509 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMOUR 
DURING THE YEARS 1893-98. 
BY 
CAPTAIN C. ORDE BROWNE, late R.A. 
Continued, from No. 9, page 483 . 
During May and June, 1890, the United States Naval Department 
fired at a target resembling as far as possible the Massachusetts Masscahu- 
turret 10 ft. 10J in. in height inside, and 27 ft. 3 in. inside diameter. 
The structure carried one Harveyed nickel plate 15 iu. thick and ten 1896. 
15 in. cast iron plates. The weight of the guns and mounts was repre¬ 
sented by pig iron. The whole weighed 450 tons. The following 
rounds were fired :— 
PROJECTILE. 
Striking 
Energy 
s' -- ^ 
Striking Energy 
Round. 
Velocity. 
Foot-Tons. 
per Ton of 
• Nature. 
Weight in lbs. 
Foot-Seconds. 
Turret. 
I. 
( Wheeler Sterling ") 
f 10-inch. ) 
500 
1683 
9,829 
21-84 
II. 
( Wheeler Sterling ) 
f 12-inch. ) 
850 
1701 
17,069 
37-95 
III. 
(Johnson Capped I 
i 12-inch. ) 
850 
2000 
23,626 
52-5 
The first two shots broke with penetrations of 9J and 11J inches 
respectively. The third perforated but broke up, wrecking the rear 
part of the turret which, however was not deformed. The turret moved 
9J in. on the rollers, but these were not flanged as on board ship, so 
it is thought that an actual turret on board ship would have held its 
ground. 
It has been seen at Shoeburyness and other trial grounds that hard 
faced steel and even compound shields spring in the ground much 
more than those of wrought iron. This matter is therefore important, 
and as the subject for investigation was the movement of the turret, 1 
it is to be regretted that in so costly an experiment, the slight addi¬ 
tional expense of using flanged wheels should have been spared, seeing 
that this would have afforded certainty in place of conjecture however 
1 It is interesting to compare this with the Glatton Turret trial in which the wall bent under 
the blow of a 12-inch shot. 
10. YOL. XXY. 
44 
