An item reported that despite the statements that the
pneumatic guns of Zalinsky could not be used for warships the US Navy still was
arming cruisers with this weapon. The steel-built dynamite cruiser Vesuvius
with as dimensions 246’x 26,5’x 8,5’
(middle) and a displacement of 700 tons would be armed with 3 such guns with a
calibre of 16”
able to fire projectiles containing 600 pound of explosives over a distance of a
mile. The guns were place din the fore ship with their barrels pointing out
above the deck and their ends below in the cargo under an angle of 16 degrees. Pressed
air was used for firing the projectiles.
