The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-28 00:00:00

TRIAL WITH

"0 1? TB' S GUN.

On Saturday morning some interesting experi-
ments were tried off the Nore, in the presence of
the Lords of the Admiralty, with a view of testing
the 'penetrating powers of Mr. Whitworth's 80-
pounder gun against the resistance offered by the
thick :iron sides of the floating battery Trusty.
Several such experiments have been lately tried
against this vessel both with the Armstrong gun
and the ordinary smooth-bore 68-pounder, the re-
sults of which have all shown in a greater or less
degree that the floating batteries are, as a general
rule, :impervious to the heaviest shot even at a
point-blank range of 200 yards. With the smooth-
bored 68, when used close, the dent made by the
shot in the armour-plate has varied from 1 to 11
and 2 inches in depth, and where three or more
shots struck the :same place the plate has been
shattered to pieces, and the huge oak timber fram-
ing of the vessel behind the armour considerably
started and shaken. No shot, however, has been
forced into the body of the ship. With Armstrong
guns the conical shot has very nearly passed through
the four-inch iron slabs ; but in no one instance,
we believe, has it completely done so, and all the
experiments with these latter rifled guns have en-
tirely failed to send a projectile through into the
body of the vessel. By some this want of success
hasibeen attributed to Sir William using the pointed
conical shot, instead of a flat-fronted projectile,
acting like a punch, with equal force over its whole
surface. Last year Mr. Whitworth reluctantly
consented to rifle one of the ordinary cast-iron guns
on his hexagonal principle, and with this, using a
fiat-headed shot of 701 b., he managed to force the
missile completely through the four•inches of metal,
though he failed to pierce the woodwork, without
which no effect could be produced by any shot. In
the course of these latter trials Mr. Whitworth's
cast-iron 80-pounder gun burst to fragments, and,
as the trial was not considered by Mr. Whitworth
to be as satisfactory as he could wish, heappliedio
the Admiralty to be permitted to make a fresh trial
against the Trusty with the 80-pounder of his own
manufacture with which such astonishing results
of range and accuracy were obtained during the
experiments at Southport in February last. Per-
mission for this trial was at once accorded, and
those plates of the Trusty which had been much
injured and broken by some recent experiments
with Armstrong's cannon were removed, and re-
placed by fresh slabs of the finest wrought iron, 41
inches thick, and in every other respect equal in
manufacture to the armour-plates which are being
int* for the Warrior at the yard of the Thames
Shipbuilding Company. The Trusty, thus pro-
tected, and with a white target in the centre of
each plate as a mark to fire at, was moored almost
abreast of Sheerness, on the opposite side of the
river, so that any shots which might miss the
object would only traverse, 'without danger, the
range of the Shoeburyness practice-ground. Pre-
cautions were also taken to enable her to slip her
moorings instantly, so that in case of her being
struck below the water line she might be towed on
shore by steamers waiting for that purpose. This
was a very unnecessary precaution, however, inas-
much as the shots were only allowed to be fired
very high, so as to hit midway between the main
and upper decks. As far, therefore, as any practical
result is concerned as to the possibility of the plates
under water being pierced, or so injured as to en-
danger the ship, the whole experiments could have
been conducted on land, against a built-up target
of the same construction as the ship's side ; and this,
too, in one-half the time and at less than one quar-
ter of the expense which was incurred on Saturday.
Mr. Whitworth's gun was fixed on a naval tra-
versing platform carriage on board the Carnation
gunboat, in the usual way. The carriage itself,
though well finished, and of course immensely
strong, like those for all the heavy gams in the navy,
is but a clumsy affair after all, and shows how wide
is the field for improvement open to those who
shall undertake to reform and remodel these most
important aids to good gunnery. We have im-
proved our ships, our powder, our guns, and our
shot ; but the gun-carriag itself, on the efficiency
of which all else so much depends, remains pretty
much as it was on board the " Great Harry" 300
years ago. -
After having tried the effect of a flat-headed shot
on the water, along which it of course made a tre-
mendous furrow, the Carnation steamed from South-
end, and took up her position abreast of the floating
battery at about 200 yards' distance. Captains Hew-
lett and Schomberg were on board to witness the
trials, and Mr. Bidder, the President of the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers, was also present, with the
Hon. Captain Wrottesley, R.E. The Lords of the
Admiralty arrived in the Vivid about 1 o'clock, the
Admiralty yacht Black Eagle, which was to have
brought their lordships, having broken down. The
day was as unfavourable as could possibly be con-
ceived for such experiments, as squalls of wind,
rain, thunder, and lightning, occurred at short in-
tervals all the time, and the water was rough
enough to make the little gunboat '° lively" in the
extreme.
The first shot was fired with a 121 b. charge of
powder by Capt. Hewlett, after some careful watch-
ing and adjustment of the gun, in order to counte-
ract the rolling of the vessel. It struck the Trusty
with a terrific " bang," which all heard on board
the gunboat, though, as on these occasions a mass
of wrought-iron splinters generally comes back like
a shower of grape humming through the air, all
have to keep under cover till the danger from such
tnitraille has passed. The smoke having cleared off,
showed a clean hole apparently right through the
Trusty's side. A boat was at once despatched to
the vessel, and the result of an examination showed
that the shot had struck on the edge of two plates,
passing clear through the 41 inches of wrought iron,
and starting both plates 11 inches in an outward
direction. After passing about 11 inches in to the oak,
the head of the projectile glanced against a massive
bolt, which turned it up at a right angle to its former
course, where it remained buried in the framing be-
tween the plates and the inside of the ship. Had it
been a shell, and burst in this position, it would have

ripped the plate off or blown the main deck timbers

in. The next shot was fired with a 141 b. charge by
the gunner on board the Carnation, who took a

most accurate aim, and hit the small white target
full in the centre of an armour-plate. This went

completely through the side into the main deck of

the Trusty. The hole it made in the plate was a

clean hexagon, precisely the size of the shot. It
passed not only through the wooden side, but

through one of the ribs of the ship, tearing off and
smashing the iron knee, and covering the main deck
with splinters of wood and iron. The shot, when
found, was so hot that no one could touch it. It
scarcely showed any sign of damage beyond being
compressed to about an inch shorter, and conse-
quently increased in its diameter at the head by
about half an inch.

At this period of the experiments the Lords of the
Admiralty arrived, and unfortunately, owing to a
mistake with regard to the elevation of the dis-

Lance-sight, and perhaps some anxiety to avoid hit

ting too low, the shot passed clear over the vessel,
The fourth was also hit very high ; nevertheless,

though the gun was trained att and the shot there

fore struck obliquely, it passed through the iron

and sides, and struck the end of a deck beam, in

which it buried itself. The fifth shot, again, pierced
through the centre of a plate and into the main
deck of the ship, driving before it a mass of
splinters and an immense iron bolt, which, from
the position in which it was found—among the
fragments of wood on the main deck—had evi-
dently been dashed through and whirled about
with a force only inferior to that of the projectile
itself. It was noticed that at the instant of con-
cussion between this shot and the vessel's side a
broad sheet of intensely bright flame was emitted,
almost as if a gun had been fired from the
Trusty in reply. The Duke of Somerset then, ac-
companied by Admiral Pelham, Admiral Maitland,
and Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker, went on board
the floating battery, and minutely inspected the
results of the trials as shown by the perforations
in the iron and timbers. One thing which was
shown very conclusively by this examination
was that the oak behind the iron plates could hare
offered very little resistance to the passage of the
shot, inasmuch as it was so utterly rotten that in