THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
103 
ACCOUNT 
OP 
EXPERIMENT CARRIED ON AT SHOEBURYNESS, ON THE 7th JULY, 1862, TO 
DETERMINE THE RESISTING POWERS OE THE “MINOTAUR” CLASS OE 
MEN-OF-WAR. 
[CONTRIBUTED BY CAPTAIN E. J. BRUCE, R.A.] 
The target consisted of three plates. 
The top one (12' 6" x 3' 4" x 5*5") was made by Messrs John Brown 
and Co. of Sheffield. 
The centre one (9' x 3' 7" x 5*45") was made at the Thames Iron Works. 
The bottom one (12'6" x 3' 4" x 5*5") was made by Messrs Beale and Co. 
The backing consisted of 9" of teak, and the same skin as in the Warrior 
target. 
Each plate was fastened with three rows of through bolts, the upper and lower 
rows being If" diameter, and the centre row 14". A strip of iron 
thick, was placed in rear, at the junction of the plates, the upper strip being 
16" wide, and the bolts passing through it; the lower one was only 10" wide, 
and was not bolted through. The support in rear was similar to that of 
the Warrior target. 
The range was 200 yds., and the guns used were the 12-ton gun and 
68-pr. smooth-bore. 
H3 
§ 
s 
O 
o 
Nature 
of 
ordnance. 
Projectile. 
Charge in lbs. 
Elevation. I 
Deflection. 
| Indent in ins. 
Remarks. 
i 
S3 
3 
{ Weight. 
Dia¬ 
meter. 
1 
150 -pr 
cast -iron 
shot. 
lbs. 
150 
ins. 
10-35 
2A* 
50 
nil. 
nil. 
nil. 
Hit the centre plate 2' from the bottom, and 
made a hole through the plate 12-5" x 12 , 2 // , 
and about 13" deep. The plate was driven 
in 1*1" at the bottom, and 1-5" atthe top, and 
buckled forward -45" at the end by the port¬ 
hole, and 5" at the outer end. The lower 
strip at the junction of the plates also 
started *3" from the backing. Two bolts in 
the bottom row of the upper plate started 
and one in the centre row f". The top 
and bottom bolt by the port-hole of the 
centre plate started -2", and those in the 
top row of the lower plate started respec- 
