180 
BURSTING OP HEAVY GUNS. 
will be arrived at in a considerable percentage of instances (about 
20 per cent.); also that tlie marks of violence in such a case would be 
further forward than in the case of a burst from double loading. This 
he considers agrees with the marks in the first Thunderer " gun, 
which show evidence of outward pressure at from 90 to 96 ins. from 
the bottom of the bore, in front of the seat of the front charge. It is 
fair to point out that Captain Noble indicates this position. (See 
Fig. 3, p. 179). Probably most of ns have great difficulty in believing 
that the milled-board wad could so act as a wedge; also Sir W. Palliser's 
objection to the identification of the stud appears untenable, and his 
argument against the probability of the Palliser projectile breaking up 
is answered by the fact that the second projectile actually did so break. 
On the other hand, it is a little difficult at first to take the conception 
of the charge being moved bodily forward so as to exert its maximum 
effect at a point in advance of its front end. It would argue that the 
charge was set up and acted on by flash rather more slowly than we 
might have expected. Captain Noble's mastery of the subject is 
itself so evident, and his evidence so strong, that probably few of us 
fail to accept his conclusions. 
2. Thunderer" G-un Experiment. 
The turret companion of the gun which burst being exactly similar— 
that is to say, being a 38-ton gun with a 12-in. bore, taking the ammu¬ 
nition, therefore, of the 35-ton gun—was mounted in the Poyal Arsenal, 
and tested with a view to investigate the nature of the “ Thunderer" 
gun accident. 
The first series of tests was with reference to air-space. These 
proved that as the air-space between cartridge and projectile increased, 
the pressure diminished. It soon appeared a mere waste of powder to 
continue the investigation. The recoil of the gun did not decrease in 
proportion to the projectile, which, under the circumstances, was to be 
expected. When the space reached 10 ft., the pressure on the bore 
had diminished to 0*5 tons, and the recoil to 1 ft. 6 ins. With a pres¬ 
sure of 21*8 tons the recoil had only been 4 ft. 1 in. 
Wads wedging .—On January 16 (No. 15 of series), charge 85 lbs., 
and common shell 592 lbs., wad placed 5 ft. in front of shell, tilted to 
45°, wad crushed, p. 20‘7 tons on bore, v = 1409, pressure on base of 
shell 17’6 tons. 
2nd Round.—Same, but wad placed fair at 5 ft. to test splitting; 
20 and 16*5, v — 1422. 
Of course two rounds could not test the liability of an occurrence 
that was only stated to take place once in five rounds, but the 
behaviour of the wads was such that the Committee were satisfied that 
this kind of wad could not jam a shell in this gun . Sir W. Palliser's 
results with other guns and wads did not therefore concern them. 
On Tuesday, Feb f 3rd, last the experiment on double loading took 
