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Show BIGGEST PIECE OF ORDNANCE Greatest Gun in World to Be Shipped to Panama Canal Fortifications. Washington, Jul 14 When its! breech-locking device has been per- . fected at Watertown arsenal, the I great 16-inch gun, the biggest piece of ordnance in the world which has just been shipped from Sandy Hook proving grounds, will be practically ready for service on the Panama canal ca-nal fortifications. The carriage for this giant gun is now under construction construc-tion at the Watertown, Mass . arsenal. arsen-al. Tt probably will bo taken back to Sandy Hook for tests after being mounted and will not be shipped to Panama before next spring Some idea may be gotten of the j tremendous power of this gun, des-tlned des-tlned to protect the Pacific entrance to the Panama canal, by the fact that it is fifty feet long, weighs 142 ton-;; and tires a projectile about six feet j leng. The projectile itself weighs a ton and is discharged by 685 pounds of powder. It requires eight men to carry the powder clnrge Thie gun j has a maximum range of from twenty-1 two to twenty three miles or half the distance between New York City and Wast Point The elevation permit-; ted by Its carriage will enable the, Trr gun m fire a p.'ojectlle about eleven-miles eleven-miles acrosc the Pacific ocean. It has ; t-ufflclent power. theoretically, to 1 plercu two feet of the best armor ' plate at the muzzle. At eleven miles tne gun is calculated to pierce a 12-Inch 12-Inch armor plate, or any side armor afloat, V, hen a shell leaves the gun it is revolving around Its axis at about four thousand revolutions per minute min-ute find develops a pressure of 38.000 I pounds to the scpuare inch. The pres-: pres-: Bure to the rear on the gun and forward for-ward on the project! amounts to 7.-G00.O00 7.-G00.O00 pounds. Tho projectile's ve-j ve-j loclly of 2250 feet per second gives a I murzle energy of somewhat more j than 84 foot ton6 that is. an energy ; cnpitble of raising 42 tons one foot I every second. Army ordinance officers believe Itlil gun will he a tremendous lustru-ny lustru-ny at of peace when It Is finally In position on the Panama canal. |