Lord George Hamilton made an interesting statement on Wednesday at
the Institute of Naval Architects, as to the 110- ton English gun, which he declared to have been proved after trial more effective than a 120-ton gun built in Germany. He referred to the feeling that there is in the naval service against guns so big that they cannot be trained and loaded except by machinery, and said that there is no machinery so little liable to accident as the hydraulic power by which guns are loaded and trained. If a gun small enough to be dealt with by hand is used, the gunners must stand level with their guns, and must be adequately protected, and such protection means more weight and a larger target for the enemy. The 110-ton gun can be fired almost as rapidly as the 35-ton gun, and the advantage of hydraulic machinery for loading and training is that hydraulic power has no nerves, is very compact, and can be easily protected. The prejudice in favour of the manual management of guns is really nothing better than the old prejudice in favour of sailing-ships as compared with steam- ships, and is as sure to yield beneath the steady pressure of scientific facts.
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