The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-11-01
AMERICAN ARMOR PLATE.
THE sAvY DEPARTMENT REoNs rHE
TESTS Ar indian HEAD

,,x Carbon Steel PIsts Treated with
III. Harvey Proesss-Thsy Provo TO BE
=. Good a. " Not superier - the Fe~sien
Arner Piatss TESTED ~ Aanspssis.
WARRINGTON. Oct 81. About fourteen months
.eo the Secretary OF tho Navy. determined to
have the hes possible armor for the new naval
ysssels, caused experiments TO be made at An
,spols Three largo srmor plates were OBJ
,sined from the leading European manufac-
turers. representing two well-tried types. and
I. nav candidate for favor-nick el-steel plate.
They were fred at BY modern empowered
imsricau rified guns to ascertain which was
,bs best plate The result was complete
overthrow OF the established theories Of srmor
rrotection and the disastrous failure Of tho
,sun,ed English compound plate The
nlain steel and the nickel-steel plates
rsre nearly matched. but the experiments
scanned 10 establish the superiority Of tho
nickel. steel plate. and Congress Immediately
nl.eed at tho disposal Of the Navy Department
The means Of procuring supply Of nickel
steel armor.
But the department was not entirely salts
sed that this typo represented the highest
poss,bilities In tho matter Of armor pro-
tsetion. and experiments were continued
on a small scale with fruitful resulta An
American inventor came forward with Q
nav process Of treating steel Il was said to
harden the face Of steel plate 10 degree sum-
eieut to smash the hardest projectile. while
retaining tough and elastic backing TO In
SURE the plate against fracture This was the
IDEAL com bination sought By the English COM
pound plate makers but they had combined
their materials mechanically By welding iron
TO stoel, and the juncture could not be made
40 perfect as to resist disintegration under
the smashing blow Of an armor- piercing pro-
jestile ut full velocity.
In the American process there is no weld
homog oneous steel plate is heated and par.
TALLY submerged. face downward. In temper
Ing bath Of secret composition. The SUBJ
merged portion Of the plate is rendered in
tensely hard. and the depth OF the hardening
s reGulatei exactly by the depth OF submer-
sion OF the plate. A plato 80 treated is known
asa "Harveyed" plate. after the nAme Of the
inventor Of the process Some thin steel plates
"Haryeycd" have already been tested at
the proving ground. with results 50 satisfac-
tory as to endangef the supremacy Of the
nickel-steel platea Each Of the rivals had
good points not common to the other. 80 the
Ordnance Bureau went still further with its
experiments. in the hope Of combining the
ty and elasticity OF the nickel-steel plate with
the shot smashing hard surface Of the Harvey
plate. A nickel-steel plate was treated by the
Harvey process and again the result appeared
to Indicate distinct advance toward the per-
feet armor for which all maritime nations are
seeking.
But in these tests made since the Annapolis
trial oflsst year comparatively thin plates were
used-about two inches being tho average
thickness OF the metal It was possible that
the heavy plates used for turrets and side
armor would not respond as satisfactorily to
treatment a. the thin plates. To settle this
question the department prepared
for series Of tests on q large scale. Another
object was to ascertain how plates Of .Ameri-
ra se OF
nsssis; liz w! Dsv P.Ssa!ss sisSt
By the Bethlehem Iron Company and By Carne-
gie: PhiGps 4 Co.. and we're 81 the following
Hss and low carbon
Plate Hssveyed In addition to these
points o. difference ths plates made
shlle those made By carpssis. Phipps
let broad. and 1ok inches thick, thus REPRE-.
'saef s them sses shs
.aiiSIes. or ~ feet in the bore es and high.
Tns ss Amen e fes will occupy thrs. days.
on sh shR2se naee u
plate which are to be tested we're fired at to-
s p asy msGs b y ss se ssbG qon d%
9 esSSn SsIees "a
sstSie6em Iron Company. treated With the
Harvey process. The trials demonstrated. In
The opinion OF well known naval officer. that
btssl armor for American vessels.
f sa siren the sRsh aad
:sIrisi a Hotter imported preisctile. TX
on soey q Il fes Eeh ens xs
powder, ~ 400 pounds IN weight was used
to discharge nsaH the proiestlls, The rst shot
SppeT S%sd eo aa :e'e shs third
shs Lower SOFneI and the toTth
@ bui the l sa rs es sst ssp place
Is tie big a.inch gun had. to be removed and
he s;inch gun substituted. The mouth Of the
'1inch gun was ~ INCHES less distant from the
ised in the s-ineh gun Was the Firminey pro-
29 G9gnds ho %Ssgs Nth dssr6tnS
The !hrst shot at the high carbon nickel
.tssl plate furnished BY the Bethlehem Iron
company penetrated deeply into the plate, but
AZ H.; Ths second psSjsciIis hrsS pierced sSs
racks around the place where 1t entered.
~ The third ,prrojectile penetrated ,thir:
teen inches. and then rebounded without
sufering injury. except to lose It's band. The
ourth projectile penetrated 1OH inches and
hen rebounded. About nine inches Of the
hell was shattered. This proiectile also pro-
iuced several radial crack three or four inches
ong on the face OF tho plate. The last projec-
lie. that from the. eight inch gun. pierced the
Ilate and then rebounded.. II produced sew
,ral cracks, the most serious OF which was
oward tie top Of the plate. 1t also started one
,Ofths Gve pfojectiies fred at tho low carbon
nicksl steel plate furnished by Carnegie.
md remained embedded either Alto alto.
IethSr In tho oak bafking. .9r partly
Another. penetrated 1917 inches and then re-
FOUNDED. when tho base OF It broke up. The
'roIectile from the S-inch gun cracked the
1late slightly from the, centre half way toward
no upper left hand corner. and badly
he rest of tho distance to tho upper
sdge of the plate. Tho. first and second
steel plate made b.. the Bethlehem Iron Com
sany, and "Haryied" penetrated the plate to a |
itIth OF probably seven or eight inches,