The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-20
POOR ARMOR PLATE
HARvEYIZED STEEL INTENDED FOR
THE INDIANA WORTHLESS.
Sample of a Big Lot Split i'm Twain
in a Test at Indian Head
Proving Ground.

WASHINGTON, May 19.-With a roar
and a shock that made the earth tremble,
the navy pet, the twelve-inch rifle, hurled
it's S50-pound projectile against an eighteen
inch nickel steel Harveyized plate, the
most powerful ever tried at the proving
ground to-day, and tore the thirty-three
tons of steel into great fragments The
result was a complete surprise for all OF
the experts and a sad blow to the Beth
lehem Steel Company, for unless it can
do better with the next plate it will lose
$500, 900 represented by the group of armor
plates of which the sample tried to-day
was the test piece.
The plate submitted to the test is No. s.
1O7 3, representing 6l3 tons of side armor
intended for the battle ship Indiana and
made by the Bethlehem Steel Company. 1t
weighed thirty-three and quarter tons
and cost about $1,000. In shape it was an
irregular oblong, sixteen feet long by
seven and half feet high, eighteen inches
thick above, with the lower edge forty-two
inches, bevelled off to a minimum thick
ness of eight inches. 1t was nickle STEEL
forged by hydraulic pressure and Harvey
lied. A thirteen-inch rife, the largest in
naval use was to be fired against this, but
the plate was found to be too narrow to
warrant this severe test, so the twelve-inch
gun, which will hereafter be the maximum
in our ordnance construction, was leveled
at the plate distant about four hundred
feet. The projectile a Carpenter armor
piercer weighing $50 pounds and driven by
269A pounds of Duponts brown prismatic
powder, flew across the space with a veloc-
ity of ], 465 feet per second and struck the
plate about foot to the right of the CEN
ter. When the smoke cleared away there
was exclamation of surprise from the
spectators. About thirty feet in front of
the target lay the shot, apparently little
changed, while in the plate a gaping
hole and, worse than that, three great
cracks running clear across from bottom
edge An examination showed that the shot
had forced its point through the plate to the
backing and had then rebounded, after
cracking the plate: Had the plate been
fastened to the !ndana's side. instead of
against thirty-six inches of oak backing
against a hillside, the chances are that
the battle ship would have had frightful
wound.
Further experiment seemed to be need
less, but the contract condition requiring il
another shot was fired at the fragment OF
plate on the right about seven feet broad.
that remained uninjured. This time the
gunner put 419 $40 pounds of powder in the
gun and the projectile, another twelve-inch
Carpenter, was given additlonal 1 force and
second Again the plate was rent In twain,
splitting widely across, but the shot did
not escape for while 1t forced its point
through the plate and about three inches
into the oak backing IL was twisted in sew
eraI pieces, the point remaining outside the
plate. The Bethlehem company will have
an opportunity TO submit another eighteen
inch plate to test before the entire group
OF twenty plates for the Indiana is finally
Judged. and as the company will doubtless
take this chance 10 save the SoO0,VOO which
the plates cost, the next trial may finally
set at rest the doubt that now exists as TO
ba cauSa 0f failure tO-dav