The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-05-20

EXPERTS ALL. SURPRISED.
SHATTERED BY THE PROJECTILE.
What Would Have Happened TO the
Indiana Had She Carried This
Steel Coat.

NJ WAsHINGTON,IM May 19-With arOar and
q shock that made the earth trembe. the
navy pet, the new 12-inch rife, hurled It's
S5Q-p0und. proiectile against l6-inch
nickel-steel HarVeyized plate, the most
powerful ever tried, at the proving
grounds to-day, and tore the thirty-three
tons Of steel into great fragments. The
result was complete surprise for all of
The experts and a sad blow to the Bethle-
hem Steel Company, Tor unless they can
do better with the next plate they will
lose $500. 1000. represented by The group Of
armor- plate, of which the sample tried to-
day was the test piece.
= The plates submitted to test was N.
5-107 "B." representing 613 tons of side
aruior intended for the battleship Indiana,
and made by the Bethlehem Steel Gem
rany. 1t weighed thirty-three and quar-
ter tons and cost about $4,000. In shape
1t was .obong. 16 feet long by ~ feet
high, and'18 inches thick above, with the
lower edge 40 inches beyeled off to mini
mum thickness of 9 inches. It was nickel
steel. forged by hydraulic pressure and
Harveyized.
a. 13-lneh rife, the largest In naval use,
waste be fred against this, but the plate
severe test, so the 12-inch gun, which will
hereafter be the maximum ordnance con-
struction, was IeVeled at the plate, dis
tant about 400 feet: The Drojectile, Car
penter aTmor piercer weighing $50 pounds
and driven by 769A pounds Of Duponts
brown prismatic powder, flew across the
space with velocity If 1865 feet per sec
ond and struck the plate about foot to
the right of the center.
When The smoke cleared away there
was an exclamation of surprise from the
spectators. About thirty feet in front of
the target lay the shot. apparently little
changed, while in the plate was a gaping
hole, and, worse than that, three great
cracks, yawning open eight inches, run
ming clear across from top TO bottom and
from the shothoie.tO the left edge.
- An examination showed that the shot
had forced its point through the plate to
the Backing ana had then rebounded after
cracking the plate. Had the plate been
fastened on the Indiana's side Instead of
against thirty-stx inches of oak, backed
against tile hillside, the chances are the
battleship would nave had a frightful
wound, Further experiment seemed to
be: needless, but, the contract considera-
.tiOn requiring it, another shot was fred al
the fragment of plate on the right side
about seven-feet broad that remained un.
ihjured:. This time the gunner put 439 3-15
pound Of powder in the gun. and the pro-
.jectile. another 12-inch Carpenter, was
gwen force and sent at the maximum
velocity of 1926 feet second. Again the
plate was rent. splitting widely across, but
the shot did not escape. for while it forced
its point through the plate and about
eight inches into the oak backing it was
twisted in several places, the point remaiD-
Ing in the hole and the remainder lying in
fragments outside the plate.
The Bethlehem company will have an
other opportunity to submit an 18-inch
plate TO the test before the entire group of
twenty plates for the Indiana is finally
judged, and as they will doubtless take
another chance to save the 100000 which
the plates cost. the next trial may finally
set. trest the doubt that now exists as to
the cause of he failure to-day.