sented a front: of three armour-plates, one made by Messrs, Brown, of Sheffield, 

 another by the Thames Iron Works, and the third ; by Messrs. Bcalo. 



The guns used against this target wore the 12-ton- Armstrong muzzle-loading gun, 

 throwing spherical 150-lb. cast-iron, and 162-lb. wrought-iron shot, with 50-lb. charges 

 of .powder, the former having an initial velocity of 1,750 feet, and the latter of about 

 1,700 foot per second; and a service 68-pounder throwing 67-lb. cast-, and 71-lb. 

 wrought-iron shot, with 16 lbs.-of powder; the cast shot having an initial velocity 

 of 1,580 feet, the wrought-iron about 1,530 feet per second; all at 200 yards' range. 

 The first 150-lb. cast shot struck the Thames Iron Company's plate, and mado a 

 hole about a foot square through the armour, and bedded itself deep in the teak. The 

 plate was buckled considerably, several bolts were started, two ribs cracked, the skin 

 much bulged in, four bolts were broken, and a number of rivets. 



The second 150-lb. shot struck the Sheffield plate, made a hole 13 inches by 12 

 inches in the armour, and sent pieces of the armour-plate, shot, and teak, through a 

 large irregular hole in the skin, the armour-plate was buckled, three bolts "broken, 

 and other damage done. The third 160-lb. shot struck Messrs. Beale's plate, and did 

 similar injury. These were the more important of the trials made upon this armour, 

 proving twtt the powers of resistance in the ' Minotaur ' were inferior to those of the 

 ' Warrior.' 



The 'Lord Warden' Target. 



The target, 20 feet by 9 inches, represented the ordinary construction of ft wooden 

 ship, armour-plated, with the addition of a thick iron skin worked outside of the frame- 

 timbers of the ship. The following were the scantlings; frame-timbers moulded 

 12J inches ; iron diagonal riders connecting the frame-timbers, 6 inches by l inches: 

 inner planking 8 inches thick ; iron skin, H inches thick ; outside planking 8 inches 

 thick ; rolled armour plates 20 feet x 4 feet 6 inches x 4'6 inches manufactured by the 

 Millwall Company. The guns used were as follows (see Table, p. 247): 



Weight 



Tons cwt. qra. Ibs. 



One 68-pounder smooth-bore muzzle-loading gun . 95 



One 9'22 inches' muzzle-loading rifle gun 11 feet long, 6 



grooves . . . . G 11 j 2 11 



One, 9'22-inch muzzle-loading rifled gun 13 feet 3 inches long, 



6 grooves . ..'.',' 12 22 



OnelO'5-inch muzzle-loading rifle gun 11 feet 7 inches long, 



10 grooves . ... . . . . . 11 15 2 



One 7-inch muzzle-loading rifled gun, 10 feet 9 inches long, 



6 grooves . 6 13 3 



Some experiments were niade to test the resistance of some rolled armour-plates 

 made by Messrs. John Brown and Co., Sheffield. 

 Th6 plates were of the following dimensions : 



One- 13 feet 4| inches, by 3 feet 7 inches, and 5 \ inches thick. 

 One 12 2J 8 7* 6J- 

 ; One 11 9 ,,8 8i 7$ 



They were secured by 2 .J -in. screw-bolts to the skin and frame of Mr. Samuda's 

 old target ; one-half of each plate had a backing of from 7 inches to 9 inches of teak, 

 and at.tno .back of the other half, it was Ieft7hollow for a;n equal interval between the 

 plates and the skin. India-rubber washers were used under the nuts. 



The guns in position for trial were : 



One 300-pounder Armstrong muzzle-loading. shunt gun. 



One 9-inch Lynall Thomas gun. 



One 7-inch Whitworth rifle gun. 



One 110-pounder Armstrong breech-loader. 



Ono 68-poander service 9.5-cwt. gun. 



AH were fired at a range of 200 yards. 



The first throe shots (all cast-iron) were fired from the 68-pounder ; one shot struck 

 each plate and made indents 1$ inches deep in the 6J-inchand 7^-inch plates, and 2 

 inches deep in the 5J-inch plate. 



effort, visit/lei 



