NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



691 



off in fragments ; and though they battered the 

 plates and heated them in parts almost red hot, 

 yet none of them passed through, nor, until the 

 final salvo of 6 100-lb. balls, fired with 16 Ibs. 

 of powder each, and aimed on a single spot to 

 one side, did they even fracture the outer plat- 

 ing: the effect of this last fire, however, was 

 to make a gap in the outer plate 15 inches long 

 and its whole depth, loosening some of the bolts, 

 but not really disturbing the backing or inner 

 plate. The conclusion for the time was, that 

 the Warrior style of armor was practically in- 

 vulnerable to the ordnance at the time in use. 

 But during the whole course of the experi- 

 ments at Shoeburyness, it was observed that 

 the smooth-bore 68-pdrs., fired with more pow- 

 der, left their mark in deeper dints in the plate 

 than did the Armstrong rifled 110-pdrs. a 

 fact the cause of which has been shown in the 

 section on the Potter of Projectiles. This led 

 to or strengthened a conviction in the minds of 

 those interested in the making of ordnance, 

 that large wronght-iron guns, strong enough 

 to bear heavy tiring charges, would at close 

 range penetrate the armor which came so 

 triumphantly out of the previous tests. Sir 

 Wm. Armstrong accordingly had a gun fabri- 

 cated for elongated 300-lb. shot, its bore 10 

 inches and greatest diameter 38 inches, and 

 which, not having been rifled, was fired (April 

 8, 1862) with a 156-lb. round shot and 40 Ibs. 

 of powder, against the target above described, 

 or a similar one : the first shot crushed the outer 

 plate at the point struck into "crumbs" of 

 metal, splintered and mashed the teak backing, 

 and badly sprung the inner plate ; and the 

 second, striking near, aggravated the damage 

 and its extent. The charge was then increased 

 to 50 Ibs., and the third and fourth shots each 

 went, at different points, completely through 

 the outer plate, backing, and lining, burying 

 themselves in the timbers supporting the tar- 

 get. A change of opinion in reference to the 

 practical invulnerability of the Warrior armor, 

 at least for a square hit at short range, of 

 course set in : and although for a time it was 

 urged by some that the actual damage to the 

 target had been overstated, and in spite of the 

 fact, that after some 160 discharges the Arm- 

 strong gun burst, showing that the charges 

 used were too much for the metal and con- 

 ' struction, the more decisive experiments, soon 

 afterward made, completed the overthrow of 

 the confidence previously entertained on the 

 side of armor defence. 



The experiments in firing solid shot and shell 

 upon targets were renewed in August, 1862; 

 and upon an occasion on which members of a 

 select committee of the Government on iron 

 plates and ordnance were present, the new 

 Horsfall wrought-iron smooth-bore gun, caliber 

 13 inches, weight 22 tons, and carrying a 286- 

 Ib. solid ball, as well as other pieces, was tried. 

 The standard "Warrior style of target being 

 used, range 200 yds., and charge 75 Ibs. of 

 powder, the first shot smashed through the 



entire target, striking out a huge hole more 

 than 2 ft. in diameter, cracking the surrounding 

 iron in all directions, and unfitting the t 

 for further experiments. The gun appeared to 

 be in no way strained or injured by the fire. 



In the experiments previous to this time, 

 the shells fired against armor of moderate 

 thickness had been broken; and it had been 

 held that vessels covered with 2^-inch plates 

 were shell-proof. A Whitworth rifled breecli- 

 loading 12-pounder field gun of 4-inch bore 

 was on this occasion loaded first with a flat- 

 fronted solid steel shot, and fired at 100 yds. 

 upon plates of 2 and 2^ inches: in both cases 

 the shot cut their way clear through the plates. 

 The same gun was then loaded with a flat- 

 fronted steel shell, containing 6 oz. of powder, 

 and fired Avith a charge of 30 oz. : no fuze was 

 employed, but, as expected, the concussion 

 ignited the bursting charge ; one such shell 

 passed through a 2-inch plate and 12-inch oak 

 backing, another pierced the plate and burst in 

 the backing, shattering it to pieces. A Whit- 

 worth 70-pdr. naval gun was then tried against 

 a target of 4-inch plating on 9 inches of oak, 

 attached to another frame of four inches of 

 oak, lined finally with a 2-inch iron plate, 

 the space between the two frames being 30 

 inches. A 70-lb. flat-fronted steel shell, fired 

 with 12 Ibs. of powder, at 200 yds., was driven 

 clean through the first plate and backing, 

 reached and fractured the 2-inch plate, and 

 then burst, shattering the target. Prof. Fair- 

 bairn concludes that, against such weapons as 

 those employed in these experiments, no Ameri- 

 can gun-boat [query, iron-clad vessel '.] is proof; 

 but that, with Whitworth's hardened steel 

 shells, such vessels could be destroyed at 1,500 

 -2,000 yards. It was observed in these ex- 

 periments that the Whitworth flat-fronted steel 

 projectiles cut clean holes through the outer 

 plates, without fracturing them as did the ball 

 from the Horsfall gun. It was believed by 

 those present at the trials, that the latter would 

 have gone through a plate 6 inches in thick- 

 ness. 



Sept. 25, 1862, experiments were made 

 with the same Horsfall gun, and an Arm- 

 strong 120-pdr., rifled on Whitworth's plan, 

 the range now being 800 yards for the former 

 (13-inch) gun, and 600 yards for the latter (7- 

 inch). The target was 21 feet long, 15 feet 

 high, of the Warrior pattern, already given, 

 and strengthened within by a framing of mass- 

 ive angle irons, set 18 inches apart. The 

 Horsfall gun was fired 14 tunes with solid 

 shot of 275 Ibs., and a 75-lb. charge, at 

 least two of the shot striking. One, a ricochet, 

 bounded from 40 yards in front, smashed 

 through the armor, making a great hole, shat- 

 tering the teak and fracturing the lining, but 

 not passing through ; another, striking the 

 upper corner of the target, made a huge frac- 

 ture, breaking out several great pieces from 

 the outer plate. The Whitworth rifle, with a 

 firing charge of 23 Ibs.. sent a solid hexag- 



