HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 



503 



this shell is adapted; hence Maximite has shown itself capable of with- 

 standing the shock of penetration of armor plate as thick as the 

 armor-piercing shel] itselHwil] stand, and furthermore, in the maximum 

 quantity which the largest shells are capable of carrying. 



In the 12-ineh shell for piercing si ill thicker armor, the charge 

 space is considerably smaller and the length of column of explosive 

 very much shorter, so that, although the shock upon the projectile 

 would be greater, si ill the shock upon the explosive would not be any 

 more severe than that exerted upon the Maximite in the above test. 



The write! - has developed a fuse which will carry 100 grains, or 

 even more, of a fulminate of mercury compound, together with more 

 than 2,000 grains id' a picrate, through the thickest armor plate, with- 

 out going oil' prematurely, and which will act promptly to explode the 

 bursting charge of Maximite immediately it ejets through the plate. 



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, : 



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»:■- ? r~ ~ ~ ' ' '^-^ ■ •-" 



Figs. 7 ANn 8. 



A section of the common 12 -inch seacoast rifle, and a section of torpedo gun 

 proposed by the writer in a lecture before the Royal United Service Institution of 

 Great Britain, June, 1897. 



The problem of successfully throwing high explosives from pow- 

 der guns mav be said to be already solved. Not only this, but the far 

 more difficult problem has been solved, of successfully firing high ex- 

 plosives through armor plate to explode inside of a war vessel. 



An equally important feature of the problem has also been met, 

 and that is the safety in storage of high explosives in quantity, es- 

 pecially in the magazines of a battleship. The refractory character of 

 Maximite is such that it is rendered absolutely safe under such cir- 

 cumstances. Furthermore, it is so insensitive thai projectiles tilled 

 with it could not be exploded by other projectiles striking ttjiem and 

 exploding among them. 



In a recent test by the Government, three 3-inch shells were filled 

 with Maximite and armed with a point fuse filled with fifty grains 

 of fulminate of mercury, and the fuses tired by electricity. As a 

 result, the forward ends only of the shells were blown oil' by the fuse, 

 leaving the whole rear portions of the shells unbroken, and tilled with 

 nnexploded Maximite. The fragments of the forward ends, which were 



