THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
83 
The battery was placed at 200 yds. from the casemates, but the charges 
were reduced so as to represent the striking velocity at 600 and 1000 yds. 
range with full service charges. 
Eighty-seven shots were fired at and hit the structure; of these, 65 (16 
being in four salvoes of four guns each) hit the granite, and 22 (all in single 
shots) hit the iron; i.e . one shot for about every 8 ft. of granite fired at; 
one shot for about every 5 ft. of iron; and one shot for about every 7*3 ft. 
over the whole. 
Of the 65 shots at the granite, 12 shots (8 of them being in two salvoes 
of four guns each) were fired at the arch over the large shield, 10 were fired 
at the arch over the small shield, 11 at the pier on right of large shield, 10 
at the pier on left of small shield, and 21 (8 of which were in two salvoes of 
four guns each) at the space between the two shields. 
After 87 blows, including the 22 upon the iron, the face of the work was 
destroyed. 
/ 
It does not appear , from experiment, that granite should not be used in face 
of casemates . 
14. It is assumed by some that the result of this experiment shows 
that granite should not be used in those parts of a casemated work which 
would be exposed to fire. It is submitted, however, that this view is 
fallacious* The most important point to be taken into consideration in 
order to form a just conclusion on the subject is, what portion of the amount 
of fire which destroyed the fronts of the two experimental casemates would 
have taken effect upon them, supposing them to form part of a fort attacked 
by a naval squadron ? 
It should be observed that the conditions under which the experimental 
casemates were fired at Were very different from those which would exist in 
the case of a naval attack upon a fort. Although in the experiment the 
charges were reduced to represent ranges of 600 or 1000 yds. thfe actual 
range and the measure of accuracy was 200 yds. The casemates were, 
moreover, fired at leisurely from a land battery with a perfectly steady plat¬ 
form ; every shot was aimed, sometimes four shots together were directed, at 
a particular spot with the most perfect accuracy, and the fire of the guns 
u r as not returned by artillery from the fort. The fire from a ship, more 
especially during action and in a cloud of smoke, cannot of course be directed 
with that precision which can be obtained from a land battery. There will, 
consequently, be a great chance against several successive shots from ships 
striking the same spot in the fort; moreover, the fire of the ship is, with the 
ship itself, liable to be disposed of by a few, perhaps one or two, w^ell- 
directed shots from the fixed and steady platform of the fort, and it is, 
therefore, improbable that vessels could remain in action long enough to do 
any effectual damage to it. It must further be borne in mind that usually 
the fort would consist of a series of casemates mounting 20, 30, 40, 50, or 
more guns, and that there would be more than one fort bearing upon the 
attacking ships * 
