The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-06 00:00:00

Minotaurs,the guns we ~

`Rye now got of Sir William

Armstrong's go through all a,l'ke• Wooden ships
are relstive:y stronger aglinst 63 ‘untlera tnsu
. ,
—I 200-
are iron-clads spinet the 13'0-pounder so._
17
pounder shunt guns. We have quite resc'ned,
iE-
dies not shuvir us tht:t wu have
ictieed ,experLnco
over.pas.ned, the limit of armour weight which
such ships as the Lord 'Warden and Bellerophon
can safely carry in a heavy sea. Yet these two
vessels, which with the American ship
Dictator are the strongest and the thickest plated
known to exist, are also known to be almost as
vulnerable to the heavy guns at Shoeburyness
as wood is to the 68-pounders. Nothing could
more conclusively prove this truth than the experi-
ments of Thursday. It is needless to go through a
long recapitulation of the shots fired. These experi-
ments are of course only valuable in their results,
and when the heavy guns were used against the

French target the results were always the same.
They sent their steel shot clear through it with
more or less of ruin and devastation. It mattered
not whether the shot was 160 or a 220 pounder,
whether of steel or of chilled cast iron, on Ciptehn
Palliser's system whether the charge was a full one
to represent close action, or the powder reduced so
as to give the same velocity to the shot as would be
got with a fall charge at a range of 1,500 yards.
In every instance the projectile went clear through
6 inch or 5 inch plates, cracking and bulging the
plates of Scott Russell's target behind it, and leav-
ing the massive oak and teak of the French target
a mere ruin of splinters scattered far and wide upon
the beach, or marking by their tattered fringe
where once great beams had been. An accident
illustrated the immense superiority of this chilled
metal over the common iron castings. It was in-
tended at the conclusion of the experiments to try
a 300 pounder steel shot from the 101 inch gun, but
as it happened one of ordinary cast iron was taken
by mistake. This, though propelled with a 351 b.
charge instead of 501 b., the reduction of power only
giving the velocity which the shot would have had
at 1,500 yards range, broke up almost harmlessly
against the target, making a severe dent, but
nothing more, whereas the 250 pound chilled shot
of Captain Palliser, with the same charge went
clear through everything. The value of the new
process of casting these shot in cold iron moulds, so
as to chill and contract the outer surface into almost
the hardness of steel, still remains to be proved in
manufacturing practice. Of the increased hardness
of the shot there is no manner of doubt, but its
superiority as compared with .steel is admitted,
while it has yet to be proved that it can be made
as cheaply relatively to steel as is the difference in its
effectiveness. In every case with these chilled shot
the best Pontypool iron is we believe used, instead
of the common pig, while in some cases the shot is
over chilled, and the outer surface so contracted over
the inner mass as to at once shatter like glass on the
concussian of the first explosion in the gun, which
blows it out in ragged fragments. This a serious
military defect. Another defect of a commercial
nature is that the iron moulds are liable to crack
after some 15 or 20 shots have been cast in them,
when the value of the cost of the mould has, of
course, to be added on to the price of the shot it has
turned out. There is no reason to doubt that with
increased experience in their manufacture these
difficulties may be surmounted, and we only men-
tion them to show that such a wonderful revolution
as that of getting a metal like steel at the price of
cast iron is not likely to be accomplished offhand, if
indeed it can ever be brought about at all. Looking
at one aide of the target fired at on Thursday, the
French method of fastening the plates with screws
instead of bolts seemed absolutely perfect. But, as
with everything else, there was another side to this
picture. Screws can only be used with wooden ships
which have been plated with armour such as nearly
all the French ships are built of, and sach as, uns
fortunately, some of ours, like the Prince Consort,
Royal Sovereign, &c., are also. It is only with a
wooden frame behind the armour that a sufficient
depth of wood can be got for the screws to bite in ;
and though, undoubtedly, the screws do hold bet-
ter than our bolts in the wood, yet, on
the other hand, the wood itself yields to the pas-
sage of the shot in such terrific splinters as would
carry utter destruction through a ship's crew.
The experiments both with this French target and
with the Lord Warden a few months since have
proved incontestably the worthlessness of wooden
ships plated with armour, as compared with pine
iron structures. If it is still intended by our Ad-
miralty to coat more wooden ships with armour,
the wooden scantling must be lined with an inner
skin, if it is not wished to expose the men to more
destructive missiles, in the shape of splinters, than
any which either Sir William Armstrong or Colonel
Boxer could send among them with their segment
or Shrapneli ships. There is, however, not the
least reason why vessels built on the plan of our
first and best system of armour plating, the War-
rior, which carries 18 inches of teak under her
plates, should not have their armour fastened on
with screws on the French plan. This system is
so infinitely superior to our plan of using bolts as
literally to leave no data whatever by which the
two can be compared. The difference between the
methods may bo beat summed up by saying
that the French screws do always hold on their
plates in spite of everything that shot can do,
whereas our belts break with the first blow, and
allow the plate to buckle up at the ends, or even to
fall bodily off. Nothing that shot or shell could
effect on Thursday could make the screws loosen
their hold, and, though the target was perforcted
like a sieve in ell directions, the screws from fi►s

o last showed no signs of yielding. Their meta

was certainly as wonderful as that of the plates,
which were of the toughness and consistency of
copper, rarely even bending under the tremendous
blows which pierced them like paper. Some of
the screws were struck, and were twisted almost
literally inro knots, without showing a sign of
fracture in any pact. Their metal was of the
peculiarly excellent kind which comes from

the Island of Elba, and which is always worked
with charcoal. If the French could only
manage to make plates of the same temper as
these screws they would have nothing to desire for
their iron fleet. Their plates, however, judging from
thelmeny specimens which have exile to this coun-

try to be tested, are very inferior, and the majority
of their armour is now procured from this country,
whence they are also using every endeavour to get
our best plate workmen also. The experiments
were brought to a close on Thursday evening, be-
cause there was in truth no new result to bo elicited
by continuing them. From the moment that the
200 pounder and 150 pounder came into play with
steel shot there was a mere repetition of holes in the

ere target, and
more
g nothingragged
or save that, if possible, some
w
edamnddeisastrons than others. Be.
yond this there is really little to say, and it would
be mere tedious iteration to give the succession of
shots which, whether fired with low charges to re-
present 1,500 yards, or fired close, had only one
result—that of smashing up the target with more
or less of ruin. This conclusion would not have
been materially altered in acy respect had one of
our best materially altered in any respect had one
of our best specimens of armour ships stood on
Thursday in place of the French target. Leaving
out of the question altogether the 600 pounder, the
150 and 220 pounders which are now at Shoebury
have proved themselves sufficient to destroy almost
at a blow every target that has been put before them,
even such targets as inventors have brought for-
ward, where the mass of iron has been so great as
to at once render it evident that it could not be
borne in sea-going ships. For mere harbour duty a
floating battery with steam power enough to steam
in or cut of Spithead may be made to carry 12 inches
or even 15 inches of iron. For sea-going frigates 6
inches seems as yet to be the utmost limit of weight
which they can safely carry, and six, inches of iron

before these heavy ArmstroLg shunt guns repre-
sents the same powers of resistance that wooden

ships offal. to CB pounders. The gnus havo always
kept an important relative superiority over the
armour, and are likely to keep it to the end.
The experiments on viri9us kinds of steel shell
have almost been brought to a close, and with the
results which we anticipated from the commencement.

The great exp::rimentwith the GOO-pounder against
a floating Warrior target at 2,000 yards' range
.has
been adjourned sine die. The 600-pounder has no‘sH
nearly completed its L5O proof rounds, and still re-
mains, without change, as formidable as ever.

MR, KENNEDY AND TIIE SWINFEN CASE.—Mr.
"harlea Rana Kennedy, the well known banister of the
Cat; uIL has, we understand, found himself con:-
i tion in the Bankruptcy Court, The only
polled to file a p,
told is the bill of costs in his late
debt scheduled, we arc .
law-suits against Mrs. Broun, Swinfent for
which execution has been issued.—.L,•Titnyhain Post.

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