m 
Mimrm oe* psdREMims of 
armour than any officer in the country, told the Special Committee on Iron, 
on the 1st February 1861, that no hollow projectile discharged from any of 
the ordnance then under trial, would penetrate a good rolled 4J" iron plate 
at 200 yds. range ; and when asked if he thought “ at closer quarters than 
that, a hollow projectile could be made to penetrate a rolled iron plate,” he 
answered, “ not if 4/' or thick.” 
It will, therefore, at once be seen what enormous strides have been 
made in the power of attack since that date; more especially when we 
remember that the quality of the armour plates now manufactured is 
immeasurably superior to what it was in 1861, whereby the power of 
resistance of a given weight of iron has been by so much increased. 
The details I have given of the steel shell experiments show that a 
t( Warrior ” (one of the best arrangements of material for resistance to shot 
which has yet been tested) can be penetrated with ease at 2000 yds., and 
that an ordinary wooden frigate, protected with even 51" of iron, can also 
be penetrated with ease at 200 yds. 
There is, however, one thing which is essential to enable these results to 
be obtained, and unfortunately this one thing we are still in want of, viz. 
heavy rifled guns. Sir W, Armstrong in his evidence before the House of 
Commons’ Committee on Ordnance in 1863, in replying to question 3167 
stated,— 
“ I do not see how you can produce with steel round shot an effect comparable 
to the effect which can be obtained with cylindrical rifled shot. With respect to 
employing steel spherical shell, capable of penetrating iron plates, I consider it out 
of the question. It is only by means of the elongated form of the projectile that 
we can construct a steel shell capable of piercing an iron plate, and it is due to the 
principle of rifling that the elongated form can be adopted.” 
The Special Committee on Iron, after an experience of four years, have 
recorded their opinion,— 
“That by far the most damaging projectiles for use against armour plated 
vessels are steel shells.” 
And from Sir W. Armstrong’s evidence it appears that these shells must be 
of an elongated form, and therefore, until we possess a supply of rifled guns, 
we cannot make use of this “ most damaging projectile.” 
I will only add that in speaking of heavy rifled guns, I do not refer to 
600-prs. For all ordinary purposes, experiments tend to show that a 
gun of about 12 tons, capable of firing a shot of about 200 lbs. weight, with 
a charge of 45 lbs., is quite powerful enough to give a good account of any 
iron clad vessel which is ever likely to be brought against-us. 
A good supply of such guns for our coasts and ships, with a large pro¬ 
vision of chilled cast-iron shot and steel shells, is what we now urgently 
require, and when we remember the large number of guns requisite for 
these purposes, and that we have at the present moment very few rifled guns 
larger than the 7" Armstrong breech-loader, which is useless against iron¬ 
clads, it must be evident that the manufacture of heavy guns, which has 
now been taken in hand, is no small undertaking. 
