Note 28 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
No operation with this gun requires more care. There is a weight of 20,000 lbs. moving on friction Rollers along a metal plate, down an inclined plane—if once permitted to get loose and to be propelled by the motion of the ship, the momentum is immense, and must disable some of the apparatus, perhaps the Gun-Carriage itself. On such an occasion the preventer breeching is invaluable, and will be the best safeguard, if fitted so that when well stretched it will not permit the fore trucks to ascend on the curve of the Fore-hurter, for it is this which strains the strap of the Compressor.
Permitting the gun to go out with much force also displaces the shell, whether a grommet-wad be used or not.