Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/831

ARTILLERY 795 forced the French infantry to retire ; and at Sedan, the greatest artillery battle of the war, the fire of more than 750 guns repeatedly drove hack the French troops, with the enor- mous loss of 10,000 killed and 20,000 wound- ed. The heaviest Krupp guns used at the siege of Paris were 6-inch (15-centimetre), weighing about 6,000 Ibs. and firing 55 to 60-lb. projectiles ; they were opposed to the heaviest French naval guns. As a matter of economy, converted twelves and twenty-fours of bronze and cast iron are temporarily retained in the Prussian service for siege and reserve pur- poses. The larger Krupp calibres are from 6 to 8, 8 to 9, 9 to 10, 11, 12, and 14 inches, most of them being used in both the land and naval services of Prussia. The 8-inch sea- coast gun (209-lb. projectile) can be used with great effect up to 1,800 yards against ships covered by 4^-inch plates; and within the same range the 9-inch gun (297-lb. projectile) can do very serious injury to 6-inch armor plates; up to 700 yards the 9-inch gun can breach an 8-inch shield, but at greater dis- tances 11-inch guns must be employed, which, with their 495-lb. projectiles, are very effective against the heaviest ironclads at 2,000 yards. But two 14-inch guns have been made ; with an 150-lb. charge they fire shells weighing 1,080 Ibs., exclusive of a bursting charge of 17 Ibs., the weight of the solid shot being 1,212 Ibs. The 14-inch, with its carriage and turntable, weighs about 90 tons; the gun alone 112,000 Ibs., not quite as much as the American 20-inch Rodman. The English have always deemed steel guns dangerous, which is true so far as large solid steel guns are concerned ; the built- up guns of this material have however shown remarkable endurance, but in justice to other systems it should be stated that the Rodman prismatic powder, exclusively used in the Krupp guna, gives extremely low pressures. In a recent competitive trial of endurance, how- ever, between a 9-inch Krupp and a 9-inch Armstrong, both using prismatic powder, the German gun had a decided advantage. To Prussia also belongs the credit of the introduc- tion of the new 8^-inch rifled mortar, the pro- jectile having a bursting charge of 15 Ibs., and exploding by a percussion fuse ; it was used during the late war at the sieges of Paris, Bel- fort, and other places, the precision of its fire being very remarkable. Russia adopted in 1859 French bronze rifled fours; these have been given up and replaced by Krupp fours and nines, as well as by bronze breech-loading fours and nines, the bores lined with steel tubes, made at the arsenals so as to utilize the old material. The fours weigh 765 Ibs., their pro- jectiles 16 Ibs. ; the nines 1,382 Ibs., and the projectiles 31 Ibs. The Krupp system has been also adopted for heavy guns, some of which are constructed by the government at the AbukofF works near St. Petersburg; the 8 and 9-inch guns were the largest calibres up to 1868, when the 11 -inch gun was added. Russia has also adopted the Prussian rifled mortar; there are two calibres, 8 and 6-inch, weighing 8,624 and 3,360 Ibs., with 195 and 90- Ib. projectiles, the charges being 19 and 8 Ibs. respectively. Immediately after the Italian campaign of 1859 the Austrians put in service field guns very similar to the French fours; later they had rifled guns on the Lenk system, which were fired with guncotton instead of powder ; finally in 1863 they adopted an entirely new system of muzzle-loading bronze guns, of two calibres, eights and fours, weighing 1,099 and 580 Ibs. respectively, with 14 and 8-lb. projectiles. For mountain service bronze rifled threes are used, weighing only 185 Ibs. and firing a 5-lb. projectile. The Krupp system has been adopted for all their heavy guns. Italy and Spain adopted without modification the French system of bronze muzzle-loading rifles, which in the latter country were replaced in 1868 by Krupp field pieces, some bronze breech-loaders being also made. Following the example of France, Spain had her large cast-iron cannon hooped to increase their dura- bility, the results giving great satisfaction. The 8-inch Krupp is now included among her heavy guns, and in Cuba she has in service a great many large American cannon, Parrott rifles and Rodman smooth-bores. Belgium has Krupp fours and sixes with calibres of 3 and 3*5 inches; her heavy guns are on the same system. The Krupp field guns are also used by Turkey, Rou- mania, and Servia, as well as in China and Ja- pan. Switzerland, after adopting in 1862 rifled muzzle-loaders, exchanged them in 1866 for steel breech-loaders. The Swedish, Dutch, and Danish governments, like the French, construct their large rifles of cast iron hooped with steel ; some of them have shown great endurance, a Swedish rifle, it is said, having been fired 1,100 times. In the United States cast-iron cannon attained an unrivalled degree of perfection. Gen. Rodman's model, which does not ma- Fio. 12. Hodman Gun. terially differ from that of 1858, was adopted in 1860 for all seacoast cannon ; the exterior shape is remarkable for its simplicity and relative lightness, the parts, being proportioned with reference to the exact amount and locality of the strain, to the entire neglect of the merely ornamental or traditional. Rodman's methpd of hollow casting having, in conjunction with