HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 



499 



usual broken appearance, but arc much distorted by the violence of 

 the explosion. 



A live-inch armor-piercing projectile was next filled with Maximite 

 and fired through an armor plate, as above described, the projectile 

 being afterwards recovered intact. It was found that the shock had in 

 no way affected the explosive. The shell was then armed with a fuse 

 and fired by electricity. The number and character of the fragments 

 showed that the same force was developed in proportion to the weight 

 of the shell, as in the case of the large 12-inch shell above mentioned, 

 which was exploded in the sand. The five-inch shell is shown in 

 Fig. 2. The fragments recovered after the explosion are shown on the 

 right of the shell. 



The next test was with projectiles filled with Maximite fired against 



Fig. 2. 

 Five-inch forged steel armor-piercing projectile, weight 45 lbs., before and 

 after exploding the Maximite. This shell, after filling with the explosive, was 

 first fired through a four-inch nickel steel plate into a sand butt, where it was 

 recovered intact. It was then exploded for fragmentation. There are a little 

 over 800 pieces of the shell shown in the photograph, the average weight of the 

 pieces being, therefore, about one ounce. 



a concrete wall, with results which demonstrate that the power of 

 the explosion was superior to that of any other high explosive ever 

 thrown from a gun. 



Projectiles loaded with. Maximite were then fired through a wooden 

 screen, after passing which they exploded, and the fragments went into 

 the sea. The fragmentation was such that the appearance of the 

 water was similar to that which would be produced by the simultaneous 

 fire of a regiment of musketry. On this occasion, a result was produced 

 hitherto unknown, and which, perhaps, illustrated the violence of the 



