514 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMOUR. 
Witkowitz 
homogene¬ 
ous steel 
armour. 
armour to compare with thick plates made in England and Germany 
on the Krupp process. The latter are certainly test plates, not plates 
taken on supply, but making all allowance for this, the advance in 
resisting power is very great. 
Attention was called by an article in the Mittheilungen aus dem 
Gebiete des Seewesens , No. II., 1897, to the behaviour of a Witkowitz 
homogeneous steel plate, and also Harveyed Witkowitz armour. The 
principal interest attaches to the former because a Witkowitz plate of 
this nature was preferred to all others with hardened faces in a com- 
petion at Pola in 1893, and but little has been published showing the 
development and powers of this special make of armour. Two plates 
were attacked, one Harveyed and one of homogeneous nickel steel, in 
September, 1896. The early date detracts from the value of the trial, 
but the advocacy of the armour as compared with that of Krupp’s on 
the strength of it, is comparatively recent, and it is tbe best compari¬ 
son of the best homogeneous armour available at the present time, so 
that a few words on it seem to be desirable. The harveyed plate 
No. 6,402, was, 6*07 ft. x 4*84 ft. x 8‘66-in., and probably weighed 
4*66 tons. The attack is shown in the following table : — 
Attack ot Plate No. 6,402. 
g 
P3 
o 
o 
Weight of 
Projectile in 
Striking 
Velocity in 
Striking Energy 
in Foot-Tons. 
Energy per Ton of 
Plate in Foot-Tons. 
Perforation through 
Iron by Tresidder 
Formula in Inches. 
Relation of Calcu¬ 
lated Perforation 
to thickness of 
Plate. 
Depth of Indent 
in Inches. 
Kg. 
Lb. 
Metre- 
Seconds. 
Foot- 
Seconds. 
I. 
45-6 
100-5 
602-3 
1976 
2720 
611-6 
13.8 
1-59 
3-6 
II. 
45-7 
100-8 
639-4 
2048 
3075 
660-3 
14-4 
1-66 
3-9 
III. 
45-5 
100-3 
673-15 
2208 
3388 
727-4 
16-2 
1-87 
2-0 
This attack was de¬ 
feated with some face 
scaling but slight bul¬ 
ges and no cracks (see 
Fig 20). 
The homogeneous 
steel plate No., 6,559, 
measured 5‘64 ft. x 
5*64 ft. x 8*66 in., 
and probably weighed 
about 5 tons. 
Its attack is shown 
in the following 
table;— 
Fig. 20. 
