178 
BURSTING OP HEAVY GUNS. 
wounded, lived. 2 men were killed and 35 wounded on the battery 
deck. The gun had been loaded by the Elswick hydraulic machinery, 
and wads had been employed. 
A Committee, of which Admiral Luard was President, took evidence 
as to the cause of this accident, and eventually came unanimously to 
the following conclusion :—That in the electric broadside the gun had 
missed fire, and had been run back by the hydraulic gear and loaded 
with charge and common shell on the top of the charge and Palliser 
shot already in the bore; that the absence of recoil when the gun 
missed fire escaped notice, the gun being at once run fully back by 
the hydraulic gear; while the action of the telescopic rammer inside 
the bore of the gun was not of such a character as to betray the 
presence of the second charge and shot. 
The most important evidence given on the subject was that of 
Captain Andrew Noble. He considered that the following circum¬ 
stances pointed to the conclusion adopted by the Committee :— 
1st. The evidence of great pressure, exhibited by the expansion of the 
bore near the point of rupture; and the marks of violence to be seen 
on the hydraulic gear, which show that a recoil of an extraordinary 
kind took place. 
2nd. The position of the fracture , which accorded with what he 
should expect from the explosion of two charges under the conditions 
arising from double loading. 
3rd. Certain indications in the bore—namely, the marks of abra¬ 
sion of shot made after the displacement of the steel tube fragments, while 
no marks of jamming or seizure are to be found in the parts of the 
barrel recovered. 
Captain Noble further suggested the special examination of the 
recovered studs. These being examined in the Koyal Laboratory, one 
was pronounced unquestionably to be that of a Palliser projectile : the 
marks indicating the nature of the studs are such as can be perceived 
by anyone with the help of a magnifying glass. 
With regard to other hypotheses. Captain Noble argued from indi¬ 
cations of the fractured tube that it had given way all at once, not 
gradually. For example, the fact that the parts of the tube between 
the cracks were much extended pointed to this conclusion. He did 
not think it possible that the shot had been checked by a wad 
wedging; wooden wedge wads have long been in use, and have never 
been known to have this effect. 
Captain Noble sent in a diagram showing the pressures on different 
parts of the bore with charges of 85, 110, and 200 lbs. of powder. 
He calculated that the gun at the point of rupture was capable of 
withstanding a pressure of 17*4 tons on the square inch. If the steel 
tube were ruptured, it would still bear 7*8 tons, and the two outside 
coils at the overlap—that is supposing the gas got so far—would even 
then bear 4*3 tons. It is possible that these calculated resistances 
might not represent the strength of the individual gun within 
50 per cent., but the gun would have at least the above strength. 
