The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-25

the contracts. Thus the Monterey. Amphitrite,
Terror. Katahdin. and New York. among the
armorciads, do not have any Harvey nrmor.
The Puritan and honadnock have only their
turrcts Haryeyed. The Indiana, Massachusetts,.
and Oregon have their side armor and turrets
Haryeyed. and the two latter also have their
barbettes thus treated. The Maine has both
side armor and turrets Earveyed. but the Texas
only the former. The Brooklyn has the process
applied TO aide armor and barbettes. OK course,
II It had been perfected earlier, some Of the YES
sells which now do not have It's advantages
would haze shared them.
The dealings CT the Navy Department wish
contractors. in view OF the novelty Of the armor-
plate industry. have necessarily been liberal.
As Commodore sampson explains In his current
report, minimum requirements were set in the
specifications designed merely 10 exclude ALSO
lutely Inferior or defective material. while many
matters were necessarily left to be settled equita-
bly, by experience. II IL stated that the ballistlo
test. or the one consisting OF actual firing at the
plates. has never been regarded as expressing
the full standard Of excellence, because all good
plates arc expected to have . resistance at least
10 per cent. greater than Is required for accept
ance. The results Of tblrty-one ballistic trials
justify this expectation, for there we're but two
failures, and In those cases the plates were
fawed or stressed on account of not Icing ho-
moRencous before the treatment was applied.
The libernlity Of the Government in thus put
ting the ballistic test 20 far below the standard
Of resistance intended and paid for IL obvious,
but Of course It does not Justify any inferior
work by contractors. Now, also, that the man
ufacture Of armor is 50 well established that a
regularity of output may be expected. the stand
ard Is likely to be raised TO what experience has
shown may easily be reached by care and skill.
development during the last twelve months. A
while ago II was thought In other countries that
strains IN thick plates on hardening. and Other
difficulties would make the Harvey process Inn
practicable, but these difficulties have not oc-
of any shape and thickness. IL sound and
homogeneous. Sometimes a ietreatment may
fishes the need Of a resort TO that. II has
been found. however, that in super.carbonized
Yet. on testing two Bethlehem and two Carnegie
plates which had cracks In the Harveyed sur
face only, y was found that, when supported by
cracks did not reduce the ballistic resistance Of
the plate. The result is said to be like that OBJ
cracks in Grrson armor plates. still, II is
thought that even thesedefects may be avoided.
One difficulty which had been especially dwelt
upon was that Of drilling holes at the edges OF
Haryeyed plates in order to bolt other plates or
portions OF tho vessel 70 them. Considerable
several ways Of avoiding. this difficulty, among
hHsh DVAab hheh VI v NhN VlkN
and soft and that Of protecting the holes in such
!. way that they would be unaffected by the
sampson says that, while hitherto soft strips
usually been left on the faces Of plates,
hem. recent experiments have shown the feast.
1ility of electric annealing. An apparatus for
hat purpose hos been furnished TO the Messrs.
ramp. so that armor hereafter used by that
irm will be Harveyed over the entire surface.
As to the other method, that OF drilling the re-
hem from oxidation in the furnace. the practi-
al difficulty was that the shipbnilders could not
d the bolt and rivet tn holes. HSwsrer .H sne " eies-
nc. sn nbs' 2 -, solves the problem, so that one
The armor tests OF the past year have been OF
n exceptionally interesting and important char
side afmor OF the Indiana. made at BETH
chem, OF which the first was rejected and the
,gainst the second, plate two fa-inch Carpenter
ro)ectles were broken, up. neither getting
Trough; They include. also, the test OF i.inch
lana, the Massachusetts,, and the Oregon. the
wo former made by the Bethlehem and the
Est of l2-inch projectiles delivered at the con-
yelocities; Less thick plates accepted were
lIf-inch curved barbette armor Of the Monsd.
ock. Various other trsts of interest have been
{ armor and in the trial OF projectiles. During
he course 81 these experiments il was urged
the ballistic tests for thick Harveyed ar
ior were, much too severe. But IL was found
nat. while undoubtedly more severe than for
ain armor; they were not in excess OF what
should be. and the Bureau of Ordinances
a. announced Its conclusion that the standard
ught not to be lowered for plates Of any thick
rss now required.
The experience Of the year as a whole Ia. GER
hniy been very favorable to the practical de-
has been all the greater since it has
,und It's way to other countries and II regularly
In England. The cry raised last sum-
Ter that 1t would. not answer for the thlckest
'ates has ceased. the failure of the sample
rmor on which that supposltion was based hav-
* been shown to be the result OF its own de-
Commodore S.mpson's review Of the
pars work Ia ship armor confirms the belief
rat that which our new est battle ships carry in
10 best In the world.