East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1862-10-21
EAST SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, OCTOBER q, 1862.
ArmOr Plates Smashed with Shells
--RemarlxabIe Gun Experiments.


ments that have yet taken place wit
guns of different construction and call
ber, firing solid shot and shell, occurrec
at Shoeburyness, England, on the l6tI
ult. Members of q Government selcc
committee on iron plates and ordnance
and Lords of tho Admiralty were pres
ent The first experiment made wa
with the Horsfall gun-a wroughtiroI
smooth. bore piece of ordnance of l3
inch caliber, capable of carrying bal
of 2s6 lbs, weighing % tuns and forgeC
at tho Morsey 6teel and Iron works
Liverpool. A target representing par
of tho side Of the armor.c clad frigat,
Warrior was used. 1t consisted of J
inch iron plates backed with 8 inches
of solid teak wood. The guu was load
ed with solid spherical shot and a
charge of rs lbs. of powder, and it was
placed at the usual distance of two
hundred yards from the target. The
first shot was conclusive. 1t smashed
through the entire target and complete.
ly destroyed it for further experiments.
Other trials of a still more important
character succeeded. These were made
with Whitworth rifled breechloading
l2.pounder field gun of 4-inch bore,
and 20 FOUNDER rihed naval guE. The
object of these trials was principally to
test their penetrating power with hard
ened flat. .fronted solid shot and she'll
Hitherto the shells which had been fired
against armor plates of moderate thick
ness had been broken in pieces, and it
lad been held that vessels covered with
21-inch plates were shell proof. The
first trial was with the l2.pounder firing
solid ffat-fronted steel shot at a distance
of 100 yards against plates of and 4
inches in thickness. In both cases the
shot cut their way clear through the
plates. The same gun was then loaded
with a flat t.fronted steel shell, containing
six ounces of powder and the charge
was | 10. IA ounces of powder. No
fuse was employed, as Mr. Whitworth
stated that the heat generated in the
shell when it struck the target would
be sufficient to ignite the bursting charge.
One shell passed completely through a
plate 2 inches thick and an oak backing
one foot thick, and the other pierced
through the plate and burst III the back
ing, SCATTERING it to pieces. This was
certainly a most interesting experiment
The 7o.pouudvr naval gun was next
tried against a target of 4-inch armor
plates bolted upon an oak frame nine
inches thick, attached by framing of
oak four inches thick covered on .he
back with inch iron plates. The in.
tervening space between the front and
back frames was 80 inches, and the
entire thickness of iron was six inches.
The gun was loaded with fat fronted
steel shell which weighed 20 lbs, the
charge of powder was l2 lbs, and the
gun was placed at 200 yards from the
target. The first shell pierced clear
through the 4.inch plate and the timber
backing, and struck against the 2inch
back plate, which it cracked, then it
burst and shattered the target.
The result of these trials surprised
most persons present. The tremendous
destructive power of the Horsfall gun
the largest wrought-iron cannon in Eng
land was astounding. A huge hole,
two feet square, was struck out of the
plate by the spherical shot, and the sur.
rounding iron was cracked in all direc-
tions, and made complete wreck On
the other hand, the fiat tfronted projec
tiles of Whitworth punched out clean
holes in the plate without fracturing
any of the surrounding portions. The
power of great guns to penetrate armor
plates has thus been demonstrated, and
those present at the trials, it is said, ap
peared convinced that this cannon could
have pierced through plates six inches
in thickness. The London Times, which
appears to have become the subservient
organ of conservative government
abuses, asserts that the balance Of merit
for general purposes lies with the Arm.
strong gun. But the Mechanics Mag
asine asserts that the Horsfall gun has
successfully accomplished that which
Sir VIM. Armstrong, with the whole re.
sources of the nation at his iscommand, has
been after numberless trials unable to
accomplish" The Lords of the Ad-
miralty have been exrending hundreds
vi thOuoduus vi pouhuo uui'hS lhc pdoI
two years in making experiments to see
if iron plates of 4 2 inches in thick.
ness could be pierced with the largest
Armstrong guns, and from their ex-
periments, it would appear they bad be-
come about satisfied that their new iron.
clad frigates were invulnerable, and yet
this Horsfall gun, which has smashed
the IFarrior target to pieces with a
single shot, has been lying at Ports.
mouth 10 charge of the Government Of
ficials for six years, during which period
all trials with it were pertnaciously re.
fused. The Mechanics Magasine as
serts that three million pounds (about
$4,000, ,000) have been expended use.
lessly in the construction CT Armstrong
guns. The Horsfall gun must be of
great strength as the charge of powder
used was prodigious. For short dis.
tances the penetrating and smashing
power of spherical shot fired from
smooth.bored guns is greatest; but for
great distances ritled guns and clongat.