St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1862-04-10
THE BEST SHOT FOR PENETRAT.
ING IRON PLATES.

The relative values Of spherical shot
and 6s.-headeo h~'lts to penetrate iron
plates. 10 discussed in the British papers,
and recent events in this country have
givee greater degree Of Significance to
those discussions. Whitworth. in his
siacd cannon. has used 6at-headed bolt.
soaie.l long bolt. and spherical shot
The Scientific Ameri-on says:
The ast-headed bslt is that which Whit.
worth has used in biz hexagonal ri6ed
gun. and with regard 70 it he says -
''If il be rquircd 10 Gre through plates
sd iron. . 6st-frontsd prcjectile Of steel
of thi. form will bs employed" With
respect to range it WAS found. by sx-
pertinent, that tho pointed long bolt,
fred from the same gun with the same
charge Of powder. had . very in,igni6-
cant sdvsntsge. Mr.. Whitwor.h says
further respecting the Aat-headed shot,
ia has m.ny advantages. Besides be-
ing the Srm bert adapted for firing
sgainst iron plates. il may be used for pen
rir.sing through wafer " For firing
sgsiast elastic material. aud into masoury.
0 sch ~ stone forts, tubular bolts, (long
set with . hole throue eh the centre.
slightly Aattcned i'll front, were found
most effective.
In October. 1861. experiments were
made at Shoeburyncss, England. which
seems to afford contradictory e,idencc to
Whitworth's opinions regarding the ef.
fessy Of 6at-headcd bolts fired against
iron plates. A target 20 feet By 10,
representing section of tho hull Of the
Warrior. w's set up against . bank Of
solid masonry. The iron plates were
Il inches thick. the backing Of teak be-
hin6 WAS Is inches thick. and b hind
this was the inner iron plating I've
cighis of an inch. making 81 inches in
thickness Of irsn. aud Is inches Of wood
"a total Of 2a& inches in thickness
Tho battery was situated at 200 yards
distant. aud consisted Of three l00.poun-
der Armstrong guLs. and two 6S-poand.rs
smsosh-borded guns.
The first operations were With shells
filed with sand, and to the astonishment
Of all present the 68-pounders did more
execution than the three great Arm
ssrong guns. This was accounted for
,y tho greater velocity Of the round
shot st short ranges when fred from
the smooth-bored guns. After firing
With shells, solid shot was then tried
with al the guns. and 20Olb bolts were
.vsed 10 the 100 FOUNDERS. with charges
of is lbs. Of powder. Even with such
heavy missiles. the effect upon the tar
get was no greater than with the shells
fred from the 68.pounders. A salyo
from the whole Eve guns fred against
the target failed 70 peuetrate through
IL, bat gap, six inches deep aud Is
inches long, with three large cracks
around It. Was made. three Of the 6vc
solid shot having struck in the same
place. Since these experiments were
made. round shot has bsen considered
IN England the most elective against
iron plates.
Experiments have also been made
with m Armstrong gun firing against
Joses system Of aneled plates. Tho
gun used fired cast iron balls 10 lbs. |
solid bolts Z inches I'M diameter and l2l
inches in leagsh. The charges used
were IA lis. Of powder. The .ngled
plates we're Al inches thick. Six Of
such bolts struck the target within 81
space sf q inches by IL. and three
wishin one inch Of one another. The
pla.s Was driven in 81 inches upon o.
hacking Of pine. and was fractured Tut
not pierced. Such 10 all the practical
information whieh We really have upon
this subject. We think il deserves
further attention. The best form Of shot
for pssesrating iron plates. when set per-
lsnaiculsrly J Oh wall-sided vessels. in ho-
lizontal curves as in round towers. or
sneled 70 ds6cet tho shot upward or
downward. can only be des. rminsd by ex-