New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-08-10
THE RoDMAY Gun At SHoEBURYNESS.

THE RODN1N Gun al SHOEBLhfNEco.
A cable dispatch informed us, ten days ago,
that experiments performed under the direc-
tons of the British Government had shown
that no iron or steel armor yet invented was
capable of resisting the American f5-nch Rod
man gun. We have now by steamer full par
tculars of the trial. The fact is exactly the re-
verse of the statement of the Geographic cor
respondent The Rodman gun has proved a
signal failure.
The experiments were made at ShOeburyneSS
on the oath of July. The target consisted of
eight inches of iron upon 1s inches of teak, with
n a-inch iron skin, the whole being stayed and
bolted into n mass of enormous strength. The
same target has been repeatedly penetrated by
English rifle proiectiles. The charge used was
60 pounds of American powder, that is to say
10 pounds more than the ordinary charge of the
Rodman gun. The distance was only 10 yards
At the first trial an American cast-iron round
shot, weighing 4j3 pounds, was propelled with a
velocity of LILO feet per second. lt struck the
target i'm weak place, ut the Junction OF TWO
plates, but failed to penetrate, leaving only an
indeptation of four inches, but bucklng the
mates considerably. In the rear two RIBS were
slightly cracked. The iron skin was perfectly
intact spherical shot of No. Pontypool
iron. east in sand and weighing about the same
"a the last was now fired with the same charge
of nowder The target was substantially unin-
iured. while the ball was shattered to pieces.
ON the third round one of Friths cast-steel
snberical shot, tempered with oil to the utmost
touebness and hardness, rs good projectile in
fact as could be obtained, and weighing 49S
mounds, was fired with go pounds OF American
powder This time the iron plating was just
penetrated, no more; the back was unln-
iured. and the shot remained sticking In the
target with seven radical cracks i'll It, An
English 9-inch gun was then tried, with 2oO
Mound shot of chilled iron, and charge of only
Al mounds of powder. 1t made an indentation
of 10l inches-much less than on previous occa-
sions it had done at distance of 200 yards.
II is possible that both guns may do rather bet
ter at longer range than 20 yards; but these ex-
neriments leave little doubt that the Rodman
t5-inch, weighing 1911 tuns, is far inferior to the
English 0-inch, which weighs only 10 tuns And
it is not only in its penetratiye power that we
are disappointed, but its tracking" effect, which
is claimed as its special merit, appears to have
been greatly overrated, and not comparable to
that of the English gun.
The ROdman is the heaviest ordnance made
by our Government for general use on ship
board, and constitutes the armament of the for
midable vessels of the MiantOnomOh class 1t
is pretty clear now that with iron shot, and at
10 yards range, it could not hurt the best Of
the British iron-clads, and that even with steel
shot (Which are not part of its equipmenD there
are some vessels which would successfully re-
sst it. On the other hand there are English
guns, it is said, which will do as much execu-
ton ut 200 yards nth shell as the Rodman can
do at 100 yards with solid steel projectiles. So
after all our outlay and all our experiments we
are apparently rs far from q solution Of the