316 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
ACCOUNT 
OP AN 
EXPERIMENT CARRIED ON AT SHOEBURYNESS, 27th APRIL, 1863, AGAINST 
A TARGET PROPOSED BY Me CHALMERS, AND CONSTRUCTED AT THE 
MILLWALL IRONWORKS. 
[CONTRIBUTED BY CAPTAIN E. J. BRUCE, R.A.] 
The target (13' 4" long by 10'high) was composed of 3f-in. armour 
plates, backed by alternate layers of timber and iron 101" thick, placed 
horizontally and bolted together; then a second armour plate lj-in. thick,, 
with a cushion of timber 3 J-in. thick between it and the f-in. plate forming 
the skin of the ship; the iron plates used in the backing, between the 1st 
and 2nd armour plates, were §-in. in thickness and 5-in. apart from centre to 
centre. The armour plates were secured to the skin by through bolts, 2 J-in. 
diameter, having stepped conical necks, and a square thread, with double 
nuts and elastic washers. An iron plate, f-in. thick, was riveted on each 
end of the target, and a f-in. plate on the top. 
The target was supported against one of the Hawkshaw targets. 
Weight per superficial foot of Mr Chalmers’ target . 371 lbs. 
do u Warrior ” do . 341 lbs. 
The following guns were used in the experiment:— 
One 300-pr. Armstrong muzzle-loading shunt gun. 
Three 110-pr. Armstrong breech-loading rifled guns. 
Two 68-pr. smooth-bore guns. 
The following shot and shell struck the target:— 
Erom 300-pr. gun— 
Total weight in lbs. 
Steel solid shot, 1 301 
Spherical, cast-iron, 2 299 
Erom 110-pr. guns— 
Solid shot, cast-iron, 6. 662 
do do 6 (197 lbs. each). 1182 
Shell do 6. 624 
Erom 68-pr. guns— 
Solid shot, cast-iron, 3. 198 
Shell do 4. 198 
Total 3464 lbs. weight of shot 
struck the target. 
