The sun., 1891-11-02
THE TRIUMPH or AMERICAN ARMoR.
A Good Degree OF Success from the Initial
Tests Of Rlates, md More Expscted.


A Good Degree OF sscces. from the Initial
Tests of Plates, and More Expected.
WASHINGTON. Nov. 1.-Thc first series Of tho
great competitive trials at Indian Hcad has
demonstrated that American works can turn
out ship armor equal to any in the world.
Within ten days the proving grounds will
doubtless be ready for the second series Of
trials. and among the five plates still to DO
tested may be tound some that will outdo the
best OF Saturday. But DO that as IL may q
gratifying success has already been secured.
Tho battle OF September. 1890. between Cam
NELL and Schneider at Annapolis was a contest
OF foreign-made plates. Its one incontes-
table result was to put compound armor utterly
out Of consideration for our service. The
defeat OF Cammell at Annapolis was followed
within two months by the defeat OF Brown at
Ochta. thus emphasizing the earlier result.
But 1t remained to SEQ whether American
armor. constructed Of steel or nickel-s steel.
would equal the foreign products And again
the relntive merits Of steel and nickel
steel needed further demonstration. The
latter had triumphed over steel without
the alloy at Annapolis. but some ex-
ports were not satisfied. Thus Mr.. Barba
suggested to the British Society Of Naval
Architects that the advantages OF nickel were
overrated. and that cracking was less i'm
portant matter than perforatlon. At Annapolis
last year the nickel-steol. under the 0-inch
gun. suffered greater penetration than the all
steel plate Then It was deemed necessary to
test in standard plates tho new Harvey proc
ess OF surface carbonization. which in thin
experimental plates had produced most prom
Using results. The hardening OF the surface
by this process had been very successful in
breaking up projectiles. while the tenacity OF
the original metal was preserved in tho rear OF
the plate. 1t was. therefore. desirable to test
this process both with steel and nickel steel
plates OF the customary trial thickness. as
manufactured under the hammer Of the Both
lehem Works and by the rolling process OF
Carnegie. phipps Il Co. Of Pittsburgh.
In Saturdays trials the three plates were as
has been said. high carbon nickel-steel
Bethlehem. low carbon nlckel-steel Car
negie. and low carbon Harveyed steel Beth
lehem: and 1t secms to be indicated in the de-
scriptions OF the trial already given. that the
winner under tho four 8-inch shots wac the
Bethlehem high carbon nickel steel. while the
final winner under the S-inch was the low
carbon nickel-steel Carnegie. 1t would appear
also that the third plate. tho Harveyed low
carbon all-steel Bethlehem. had the advantage
at the end of the first round. but fell OF as the
trial went along. and finished third.
SO far as Saturdays tests go. the result may
seem unfavorable to the Harvey process.
which disappointed those that had seen its
remarkable results in the 3-inch plates
But it must be remembered that It was ap-
piled in Saturdays test solely to an all-steel
plate. and that it's tests with nickel-steel
plates remain to be made. Another point to
bo noted Is that the Harveyed plate broke up
and damaged the projectiles more than the
others In tho early firing. This was in accord
ance with tho expectations that had been
formed Of 1t. since tho hardening OF the sur
face was intended to smash tho projectiles or
cause them to rebound. The main dsap-
Dointment was in the cracking. which began to
develop even ut the second shot received from
the 8-inch gun. and was very bad with tho
S-inca. Tho theory OF the Harvey process is
that it alters the crystalization of the plate in
such q way that there are several different
layers OF crystallization. and hence that crack
ing. which is caused by the vibratory shock on
tho impact Of the projectile. will be interrupted
and checked. Still it was clear from last years
trials that certain percentage OF nickel
seemed to prevent cracking by cementng the
molecules in q non-crystalline manner. It is
accordingly necessary to await the trial both of
the Bethlehem and the Pittsburgh Harveyed
nicke-steel plates before judging of the value
OF this process.
AS to the high carbon nickel-steel plate fur
cnce to penetration even the Schneider nickol-
steel plate Of last year: but 1t cracked more
and two decidedly serious cracks were de-
veloped under the S-inch shot.
With the low carbon Carnegie plate there
was no cracking at all under any Of the Shots
except that one surface crack was developed
which did not destroy the protective power Of
the plate. 1t is true that there was more pene-
tration Of this plate than OF the high-caroon
nickel steel. and that in comparing these two
the question OF what would have happened
had the shells been loaded with high explo-
sives. as in actual warfare. should be considered
as well as the question Of cracking. Still. the
behavior OF the low carbon nickel steel under
the s-inch projectilo was surprisingly good.
The general conclusion must be that American
armor will hold its own with any. This result
makes Saturdays trial most gratifying Just as
it stands: and there is every reason to hope
that there are plates yet to be tested. made by
Bethlehem or Pittsburgh. or both. which will
surpass in all-around efficiency even the best
OF the first series.