The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-30 00:00:00

IVROUHT IRON ORDNANCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—Deeply impressed with the intimate and
vital connection which the subject of these remarks
has with the successful, speedy, and glorious ter- I
mination of the present great war, I earnestly beg
you will permit me to offer them through your
medium to all concerned.
If we investigate in a common-sense spirit the
cause of the all but entire failure of our great naval
expedition to the Baltic, as also the cause of the
protracted, and, as yet, unsuccessful operations be-
fore Sebastopol, involving, as they have already
done, so fearful a sacrifice of our bravest men, it
appears to me we shall find that the want of ord-
nance of power adequate to the emergency lies at
the root of all these disappointing and sad results.
Had we armed ourselves, as we might have done,
and might yet do, with such guns as would be cap-
able of throwing shot and shells of 2 cwt. to 3 cwt.
each, and that from distances sufficiently great to
keep us out of the reach of the missiles of the
enemy, we should thus be able to knock his strongest

forts to ruins.
The reason why we have not been able to do so
simply rests with the fact, that we continue to em-
ploy for our great ordnance a material (cast iron)
which, on account of its inherent unfitness to with-
stand violent shocks and strains, has, in every other
case, been discarded from use.
Were we to revert to the employment of wrought
iron, possessed as that material is of every quality
requisite, and aided as we now are by the ample
and energetic means which my steam-hammer has
given us for forging ordnance of yet unheard-of
power, we should thus be enabled to arm ourselves
with guns the tremendous powers of which would
only be equalled by their perfection of performance;
as, admitting of the introduction of the Minie rifle
principle, in union with those capabilities of throw-
ing shot and shell of vast weight, we should soon,
by such powerful agents, bring this great war to a
most glorious termination.
When I inform you that the strength of forged
iron is to that of cast iron as six is to one, you will
at once see how important such an accession of ex-
plosion resisting capability bears on the matter in
question, as it is simply the strength or tenacity of
the material of a gun which limits the capabilities
of it as to the distance and weight of missile it is
capable of discharging. It requires no lengthy
reasoning to prove or show what mighty results
would issue from the employment of groat ordnance
formed of a material at least six times stronger
than what we at present employ.
In order to place the matter, perhaps, in a
stronger light, what would be thought of the
judgment of a man who should propose to employ
cast iron for an anchor or railway axle ? How in-
finitely more absurd, then, is it to employ cast
iron for our great ordnance, as it is well known to
practical men that, besides the vast inferiority in
strength in the case of cast iron, its tenacity de-
creases in a rapid ratio' with the increase in the
massiveness of the object it is employed to farm I
- Why, then, do we continue to use cast iron for
our great ordnance, which are naturally subjected
to vastly more severe shocks and strains than an-
chors or railway axles, and in so doing limit our de-
structive power to itsverylimited capabilities, to ac-
commodate which we are obliged to came to such
close quarters and discharge such comparatively in-
effective shot that we sacrifice in consequence thou-
sands of lives of cur bravest men, and spend millions
of. money in our endeavour to accomplish, by
throwing a vast number of small pieces of iron,
that which we might to a certainty accomplish by
massive shot and shell discharged from our wrought
iron ordnance at distances quite out of reach of the
enemy; for nothing but such massive missiles as I
refer to—namely, shot of two and three hundred
weight, will ever effectually destoy the tremendous
forts in question
Having spent the best part of my life in most
iLtimate connection with the working of wrought
iron on the greatest scale, and where that admira-
ble material has to resist shocks and strains of the
utmost violence, and having besides had the hap-
piness to give to the world the most energetic
agent mankind has ever possessed for the forging
of great masses of wrought iron, I trust I
may be permitted to speak on this subject
with some degree of confidence, as it is one that
has a most vital and important bearing on the
speedy and successful issue of this terrible war. Had
I but the opportunity given me to bring all the
experience I possess on this subject to bear, I
should go heart and soul into it, and soon show,
what my steam-hammers can do towards helping
us to solve the fearful problem that, if we value
our position as a free and powerful nation, we
must, and that soon, accomplish.
I may state in conclusion that, although I have
submitted most complete plans and designs for such
great wrought iron ordnance, with the same for
appropriate Mini© rifle shells and shot, should I
not be entrusted with the carrying out of nay own
designs I shall not be the less zealous in affording
the most hearty assistance to whomsoever may
be selected to give proof of what wrought iron can
do for us in our present great emergency.
I am, Sir, yours most respectfully,

.TASIES NA-SMYTH.
Bridgewater Foundry, Patricroft, •
near Manchester, Nov. 24.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—Observing in the Times of Saturday last a
letter signed "Horace J. Rockwell," in which that
gentleman gives it as his opinion that wrought iron
guns ought to be excluded from our service—first,
because of their insecurity ; 2dly, the enlargement
of the bore ; 3dly, their liability to rapid heating ;
and 4thly, their expense—l beg leave to state the
following facts, which came under my own obser-
vation, and which seem to me to render the cor-
rectness of Mr. Rockwell's opinion doubtful.
About five years ago I was applied to by some
gentlemen of Bristol to obtain at Woolwich a trial
for a gun made of hammered iron, constructed by
Mr. Wm. Morgan, whose reputation as a naval en-
gineer is well known, whether as the engineer to
the Austrian Lloyd's Company or with reference
to the steam-ships he kas oonstructed far our own
mercantile marine. Lord Anglesey, who was then
Master-General of the Ordnance, granted the trial
sought for, the parties paying all expenses. A -
pounder gun, 5 feet in length, and weighing under
6 cwt., was accordingly forwarded to Woolwich in I
order to have its qualities tested, more particularly
its durability and powers of resistance.
Mr. Morgan had constructed the gun as light as
it could be, that the trial might be made on the
most disadvantageous terms possible : ho was aware
that a brass 9-pounder gun weighed 13 cwt., six
feet in length, and consequently he gave away full
5 cwt. of metal, which ho might have used, and
yet made his gun as light as r. brass fieldpiece.
The trial sought for was, that the gun should be
burst upon progressive charges. I was present
upon the first day's trial, the charge, powder,
wads, and shot, being progressively increased ; the
gun did not burst. On the second day's trial they
did
.burst the gun—that is, was ripped open about
ten inches half way up. The trial was admitted
by all the authorities present to have been a
very severe one, and the following were the
results :—firstly, the great durability of the
gun ; secondly, the absence of heat on its re-
peated discharge ; thirdly, the absence to enlarge-
ment at either muzzle
.or touchhole ; and, lastly,
as it had been prophesied that the smoothness of
the bore would be ploughed up by the passage of
iron shot, the gun at the conclusion of the trial
was found to be as smooth as it was at the com-
mencement.
As regards the expense, I remember that Mr.
Morgan calculated that a hammered iron gun might
be made as cheap as a brass
might gun, and, when worn
out, the same material, as in a brass gip, . ghtbe
used again. I have bad no communication with
Mr. Morgan on this subject, nor do I know your
correspondent who writes under the name of
" Hammered Iron," but, if you think the fore-
going ad rem, it is at your service.--I am, Sir,
Yours obediently,

F. HENRY F. BERKELEY,
'Victoria-square, Nor. 26.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,-13eing interested in wrought iron guns,
and reading in your valuable paper several letters
on the subject, I beg to hand you tho particulars
of a wrought-iron gun which I forged at the Mer-
sey Steel and Iron Works, Liverpool (which was
said to be for the United States steam-frigate
Princeton), and proved on the North shore at
Liverpool in the year 1845, viz. :—Length of bore,
12 feet ; diameter of bore, 1 foot ; weight of shot,
2191 b each. Proving—lt charge, 451 b of powder
and double shot ; 2d and 3d charge, 441 b of pow-
der and double shot ; 4th and 20th charge, 301 b of
powder and, sainmg,eSirsh,oytours very respectfully,
JAMES EASTWOOD.
Railway Iron Works, Derby, Nov. 28.

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