RUSSIAN ORDNANCE. 



625 



trial of an 11-inch Krupp's cast-steel breech- 

 loading gun, fired against the Hercules's shield 

 last August at the Wolkow Artillery-ground, 

 near St. Petersburg. Up to the year 1868, the 

 regulation calibres of the breech-loading guns 

 for coast defence were 8-inch and 9-inch. 



Trials made in Russia, and the comparative 

 trial with guns of large calibre in Prussia, 

 agreed in demonstrating that the 8-inch coast 

 gun acts with great effect on ships with 4|~ 

 inch armor plating, even at distances of 1,866 

 yards, and that at the same distance the 9-inch 

 gun can do very serious damage to ships with 

 6-inch armor-plating. At a distance of 700 

 yards the 9-inch gun pierces an armored shield 

 with 8-inch plates. For success in attacking 

 ships with 8-inch or 9-inch plates at great dis- 

 tances, or ships with still thicker plates, even at 

 short distances, the 9-inch gun is not of suffi- 

 cient power. Having regard to this, we have 

 included the 11 -inch gun in the regulation cali- 

 bres for coast defence. 



The first trial-gun of this calibre, made of 

 cast steel and strengthened with hoops, was 

 manufactured for the Government at Krupp's 

 factory. This gun differed somewhat in its 

 measurements from the design to which the 

 new 11-inch guns are made. This difference, 

 which arose from the gun having been origi- 

 nally intended for a muzzle-loader, consisted 

 principally in the length of the bore, being 27 

 inches shorter than the length of the bore of 

 the 11-inch gun, according to the design finally 

 adopted. In consequence of this, the initial 

 velocity of projectiles fired with battering 

 charges from the trial-gun would necessarily 

 be about 50 feet less than from the new guns. 

 The trial-gun had been submitted last year at 

 Krupp's factory to a trial of endurance, had 

 fired 400 rounds with battering charges, and 

 had then been removed to the Wolkow Artil- 

 lery-ground, near St. Petersburg, to ascertain 

 its destructive effect against armored shields 

 of very great strength. 



The experimental firing took place in the 

 month of August of the year 1869, against a 

 shield representing a portion of the broadside 

 of the iron-clad English ship Hercules. This 

 shield was built up in the following manner : 

 Three wrought-iron plates, each 16 feet long, 

 3 feet 8 inches broad, the two lower 9 inches, 

 the upper one 6 inches thick, were fastened by 

 bolts with countersunk heads to a backing con- 

 sisting of horizontal teak balks 12 inches 

 thick, between which, through their whole 

 thickness, seven 1-inch strips of iron plate 

 were inserted, strengthened with angle-iron. 



Immediately behind the teak balks were two 

 wrought-iron plates, one behind the other, 

 each 1 inch thick. Behind these came a row 

 of vertical oak balks, 9 inches thick, between 

 which, through the whole breadth, were in- 

 serted nine 1-inch strips of iron plate, strength- 

 ened with angle-iron. The whole rested against 

 two rows of horizontal oak balks, the front row 

 being 6 inches thick, and the hinder 9 inches. 

 VOL. ix. 40. A 



Behind the latter was fastened a 1-inch 

 wrought-iron plate. The whole thickness of 

 the backing was therefore 39 inches ; the whole 

 thickness of the part of the shield with 9-inch 

 plate, 48 inches ; and the whole thickness of 

 the part of the shield with 6-inch plate, 45 

 inches. The whole length of the shield was 

 16 feet, its height 11 feet. At the back of the 

 shield five wrought-iron 1-inch stays were 

 riveted on, and rested on 14-inch timbers, 

 which were connected together, and formed a 

 frame to support the' shield. All three plates 

 were made at the Millwall "Works, London. 

 The Hercules's shield is one of the very strong- 

 est armored shields designed up to the present 

 time. 



In June and December, 1865, at Shoebury- 

 ness, gunnery experiments with the Armstrong 

 300-pounder (10.5-inch) and 600-pounder (12- 

 inch and 13-inch) were made against a similar 

 shield. The solid steel projectiles, fired from 

 the 300-pounder, with 50 lb., 60 lb., and 66 

 Ib. of powder, did not pierce the shield, even 

 at the shortest distances. The 600 lb. solid 

 steel projectiles, fired with a charge of 100 lb., 

 at a distance of 700 yards, with an initial 

 velocity of 1,420 feet per second, went through 

 the plate, and remained in the wood backing, 

 when they struck undamaged portions of the 

 shield ; on the other hand, when they struck 

 places in the shield which were already weak- 

 ened by previous rounds, they went right 

 through the target. From the results of the 

 trials at Shoeburyness, it appeared that the 

 Hercules's shield is of very great resisting 

 power, and that the capabilities of the 600- 

 pounder Armstrong gun against it, even at 

 small distances, were insufficient. 



The firing performed here, from the 11-inch 

 cast-steel breech-loading gun, took place at a 

 distance of 466.6 yards with cast-steel shells, 

 with thin lead jackets, which were made at 

 Krupp's works, and brought up to the weight 

 of 550 lb. by filling the hollow with sand and 

 filings. Five rounds were fired from the gun, 

 one with battering charge, i. e., with 91.5 lb. 

 of prismatic powder, and four with diminished 

 charges, for the purpose of determining their de- 

 structive effect upon the target at different dis- 

 tances, without rendering it necessary to move 

 the heavy guns to other distances. To this end 

 two rounds were fired with a charge of 85.5 

 lb. of prismatic powder, and two rounds with 

 72 lb. of the same powder. With the charge 

 of 85.5 lb. the trial-gun produces the same 

 effect at 466.6 yards as with the battering 

 charge at 746.6 yards, and as the new 11-rach 

 guns with battering charges at a distance of 

 1,108.3 yards. "With a 72-lb. charge the effect 

 of the trial-gun is the same at 466 yards as at 

 a distance of 1,610 yards with the battering 

 charge, and the same as that of the new 11- 

 inch gun at a distance of 1,960 yards. The 

 effect of the 11-inch trial-gun with battering 

 charge at 466.6 yards is the same as that of the 

 new 11-inch gun at_842 yards. 



