The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-09 00:00:00

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Messrs. Beale and Co., for some considerable time
past ; while the French plate, manufactured by
Messrs, Petin and Co., was much above the , average
standard of the French plates tested in En gland.
Eight inches from the plate's lower edge and. in its
centre it was struck by the fourth and fifth shots
fired full on a bolt. The second shot drove thebolt
clear out of the plate into the ship's side, and lei t the
indent in the plate from this double shot 4in. and
7-10ths, a crack being opened up through the in-
dent. Eeight inches to the right of these two shots
(measuring in each instance from the centre of eacl
blow), and at the same distance from the lower edger
of the plate two other shots took effect. They
drove that piece on which they immediately
struck 14ia. into the ship's side (from the
louter surface of the plate), and detached a piece
of the plate from the main body 2ft. Gin.
in length by Bin. in depth. The fracture
ran through the centre of the indents. The plate
had undoubtedly been much shaken by two other
shots, which struck immediately above the fracture,
although they did not impinge upon the other ahoG
marks. The side of the ship was driven in three
inches from its plane at the back of the plate, and`
the plate itself at .its right end was started three-
inches oat from the ship's side. It was a proof of
the excellent quality of the metal, however, that a
subsequent shot fired at this end of the plate had
merely the effect of bending it back into its former
position without increasing the damage to the
piste's lower centre. The French plate was bolted'
on the target ship's side by 2-inch ordinary iron
bolts which started under the blows of the shots, as
they usually do. The English plate was attached
with Acadian iron bolts, which started in no in-
stance. Messrs. Patin, Gaudet, and Co, are acknow-
ledged the best makers of rolled armour plates in
France, bat the trial of yesterday will furnish no
comparative degree of merit between them and our
best English makers. Let our acknowledged beat
makers of rol ed iron plates, Messrs. John Brown.
and Co., of the Atlas Works, Sheffieid, be allowed
to enter the lists against Messrs. Petin, Gaudet, and
Co., both being under precisely equal conditions of
manufacture, and results of a competitive trial would
then be obtained which would really be of national
interest. Meanwhile the history of the introduction
(so far as is known to the public) of French plates,
into this country and their subsequent career is
somewhat interesting. The first two were supplied
by Messrs. Petin, Gaudet, and Co. as " sample," and
passed their test in the most success'ul manner,
really deserving all the praise they got. The success
of these two plates obtained for Petin, Gaudet, and
Co., an order from our Admiralty for plates to the
value of about £9,500 sterling, half being of 4y and:
the remainder 51-in. When delivered at Portsmouth
yard they were seen to be of a very inferior manu-
facture to the " sample" plates, the successful test
of which had procured the order. A certain num-
ber were, therefore, selected for testing, but not one
passed the test laid down by the Admiralty in their
contracts, and the whole were reshipped to France
with the exception of some three or four which had
pieces of their metal cut out as samples for the Iron-.
plate Committee, and for which, therefore, the
makers must be paid at their contract price—X4s
and £5O per ton. The two plates tested yesterday
and two others on the 23d ult., all of which were
from the same plates, have again raised the stan-
dard of French manufactured armour-plates for a
time until some further failure of theirs or marked
superiority of some English maker again brings
them down.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty : —Dr. Thomas Stratton, staff
surgeon, to the Canopus ; John E. C. Sullivan,
assistant-paymaster, to be secretary to Admiral
Superintendent Austin ; Thomas Hadley, Richard
H. Solly, and John H. Galloway, nominated to
naval cadetships.