The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-11 00:00:00

THE ARMY,

The East Indiaman Middlesex, 1,191 tons, be-
longing to the firm of G. Marshall and Co„ having
been chartered by the Hon. Council of India to con-
vey reinforcements to Calcutta, will embark 10
officers and 350 non-commissioned officers and men
at Gravesend this morning. The officers and troops
selected for embarkation for Calcutta belong to the
19th, 20th, 35th, 52d (Light Infantry), and 77th
Regiments, from Chatham ; 27th (Enniskillens),
34th, 38th, 54th, 88th (Connaught Rangers), and
97th Regiments, from Colchester; 90th Light In-
fantry, from Canterbury; 42d and 92d Highlanders,
from Perth ; 13th (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
and 89th Regiments, from Fermoy ; and the 48th
Regiment, from Cork.
The whole of the officers and men of the depot
brigade of the Royal Artillery, stationed at Sheer-
ness, who are under orders to embark for India, to
the'number of 500 men of all ranks, were inspected
at that garrison yesterday afternoon by Col. Ned-
ham, the commandant, when the brigade was found
to be in a very efficient state. At the close of the
inspection Col. Nedham gave a spirited address to
the officers and men (which was afterwards issued
as an order of the day), in which he highly compli-
mented Lieut.-Col. Talbot and the officers at the
high state of discipline to which they had succeeded
' in bringing the depot brigade. A detachment of
13 nonspommissioned officers and 350 men will pro-
ceed from Sheerness to Woolwich to embark on
board the Sydenham, 1,147 guns, for Calcutta.
The following has been handed to us as an accu-
rate report of the late experimental firing with
Armstrong guns, at Shoeburyness, upon the iron
plates forged under the steam hammer in the smiths'
shop at Portsmouth Dockyard. The trials took
place by order of the Lords of the Admiralty, and
in the presence of the Iron-plate Committee. It is
important to state that each plate when fired at
was placed in a vertical position against a wooden
framework, but without any backing such as the
plates received which have been bolted to a ship's
side, as in the instance of the Trusty and Sirius and
others. The plates were forged from scrap-iron, and
the chief interest in the experiments consisted in
the results assisting greatly to solve the problem as
to the superiority of forged or rolled armour plates
for iron-clad ships. The first plate tried was a6l
inch, 7ft. in length by 3 in breadth, and weighing
49 cwt. 1 qr. The weapon used against it was the
Armstrong shunt gun, with a 1201 b. projectile.
The range was 400 yards. The first shot discharged
made an indentation of 2 inches, with a slight frac-
ture, The second made a like indentation about 6
inches from the preceding shot, and fractured the
plate on its reverse. The third and fourth shots
cut pieces out of the plate's edge, and the fifth
struck the plate about 2 feet from its lower edge,
and broke it -where it had been fractured by the
second shot. The next plate put up was a 42 inch,
of the same length and breadth as the 61 inch, and
weighing 35 cwt. 2 qrs. The first shot discharged
from a 100 pounder at a range of 400 yards partially
embedded itself in the plate and remained there.
The succeeding shots at this plate were made with
the 1261 b. projectile, the first striking the plate in
the vicinity of the 1001 b. shot, and breaking out a
piece of the plate of a triangular form. The suc-
ceeding shot fractured the plate, the cracks
radiating, starlike, from the centre. The last shot
broke the plate 18 inches from the bottom. The
next plate tested was a 3 inch, 4 feet in length
by 3 broad, and weighing 13 cwt. 1 qr., a 40
pounder being used at 100 yards' range. The first
shot discharged indented the plate and bulged it on
its reverse. The second also indented the plate
about 2-} inches and slightly fractured it on its re-
verse. The fourth plate fired at was a2l inch, of
the same length and breadth as the last, weighing
10 cwt. 3 qrs., at the same range, but commencing
with a 25-pounder. The first shot indented the
plate 1°,4 inches, but made no fracture. The second
made an indentation of 21 inches, and fractured the
plate on its reverse. The third struck the lower
part of the plate, but did no damage. The 40-poun-
der was now pointed at the plate, and its shot tore
a possage through. The last plate tested was a
2-inch, of the same length and breadth as the two
preceding ones, weighing Bcwt. 2qrs. 221 b. The
range was the same, commencing with a 12-pounder.
The first shot indented the plate about an inch and
a half; the second fractured the plate, part of the
shot remaining in it; and the third slightly frac-
tured it. The fourth and last shot was made from
the 40-pcunder, and passed through the plate. This
was the last experiment. If our information be cor-
rect—that the officers on the ground declared the
plates in the present instance to be the best samples
of iron for armour plates that have been as yet
tested at Shoeburyness—there cannot be very much
doubt as to the superiority of forged over rolled iron
as armour for iron-cased ships. The trials of plates,
forged in Portsmouth dockyard when such tests
first began, on the sides of the Alfred target. frigate,
led many to expect the results which have been ob-
tained;
while others, on seeing the extraordinary
resistance offered to spherical shot by Beale's p
lately at Portsmouth, thought even forged plates
could not excel that instance.