The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-11
NOR PIERCING SHELLS.

1t was Friccson's Monitor that rev.
olution.zed the art of naval warfare
by using iron for the protection of ves-
sells, giving this honor to America.
Now America is about to revolutionize
the question between guns and armor,
and in favor of the guns. The arunor
plate made in America. and tested at
Indian Head has proved to be the best
in the world, yet only the other day.
the 4th inst, an 1S-inch HaTVeyiZed
plate was pierced by Pinch she'll
This is the first time in the history Of
the ordnance bureau that such a thing
has ever happened. The shot that did
1T was made ON entirely different prin-
ciples from those that have heretofore
prevailed in the manufacture of ar
morpiercing projectiles.
This new armor-piercing shot was
manufactured by. Isaac G.. johnson &
Co., of Spuyten Duyvil. n. Y, a firm
that manufactured cast iron cannon
balls during the Mexican war. Their
new shot is also cast instead of being
forged. 1t is otherwise different it
being solid instead of hollow, THE theo-
ry having been that such shot must be
hollow that they might be hardened on
the inside. The Johnson shot is hard
ON the inside and comparatively soft on
The exterior, herein differing radically
from the hollow shot which was made IS
hard on the exterior as possible. 1t
also has a soft steel cap which pro-
tects the point of the shell Until it has
passed Through the Harveyized sur
face of the plate, acting as a sort of
lubricant to assist the passage Of the
shell.
The experiments were most interest
ing. Two 12-inca shells were fired at
an 1S-inch Harveyized plate. The first
shell was one bearing a soft steel cap.
Behind this were four hundred and
forty three pounds of brown hexagonal
powder, which gave it a velocity of
1,426 feet per second. 1t went through
the plate but broke after passing
From the corner of the plate two tons
Of metal were broken. The shot also
passed through two feet of solid oak
backing.
The second shot was with a 12-inch
shell under the same conditions but
without the soft steel cap. 1t pene-
,trated nine inches, cracked the plate
slightly, and then broke TO pieces.
Then an S-inch shell with the cap
was fired at the 1S-inch plate, which it
penetrated II inches. The charge of
powder was one hundred and four
pounds, which gave the shell "a veloc-
ity Of 1000 feet. 1t rebounded
whole, but cracked the plate. A second
S-inch shell, without the cap, fired under
the same conditions, went ITO pieces.
Then 6-inch shells were used. With
forty-four and fourteenth pounds of
powder, the shot having a velocity Of
200 feet, a reiterated HaTveyized g.
inch plate, the best of it's character
ever sent to Indian Head, was COM
pleitely pierced, the holes being bored
clean. The shots, four in number, all
passed through two feet of oak and
were lost in the eanth embankmenr.
All this means a revolution in the the
DRY and manufacture of armor- piercing
shells.
The United States have but three bat
tie ships, the Oregon, Massachusetts,
and Indiana, which have amor of the
thickness penetrated by 12-inch John
son she'll This armor, which is ~ feet
wide, only extends over Sc per cent of
the whole length.
England, the leading naval power of
the world, has but three war vessels
carrying heavier armor than 1S-inches,
two of them, the Trafalgar and Nile,
having 2O-inch armor, while the In
flexible has 24-inch armor.
France, the second naval power in
the world, has eight war vessels car
rying armor more than 18-inches thick.
They are the Amiral Duperre. % inches,
the Amiral Baudin. %. the Formidable,
%, and the Terrible, incompatible.
Furieux, Caimen and Requin, all hay
ing 20-inch armor.
lit is not. improbable that a 13-inch
shell of the Johnson pattern would
penetrate the armor of any one of the
above named English or French war
vessels An immense thing in its favor
is that the new projectile can be made
so very much cheaper than those
hitherto in use.