The sun., 1893-09-10
PLATE on PRotEcr1LE.
Their Contest for snperioritS--R Remarks able
Armor-pieroinr Shells.

i Their Contest for arb able
Armsr-picreinG Shells.
| WARRINGTON. Sept o-Tho splendid results
achieved this week at Sandy Hook by S-inch
Hotter shells OF American manufacture. when
Hired against heavy steel target. convince
ordnance officers that the army has now n
second and Independent source OF supply OF the
very best proiectiles. placing II thereby on n
| par with the navy.
Two projectiles made by the Midvale Steel
| Works went through 0.inch nicke! steel
plate like knife through cheese" MS one
| expert expressed It. The first. after passing
also through three feet OF oak backing was
lost somewhere in tho snnd probably: tho Sec
| ond went through the same plate and backing.
then through about twenty feet OF packed
sand. and was found In almost perfect condi-
| tion. Not flaw or scratch could be seen upon
| It To the eye tho sharp point was not buntcd
In the least. But this excellent result must
| not lead us to forget the nne performances Of
two big l2-inch Amerlcan- made Carpenter
| shells, which. discharged from n navy rino at
Indian Head not long ago. went, one of them,
nearly through and the other entirely through
17-inch Bethlehem nickel steel curved plate.
representing tho barbette armor OF the Indi-
ana and both were wholly uninjured. the
point OF the first projectio remaining sharp.
What used & be called the battio of gun and
plate has Of late years become largely one OF
plate and projectilc. There is no limit OF
course. at least in firing from land batteries. to
tho size y! ordnance that may be employed
and hence to the charges OF powder: and since.
on the other hand. there nre practical limita-
tions to the thickness Of stco! armor that can
be carried on shp the gun seemed tolernbly
sure to get the better Of the rivalry. But when
the triumph OF the gun appeared assured. the
plato made great gain by certain new proc
esses OF manufacture. Tho best known Of
these are. In tho first place. the Introduction OF
alloys into the steel used for gun material. the
most famous Of these being nickel: and. Sec
ondly and chiefly. the hardening ofthe surface
by special processes. the most successful OF
which is the Harvey carbonizing process
while in England an analogous invention 10
that OF Capt Trosidder.
The effect OF such improvements in plates Is
to break UP the projectiles. The question,
therefore. no longer becomes that OF securing
gun powerful enough to attack the plate. but
OF getting a shot or shell for the gun which
will not be broken to pieces by the tremen-
dous impact before 1t can get through. Years
ago it became necessary. with the increased
heaviness Of the charges and hardness OF the
iecties. The Whitworth steel Shells soon @ be be.
game famohs: and also the chilled iron OF
proieoes achieved eeebsty and now the
By qGs s Hsse Ss d to
When our navy took up the question OF maxi
inS s "a. and testing heavy armor. It purchased
France But before long it prepared to manu-
tactpre shells in this country. The. Carpenter
to make inc on he
Firminy mI,ys process; as used by Firth 4 60. OF
Of the feaeS
undertook the manufacture OF armor- piercing
shells. An important trial was at length held
.sca caea VIII eiG fs Fhs
Carpenter. Firminy q promising second. while
ns 0hs5 SG Sa1s
was announced ] @ st that % "a definite prosress % in in
Improvements Ins In the quality Of the pEojee,
e ss sssn
apparent since the comm encement of deiy-
cries az and 4 is gratifying to be able to note
tractors themselves. who have. In a measure
andoned the formula furnished by the for
We're were @ purchased f" In an M" attack upon s' steel
plate the the q the Mas
nS one wSs bTosen Sp While
ter Ftsmny i'm ny, rebounded intact na., n,,,,.u T.,
i ( was .us said thas rat Ithe ,s Defiormance 81
Holtzer s-inch shell have, bulged much more
the Carpenter 1O-inch proiectile was much
superior to that of the English Firth 1O-inch
she'll" In n report Of Commodore Folger the
following passage occurs:
In order to further definitely establish the advan.
tages and presumed superiority of the American
fActure OF piercing projectiles the bureau
recent date again rauaed 70 be made at the proving
ground. Indian Head. Nd comparative test OF the g.
inch cabre using two specimen each of the liotEer
Carpen and sterling product In this test the Car
pener shell were clearly equal II not to tho
best Of tho FOtzer manufac thus far delivered in
this country One nf the Sterling projecties showed
qualities Of very superior character Tho bureau will
in future contracts demAnd more severe reception
test than Is required abroad for armor piercing pro-
jecties.
The result of these various experiences at
Sandy Hook and at Indian Head Is to show
that in this country both Holtzer and Firminy
shells Of the highest excellence are produced
to-day. And yet five years ago not single
armor- p ercing proiectile had ever been made