256 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
REPORT 
OF 
AN EXPERIMENT CARRIED ON BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON IRON, AT 
SHOEBURYNESS, 17th MARCH, 1863, TO TEST THREE ROLLED ARMOUR 
PLATES, SUPPLIED BY Messes JOHN BROWN AND CO., OF SHEFFIELD. 
[CONTRIBUTED BY CAPTAIN E. J. BRUCE, R.A.] 
The plates were of the following dimensions and weights:— 
cwt. qrs. lbs. 
No. 1.—13' 4" x 3'6-75" x 5-5" . 93 1 6 
2. —12' 2*75 // x3 / 7‘75 // x6‘5 // . 103 2 0 
3. —11' 9*25" x 3' 8*75" x 7*5" . 116 2 10 
They were secured by 2 , 5 // conical-headed bolts, with double nuts, to the 
frame of Mr Samuda's target (2 , 5 // thick) and were backed by timber for one- 
half their length; the 5'5" plate by 9", the 6 A" plate by 8", and the 7’5" plate 
by 1", so that the front of the target presented a plane surface; india-rubber 
washers were placed under the bolt-heads. 
The plates were divided into compartments by seven vertical lines, 
numbered from 1 to 7, and by three horizontal lines; the backed portion of 
the plates extended from 1 to 4, and the unbacked portion from 4 to 7. 
The guns used in the experiment were:— 
One 300-pr. Armstrong muzzle-loading shunt gun. 
One Lynall Thomas’s 9-in. gun. 
One Whitworth 130-pr. muzzle loading rifled gun. 
One 110-pr. Armstrong breech-loading rifled gun. 
One 68-pr. smooth-bore 95 cwt. gun. 
Number of round. | 
| Photographic No. j 
Nature of ordnance. 
Projectile. 
Bursting charge of 
shells. 
Charge in lbs. 
| Elevation. j 
Range in yds. j 
Deflection. 
Effects. 
Remaining velocity. 
Remarks. 
Nature. 
Weight. 
Form. 
Length. 
Depth of indent 
in inches. 
Diameter of 
indent in inches. 
lbs.oz 
in. 
lbs. oz. 
' 
/ 
1 
542 
68 -pr. 
Cast- 
65 14 
Sphe¬ 
16 
23 
200 
nil. 
2 * 
9*7 
Struck the 5’5" plate 9" to the 
iron 
rical. 
x 9 
right of 3 vertical and 11" 
solid 
below 2 horizontal; the plate 
shot. 
driven in at the bottom 
in a length of 2'. 
2 
543 
)} 
,, 
1*6 
9-5 
Struck the 7 - 5" plate 3" to the 
x 9 
left of 5 vertical and 8" below 
2 horizontal. 
3 
544 
}) 
)} 
« 
9-7 
Struck the 6’5" plate 6" to the 
X 
left of 4 vertical and 3" below 
9-5 
2 horizontal. At the back, 
after these three roum 
Is, 
one 
rivet-head off the top right of target, and the lead 
and india-rubber wash! 
3 rs of two through-bolts squeezed up. 
