The sun., 1894-12-17
orr SNIP zRMOR.
sous Points Sueeested ~ the Trial ef
the Oreeoa's Barbette PIste.

| the Oreeon's Bsrbette Plate.
wAsHiSoToS Dec. 18.-Although the curvet
Carnegie l7-inch plate, forming part OF the To-
intended for the Oregon. was badly cracked II
| Yesterdays trial at Indian Head II does not FOL
| low that the lot will be rejected. Even were
this plate found unsatisfactory there is the priv
ileRe OF trying a second. and, Of course. with ar
NOR amounting to nearly 100000 involved
this privilege would be used, provided IL should
prove necessary.
! The experience Of the past year with thick
armor Is Instructive in the present instance
On May 10 an 1s-inch bethlehem plate Of Har-
veyl7ed nickel steel, representing the side armor
| of the Indiana, was attacked at Indian Head by
| two 12-inch Carpenter projectiles fired with the
contract Velocities. The first shell went
Just through the plate and cracked 1t,
and the second proiecte also went
just through, wrecking the plate and
projectile. No little sensation was caused by
this result, which some critics regarded rs an in
dcaton that the Harvey process was not suta-
bic for the thickest plates II was suggested
that there should be some modification OF the
requirements but this was not conceded. just
two months later, on July 10, n second plate OF
the same lot was tested with two similar Car
penter shells and with the same velocities,
namely. LAOS and 1,020 feet per second. Both
projectiles were broken up with estimated pene-
trations OF II and IL inches respectively. and
the plate and the entire lot were accordingly ac-
cepted. A sufficient explanation for the failure
OF the first plate was found in the discovery Of
an internal flaw, which had not been visible
when the p ate was finished but was disclosed
BY the firms test
Again, in July. n Carnegie 17-inch barbette
plate, similar TO the one tried Yesterday IL being
made, in fact, for the Oregon, suffered de-
feat on the first trial. A Carpenter 12-inch
projectile, with striking velocity Of 1.410 feet
per second penetrated 1916 inches and rebound
ed without being broken up, the plate also not
being cracked. But in the second shot q
Wheeler-Sterling 1"-inch she'll with 1858 feet
per second velocity. passed completely through
not only the plate but the backing and penetrated
IL feet into the butt. This latter result was
surprise; but, instead OF rejecting the plate. on
the following day n Carpenter projectile was
fired in an extra round against u fragment OF
the plate and the result was that the projectile
was welded into it. penetrating 10 inches. and
with its base remaining out 10 inches from the
plate. Ten days later fourth shot was fired.
also Carpenter projectile, which was broken
up. The plate was then accepted, and Herewith
the whole lot. II was evident that so good q
result in fourth shot showed that the ormor
was fit to be placed upon a battle ship.
of lot of ls-inch Bethlehem armor on the sec
and the other the acceptance of a lot of f7-inch
Carnegie arinOr on the results OF two extra
sr;oS aiS, @ me .wo rsgdar Shots at the plate
their bearings upon Saturdays test. When the
17-inch curved barbette arinor Of the Massa-
chusetts, made by the Bethlehem company was
tested on June L. last, the proicctiles used we're
both Carpenter shells. Both the tests Of s-nch
plates of the Indiana already spoken Of. were
with Carpenter shells. On the other hnnd, 1t
was Misunderstanding shell that riddled the
l7-inch armor OF the other barbette Of the Ore
On looking at the details of Saturdays trial II
Is seen that the rirst shot. with the prescribed
l.41O feet or velocity, penetrated ID inches and
rebounded unbroken. and only shortened about
tenth of an inch. The bulge caused about the
showing that tie plate. like its predecessor in
July, was too soft, although in fact IL had been
@ p viii S be- rt shot In
Carpenter shell, which penetrated 13ls inches.
and also rebounded without being broken But
whereas there was then no cracking, In Satur-
days plate there was through crack from the
top Of the plate to the hole As to this. however 1t
should he observed that the shot had been aimed
nt a point near the edge or rather near the strip
left unhardened for the purpose of boring, so
crack was % Very little open at " the hole, and yes
was perhaps half an inch wide at the
has been shown to be feasible, so that when the
apparatus for that purpose is supplied, plates
soft strip at the top being needed.
The second shot. which was to determine the
contract velocity of 1850 feet per second at a
point about two feet from the crack already
spoken of, four feet from the :op. and two and u
ten inches. and then was completely broken up
into small fragments. The plate cracked from
the impact to the upper edge and the longitu-
dinal crack was slightly wideneG. Yet, II we
compare this result with that OF the second shot
in the July trial OF n 1-inch bArbette plata we
find that similar prOjectile fired at the centre
OF the plate, with the same velocity. passed COM
pletely through both the plate and the target.
As this was The test not for cracking but for
penetration, IL seems clear that yesterdays re-
suit was superior to that of the first days
trial with the July plate, ultimately accepted.
Summed up, the trial shows that neither of
these prOJectiles was able TO 20 entirely through
the armOr plate. although the target under
the second heavy blow was set back several
inches. The first round did not fulfil the con-
tract requirements because IL was q test OF
cracking and a crack actually resulted. Still,
taking up the simple question as TO the protec-
tton furnished to battle ship by this armor
and the experience derived from the July test
IL s quite possible that this lot may be accepted
even on the results obtained or yet TO be OBJ
tained from this plate. At all events should a
second plate have to he tried there IL good hope
that IL would he accepted since the first was
picked out by the Inspector of Ordnance as ap-
parently the weakest OF the lot. Certainly there
Is nothing In the result To discredit the system
Of surface hardening which Is employed not
only in our navy. but in those OF foreign coun-
tries: The smashing Of Il Wheeler Sterling pro-
jectile. with penetration of only 10 inches is
\ rather noteworthy performance for the armor
n EV1ifa fNNN Nl.a..a obi