an hour after the first one was sighted coming out of the harbor, was caused by 8-inch and 12-ineh guns. These wrecked the interior in a manner which was beyond the power of small pieces; two 12-inch shells destroy- ed the interior arrangements in the after end of the Infanta ilaria Teresa, cut the fire-mains, and set the ship on fire so that access to the after magazines and shell-rooms was cut off; 8-ineh shell cut the fire-mains and set fire to the Oquendo and Viscaya. and one exploded in the forward turret of the former, killing or wounding every soul in it and destroying the machinery for operating the forward 11-inch gun. A heavy shell (12-ineh or 13-inch shell) burst in the after part of the Oquendo, causing enormous damage, and another struck the armor of the Tiscaya at the waterline and, while it did not penetrate, the blow upon the plate crushed the frames and caused a leak which drove the people from the port engine-room and rapidly reduced the ship's speed. The destruction of life was greatest on the Oquendo and was chiefly due to the rapid- firing guns, which pierced the unarmored parts of her side as if they were of paper. On the Cristobal Colon, though she was struck by many small projectiles, the damage was trifling because her side was almost completely ai-mored. She was brought to surrender by the heavy guns of the Oregon, which had just got her range and wa-s rapidly overhauling her when she gave up and ran ashore. The accuracy of rapid-firing gims as compared with larger pieces has been over-estimated. At long ranges they are less accurate, as the path of a small projectile is more curved than that of a large one having the same muzzle velocity; at short ranges small guns should be more accurate than large ones, as they are more readily handled. Bibliography. Annual Reports of the Office of yaval Intelligence, Xavy Department, Wash- ington; Proceedings of the U. S. yaval Institute, Annapolis, Jld. ; Ingcrsoll, Text Book of Ord- nance and Gunnery (Annapolis, 1899) ; Brassej', Xaval Antiual, London; the Sailors Pocket Book (annual), London; Annual Report of the Chief of Bureau of Ordnance, U. S. Xa'y; An- nual Report of the Chief of Ordnance U. S. Army. For infonnation concerning rapid-firing and other guns in the L'nited States and abroad, including tables and full details, see Gt'xs, Xaval; Aehllebt; Machike Guxs; Ordxaxce; etc. RAPIN DE THOYRAS, ra'pax' de twa'ril', Paul de (1601-1725). A French historian, born at Castres, Languedoc. He was educated at the Protestant College of Saumur, and became an ad- vocate in 1679. but the revocation of the Edict of Xantes (1685) forced him to leave France and he sought employment in England and afterwards in Holland. In 1693 he was appointed tutor to the Earl of Portland's son, with whom he traveled in Holland, Germany, and Italy, after which he took up his residence at The Hague, but in 1707 withdrew to Wesel, in the Duchy of Cleves, where he devoted the remaining years of his life to the composition of his History of England. This Histoire d'Angleterre was published at The Hague in eight volumes, the year before the au- thor's death. It was translated into English by Nicholas Tindal (15 vols., London, 1725-31), and later translations and editions have also appeared. RAPP; George (1770-1847). The founder of the religious society of Harmonists (q.v. ). He was born at Iptingen, in Wurttemberg, Germany, and when he grew to manhood developed certain peculiar religious ideas. Having become desirous of organizing a religious. community in accord- ance with these ideas, he "gathered a number of followers; and, being persecuted in Germany, he in 1803 emigrated to the L'nited States. In the following year he founded in Butler County, Pa., a community in which all things were held in common and where both sexes practiced celibacy. In 1815 the society removed to the banks of the Wabash in Posey Count}", Ind., and there founded a new settlement which they called Xew Har- mony (q.v.). Xine years later, however, they sold out their rights to the reformer Robert Owen (q.v.), and returned to Pennsylvania, where they built the village of Economy. Of these com- munities Eapp was both spiritual and temporal head. RAPP, rap, Jeax, Count (1772-1821). A French general, born at Kolmar, Alsace. He entered the army in 1788. In 1795 he was only a lieutenant, but having become aide-de-camp to Desaix. he distinguished himself by his gallantry in Egypt, and on tlie death of his chief at Maren- go he became aide-de-camp to Xapoleon. and soon rose to be brigadier-general. His brilliant charge at Austerlitz. which put to rout the Russian Imperial Guard, was rewarded with the grade of general of division. For his senices in the bat- tle of Aspern (q.v.) he was made a count of the Empire (Aug. 1, 1809). Though opposed to the Russian expedition of 1812. he accompanied the Emperor throughout the whole of it, adding, on many occasions, to his niilitai-y reputation. His defense of Danzig for nearly a year against a powerful Russian army added to his fame. The Russians, contrary to the articles of