THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMOUR. 
551 
September 10th, 1896, some Johnson capped 
shot were fired at a similarTplate 10’inch thick. 
The first weighing 100 lbs. struck with a 
velocity of 2,100 f.s., penetrating 8 inches and 
breaking off (see No. 2 point of impact in 
Fig. 27). The second weighing 105.25 lbs., 
striking with a velocity of 2,505 f.s. passed 
through the plate, 12 inches of oak and three 
^ in. plates and buried itself 8 feet in the 
sand behind. (See point of impact 3). The 
upper point of impact No. 1 shows the head of 
an 8-in. Holtzer (presumably without a cap) 
weighing 250 lbs., which struck with a velocity 
of 1,800 f.s. The calculated perforation of the 
second Johnson shot is 19*9 in. of iron. The 
behaviour of this shot is phenomenal. The cap 
is soft steel, its shape is shown on an unfired 
shot, Fig. 28 and the recovered shot last 
mentioned is shown next it. 
Remarkable as is the performance of the 
Johnson shot, it is impossible to measure its 
powers, since there appears to be no record 
of its behaviour in strict comparison with 
other projectiles. It seems to have been in- 
Fig, 26, variably fired with a cap and other projectiles 
when fired on the same occasion have not had caps. It is also to be 
noticed that for the 6-in. gun A.P. shells are much more important 
projectiles than shot, seeing that these guns are not required for belt 
attack, but for lighter structural parts of ships which happen 
generally to be within the power of 6-in. A.P. shells. 
The principal makers of armour-piercing projectiles for the British Firth ■hot- 
service in recent years in England are Elswick, Firth, Hadfield 
and the Royal Laboratory. Of these Elswick and Firth for some 
time used the Firminy process. Latterly Messrs. Firth have con¬ 
siderably modified their process of manufacture to meet the require¬ 
ments of hard-faced armour. Messrs. Hadfield have shown marked Hadfield 
ingenuity and enterprize in the development of original English shot * 
processes. 
In 1896 Sir W. Armstrong & Co., secured the Wheeler Sterling Elswick 
patent and have made some excellent projectiles by it. The great P r °j ectile8 * 
Engineer strike of 1897 caused some delay in the development of the 
manufacture. 
Previous to that, a shell with a capacity of 4*2 lbs. of powder fired 
in comparison with a Holtzer shot, was reported as doing quite as well 
as the latter by an officer who was not acquainted with the fact of the 
former being a shell. The great importance of armour-piercing shells 
of this calibre has been already pointed out. 
The following notes with regard to the acceptance of projectiles in 
the United States deserves notice :— 
