OCR Text |
Show Pershing Using Most Powerful Weapons Ashore or Afloat. . FIFTY CALIBER GUNS Ski Carries Nearly Ton of Highest Explosive Ex-plosive Known. WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 Announce-, Announce-, ment from Franco that American six- I ,, leen-inch naval guns, manned by na- sal gun crews, have come into action with the American army at the front, disclosed that through efforts of tho ordnance officials of the navy, Gen-; Gen-; oral Pershing's forces are now equip ped with the most powerful and hard-( hard-( fst hitting weapons yet used in the present war, ashore or afloat, so far . as is known. I The sixlecn-inch rifles are similar to those designed for use aboard the newest American dreadnaughts. Tiey are fifty caliber, nlore than sixty -six feet in length and weigh approximately approximate-ly 100 tons without their carriages. Without question they arc the long-t long-t I est range guns in use except the Ger-j Ger-j man super-guns which are regarded 1 merely as a mechanical freak. The projectile weighs close to a ton and its bursting charge of the most powerful explosive known is measured in hundreds of pounds against the few pounds in the German super-gun shell. The destructive effect Is enormous. Plans for using big rifles for the , army arc understood to have been f -worked out entirely by naval officers. -These arc not only the great naval guns employed by the American army. American naval gun crews have play-od play-od an important part on several soc-r soc-r tors of the battle front for months, handling weapons of twelve-Inch bore. oo |