48 British Artillery Matériel. [January, 
g-inch guns and upwards when mounted in open batteries 
and en barbette. 
XI. The 400-lb. shell, common to-inch, when fired from 
the 18-ton gun, has been found sufficiently strong to pene- 
trate the sides of wooden unarmoured ships without breaking 
up; but with regard to the 7-inch projectile from the 
go-cwt. gun, the Committee come to the following con- 
clusions :— 
1. That the present experiment affords no trustworthy 
evidence of the relative destructive effect which would 
probably be produced by common shell after passing through 
the side of wooden and iron unarmoured vessels. It is 
worthy of note that after passing through the side of the 
wooden target, a shell, if it does not break up or explode at 
once, is liable to turn sideways. Under such circumstances 
the projectile would probably lodge, and might act as a mine 
in the opposite side. Exact information on this point 
cannot well be obtained without firing at a decked structure, 
or an actual vessel. 
2. So far as destructive effect is concerned, the Committee 
are unable to form any trustworthy estimate of the com- ~ 
parative value of any of the projectiles fired. 
The special 7-inch projectile has the advantage of an in- 
creased bursting charge, but this appears to entail a loss of 
strength in the shell, and, looking to the inconvenience 
of adopting a new pattern, the Committee, on the whole, 
prefer the service shell, weighing filled 115 lbs. 
3. The distance at which common shell break up or 
explode after passing through the side of a vessel, either of 
wood or of iron, depends in a great measure on the nature 
of the resistance met with. If the shell hits on a knee, 
a rib, or a diagonal iron brace, it almost invariably breaks 
up or explodes in passing through the side; if, on the other 
hand, it passes fair between two ribs in a place where the 
resistance is confined to the wood planking or iron plating, 
it may not break up or explode until it has passed from 6 to 
to feet from the side. 
Complete information on these points cannot, however, be 
obtained without practice at an actual ship. 
4. That the projectiles fired from both guns were liable to 
break up (without bursting) in passing through either of the 
targets. The shells appeared to break up whether they 
were filled with sand or with gunpowder ; in the latter case 
the bursting charge in several instances merely fired. The 
full effect of the explosion did not appear to be realised 
unless the shell struck on a part of the target where, owing 
