The Portland daily press., 1895-05-03
MARVELLOUS ARMOR TESTS.
One Shell Welded Into the Plate by
the Heat of Impact.

the Heat of Impact.
Another Attack With Thirteen Inch
Shell Results in Destroying the Backing
Without Seriously Injuring the Plate
Enormous Striking Power Developed.
Washington. May 2.-There was a battle
royal at the Indian Head Proving Grounds
today between the big guns of the navy and
| an eighteen inch Haryeyized steel plate
made by the Carnegie works, with wholly
unprecedented results. Two shots were
fred at the great piece of steel with
twelye-inch rifle without making any
practical impression on it. Then the great
'peace-maker. as the tbirteen-inch gun is
called. discharged its half ton lrojectile
point blank at the armor, and though
driven bodily back into the sandbank sup
porting it. the plate sur yived.
| Great interest was taken in roday's test,
as it wns practically a competition between
the Hitherto suspected Carnegie product,
and the uniformly successful Bethlehem
manufacture. The Bethlehem company
furnished the eighteen inch plate that
passed the ordeal two weeks ago, and today
|
the same grade of shells and all the con-
ditions uniform. Todays plate represented
the second lot of ten plates for the side
armor of the battleship Oregon. During to-
days test il was attached to backing of
| thjrty-six inches of solid oak by twenty-six
three-incn bolts, the entire structure being
firmly anchored in hillside about one hun
dred yards from the muzzles of the gun
| battery.
The first missile was an $50 pound twelve
inca Hotter shell, driven by 249.2 pounds
of brown hexagonal powder. with velocity
of l.465 feet second. 1t struck the plate
with an energy of 12,66s foot tons, ths point
of impact being seventy-eght inches from
the left edge and thirty y-eight inches from
the top. This was designated the cracking
shot, and its velocity was so calculated as
to split the armor If possible. The Carnegie
plate, however, showed no crack whatever.
The nose of the projectile pushed into the
hardened metal about six inches, causing
an annular bugle in the surface half an
inch high and extending for three inches
aIound the hole characterized by small
patches of the surface scaling off OF the
$50 pounds of shell no piece heavier tLan a
few pounds could be found. With the
Bethlehem plate tie she'll had gone in over
| twelve inches.
| The gun was mopped out, and behind an
other projscrile similar to the first one 443.i
pounds of powder were placed. giving
muzzle velocity of 1926 feet second, and
| the enormous striking energy of 2l. 8S5 foot
tons. The shot struck forty-two inches to
the light of the first shot. The plate bad
| passed the cracking ordeal.ss and thiss shot
WAS intended solel y to try it's resistance to
penetration. The penetration was ten
inches as we'll as could be estimated. { The
head Of the projectile, far the ex-
plosive chamber. was completely smashed on
the plate. looking as if lot of black mud
had been splashed upon the armor. The
two metals had been melted and welded to-
gether by the terrific temperature due to
the sudden and complete stoppage of the
shot, the frightful energy of nearly $4,000
| foot tons being suddenly converted into
| heat. The metal of the plate for depth of
| three inches and for six inches around the
point where the projectile struck had been
| fused and bubbled up like volcanic crater.
A crack three fourt bs of an inch wide was
developed in the surface of the plate ex-
tending from the top TO the bottom.
Tho plate was accepted by the government
and then, with the view to determining
what its ultimate condition might under the
N ost extreme conditions. it rs decided by
the chief of ordinance to attack it with the
greatest of naval weapons, he big thirteen
inch gun from the turrets of one Of the
battleships. A thirteen inch Carpenter
she'll. weighing 1,l00 pounds driven by a89
pounds of powder specially adapted to this
gun. was discharged with a velocity of 1910
feet per second in this test. l. had The
unprecedented striking energy OF $4,000 foot
tons. and it's impact was only thirty-.wo
inches 10 the left of the first shot.
The result was remarkable. 1t was ex-
pected that this test would demolish the
plate. Inst cad of that crack three inches
wide was made some distance from the top,
and the shell. after penetrating ten inches,
was, as one of the officers declared, ''al-
most puIye1ized." The solid oak backing
however. demonstrated the terrific energy
of the projectile, for 1t was shut up like an
accordion and split into kindliDg wood.
The effect of such gun fire on battleship
in action. in the opinion Of the experts
present would BIS inoalculable. Upon care
full examination the ability of the plate to
| keep out the heaviest projectile was fully
| proved by the fact that only one of the
| fastening bolts was damaged. The other
| twenty-five would easily have held the
| plate in position on shiL board. This plate
| is said to indicate that the endless fight be-
tween gun and armor which has recently
beenfrather one-s:ded in the guns favor is
| now about tie, and that with the Ieforg-
| ing process the armor may soon be inyulner-
| able to any existing weapon.
/