Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02
FORCE OF A PROJEcTIE
The Path of the Shell That struck fhe
Texas.

AeAaS.
The New York Herald prints a report of
the correspondent of the London Telegraph
at Guantanamo describing the effects of
tne proJectlle that struck the Texas while
she was silencing shore batteries during
'he army landing at Baiquiri. The CORES
poHdent said:
Inc pro1ectilc was a steel six-inch she'll
hired, IT is believed. from one of the high
power ships guns that have been mounted
on the Notifications since Admiral Ger
Nera's feet was blockaded in Santiago har-
DOT. 1t struck the Texas on the port bow.
between the gun deck and the spar deck.
bursting in the forward compartment.
where there are six 6-pounder guns. three
on either side. The crews of all these guns
were at quarters and there were besides
number of other men in the compartment
at the time
1t is miraculous that only one man was
killed and eight wounded. The part of the
ship hit is outside the central citadel and
above the protected deck. The sides of
the ship at the point of impact consisted
OF steel plate one and a quarter inches
thick The shell pierced this like so ma,h
paper, hit metal stanchion amidships Ynd
exploded about seven feet from the pla ting
on the starboard side. A noteworthy fea-
ture OF the steel plating was that IL af-
Iorded no splinters or debris to carry in
board. II was torn into ribbons and folded
back in way taat gave the impression
that the tough metal had been half melted
by the impact and passage OF the projectile
Inc shock, howese err. was not sufficient TO
explode the shell, and had IL missed the
stanchion 1t would have passed through
the starboard side and possibly exploded
outside the ship. Unfortunately, the stanch-
Ion was directly in the path of the shell. and
the heavy metal column offered enough re-
SlStdnCe to eXDlOd6 il The effeef
rihc. Although the shell was only a small
one, SIX inches IN diameter, and therefore
not weighing mere than about seventy
pounds, IL practically wrecked the big COM
partment In which IL burst while the smoke
from it forced itself down the ammunition
hoists and into the forward compartments
OF the ship, so that for a few minutes the
crew were almost suffocated. The stanch-
len was shivered into atoms for two feet of
It's length, and the fragments of the burst
shell. flying forward against the starboard
side, bulged the stout steel plates outward
to q depth of three inches. Just at this
point one Of the big double-headed angle
irons OF the ships frame was situated.
This great rib OF steel nearly twice as
thick and heavy as a railroad rail, was cut
through In two pieces as IL It had been
made of cheese, and nearly two feet of il
was carried away bodily In minute pieces
The base Of the shell ploughed a furrow
down the steel deck just as a plough would
cut through the soft soil Of fallow field.
II hit and broke smother RIB Of the ship.
and. breaking itself In two. both pieces
lodged In q cable reel standing close to the
starboard side. The core Of this reel was a
prism OF oak over two feet In crcumfer-
encs and there was wound on Il at the
time q coil Of hemp hawser that made a
cylinder about four feet In diameter. The
hemp rope was out through to the wood
and the stout oaken prism was shivered
to spltntsrs. This one fact alone would
Dc sufficient 70 give an idea OF the appall-
Ing ensrgy Of modern projsctilss. Showers
OF steel splinters. resulting from the ex-
ploded shell itself and the torn stanchion
and angle irons swept along the starboard
side Tor about thirty feet, cutting or heads
Of bolts. breaking gun fittings and stripping
on the paint a. II q score Of men had
worked for hours with steel chissls.
Every man In Its path was wounded.
One gunner was hit with no fewer than
fifteen pieces Of steel. each about the size
OF haxsl nut. AZ the moment the shell
exploded one man was standing right In
lis path He was literally blown to frag-
ments. He was talking to o comrade, and
strange - Il may seem, the latter. although
less than arms length away, was unhurt,
save for being knocked down by the shock
OF the explosion. Others OF the men.
thirty feet from the fatal shot had dozen
pieces OF the she'll plunged into their bodies.
A remarkable feature of the explosion was
the smallness of the pieces into which the
shell burst. 1t shlvered into fragments
weighing about an ounce. The only piece
Of any size picked up was rather less than
that 1t had been a six-inch
shell. fired from q high-power breechload-
ing gun, and exploded by q percussion fuse
fixed in the nose"