The gunners of the French fleet are possessed of a skill which is
recognized by all the maritime powers, and these picked men proved
this at the siege of Paris, where they made themselves illustrious,
not only by their courage and their coolness, but also by the accuracy
of their firing.
Nothing is neglected, moreover, to keep up the precision of hand and
eye that distinguishes them, and which has become so much the more
necessary in that it is no longer a question of firing a broadside at
the enemy and reckoning on one ball being more fortunate than another
in damaging the enemy's ship. At present, the most powerful ironclad
has four, and sometimes six or eight, guns of large caliber, which are
of from 30 to 100 tons. Every shot represents not only an enormous
sum, but also a prodigious force expended, and so powder must not be
used too lavishly, since the shot should be in relation with the
colossal power that it represents, and the shell adopted in the navy
is accompanied with so disastrous effects that a single one, well
directed, is capable of reducing the enemy's ship to impotence. So
exercises in firing are becoming more and more frequent, and they have
a right to be multiplied, inasmuch as the present guns are complicated
affairs, the maneuvering of which requires constant practice.
Our engraving represents one of these exercises performed by the
Squadron of the North, which is of recent organization, and which
consists of the three ironclads Marengo, Suffren, and Ocean, and three
coast guards Furieux, Fulminant, and Tonnerre. Each of the ironclads
is provided with four 27 cm. guns and four 24 cm. ones, not counting
the revolving guns, which constitute the small artillery reserved for
fighting torpedo boats. The Furieux has two 34 cm. guns, and the
Tonnerre and Fulminant each two 37 cm. ones.
An endeavor is made, as far as possible, to practice firing such as is
done in a naval action, that is, at moving targets. To this effect,
the dispatch boat Epervier tows a rectangular float about two meters
in length, upon which are arranged two canvas balloons kept taut by a
wooden framework. One of these balloons is white and the other is
black. Each is a meter in diameter, and is supported by a rod which is
usually a meter in height. The vessels of the squadron successively
fire their large guns at this target, which moves at a definite
velocity. The shell, on dropping into the water, raises an immense
jet, which entirely hides the balloons when the projectile falls in a
line with and sufficiently near the target.
The smoke that envelops the ships, the thunder that echoes in the calm
of the sea, and the jet that rises in the air produce a thrilling
effect and give an idea of the power of man carried to the last
expression.--_L'Illustration._
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