1908-10-23 THE TRIALS OF THE RURIK

London Times, 23 October 1908, p. 7: THE TRIALS OF THE RURIK. OFFICIAL REPORT. (From our own correspondent.) St. Petersburg, Oct. 22. The official report of the Rurik’s gunnery trials has been communicated to me. The committee under Admiral Wirenius singled out for trial the bow 10in. and the starboard bow 8in. turrets, which the trials in England had shown to be weaker than the remaining four turrets. The guns in each of the two turrets were fired simultaneously with Russian black powder, the charges being heavy enough to produce a muzzle velocity of 3,550f.s., whereas the cordite charges used in England yield 2,750f.s. Ten rounds were fired from the guns in the 10in. turret and 22 rounds from the 8in. turret guns. The permanent set of the former was found to be two millimètres, in the latter 1½ millimètre. The technical committee had previously fixed the limit of the permanent set at one millimètre, which is about 30 times more severe than the usual demands in other navies. This and the other conditions of the trial, as mentioned above, made the test exceptionally severe.

The conclusions of the report are as follows:–

1. The strengthening of the hull under the turrets is now secured.

2. The strengthening of the ring bolt heads in the lower ring platform on the level of the main deck appeared to be not sufficiently carefully made and to be weak in construction, which is shown particularly in the 8in. turret.

3. The permanent sets of the bolt head rings clearly showed insufficient stiffness, as they were continually being elongated, received permanent sets, and vibrated considerably.

4. The system of fastening the roller paths without stops was unsatisfactory because the bolts during the firing became unscrewed in large quantities (sic), notwithstanding that they had been jammed after the firing trials in England.

I am informed that the expression “large quantities” really refers to two bolts.

The representatives of the Vickers firm have decided to send engineers and workmen to strengthen the roller paths of all the turrets, and to increase the number and strength of the bolts. The work is to be carried out at Kronstadt and will require a few weeks.