The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
xRuPr <nxoR FOR OUR sHIps.
Congress Will Re Urged to Rats. the Limit
of Cost so Tint II Can lie Provided.

OF Cost SO That II Can lie Provided.
When Congress reasscmblcs. Secretary Of the
Navy Long and Rear Admiral Charles o'Neil,
Chief Of the Bureau Of Ordnance, will mako do
tcrmined effort to secure the removal Of tho limi,
Of cost-s300- imposed by Congress upon armof
purchased for menof war. and the appropriation
Of sufficient money 10 buy Krupp armor for at
least the three battleships of the Maine class and
the three battlcships and three armorcd cruisers
projected. To place any other than Krupp armor
upon American ironclads Of today's construc-
ton will, in the opinion OF Rear Admiral ONeil,
be TO the lasting discredit Of the American Gov
eminent All told, there are about 21, 900 tons
Of armor required for tho vessels named above
and the contract for the material must be divided
between the only two armor. making establish
ments in the United States the Carnegie Steel
Company, Limited, and the bethlehem Iron Com
pany, unless Congress should, as repeatedly
threatened in the past. direct tho establish mont
Of plant In accordance with the plans prepared
by the Naval Board Of which Rear Admiral Nc
Cormick was president Even in the latter event.
Krupp nrmor could not be manufactured without
danger Of liability for infringement Of patents.
Should krupp amor be authorized and the SEQ
retary OF the Navy be empowered 10 pay the man
ufactu-cr's price, the United States will have TO
expcnd almost Si2 900 900 instead Of 81 000. 900
in case Congress should persist In its refusal TO
increase tho limit OF cost and compel the depart
men, to make contracts for IIarveyizcd armor.
Tho Navy, from Admiral Dewey down 10 the
man behind the gun. protected In serving by tho
armor Of his ship is unit In opposition to the
adoption Of anything but tho best material for
United States mcn-of-war Rear Admiral o'Noil
says that to place any other than the bost quality
Of armor upon American vessels. will destroy
the prestige of our naval vessels"
Krupp armor has only been established a.
a projection for modern men-of-war since carly
In 1896. The process was evolved In the great
works Of Krupp in Germany. and tho plates
manufactured gave such excellent experimental
results as to hstonish the naval world. The
and was based upon the, good showing made
by II 8-ineh plate, which was tested on Sept
krupp until three years later, and to-day oriciAi
reports received by the Navy department are 70
The , elieG! sha, Great Britain Is buying nothing
Srmor for four baiueships and three .rmOrsd
cruisers and Germany and France have followed
Tho manufacture of the srmor has
long since passed tho experimental stage
% nna on n0 large scale abroad and on
moderate scale in the United Sntcs The
aIImor companies In thi, country, doopairine
armor determined 70 possess this latest secret
Of nrmor manufacture and, accordingly. last
men, 10 become acquainted with the detaiia Tho
Carnegie Company presented for test at the nAyd
1895 6-inch Krupp plate and in Oeto OF Of the
weio Is srs, sdofts and gnstaiay not as good
is had in manufacture, they showed marked
excellence and superiority 10 the ordinary faoe-
The Bethlehem Company gave a test al It's
| proving grounds at Reddngton. Pa In Noyem-
attacked mar
piercing proiectles and withstood six shots hav:
ing total energy Of so Cos foottons only one Of
| the proiocules getting through tho plato and
! backing. and that one being entirely broken up
This proiccule struck with velocity that should
iron or through nearly eight inches OF ordinary
| face-hnrdencd nImor This plate, Rear Admiral
0'Neil says undoubtedly made as good show
presented for test These results were 40 con:
elusive that tho two American companies referred
iacture Krupp aImor commercially, and would
submit such nrmor 10 a test 70 per cent moro
part Of last year they con,rnc,ed to furnish KFupp
ermor for Russian batileship now being built
a, the Cramps SSrLs in Ph nS HI The
! at Indian Head by tho apartment a. q matter
! OF courtesy 70 the Russian Government
| its depth and hardness OF face, extreme tough.
ness Of back and immunity from cracks under
uiae,ure i is NO, en,ireiy covered BY patens 6u,
Ia a socalled trade secret though II = not wholly
! no. The chemical composition oil hrupp hrmor
! IL known to be the combination OF small
| percentages Of nickel. chromium. carbon, man
ganese, copper, phosphorus sulphur and silica
! The formula employed differs but little from
that which governs the manufacture OF tho ordi-
nary nickel-stecl armor as now made. there be.
| ing slight difference in the erontage OF nickel
| and the addition OF chromium. One OF the fca-
lures Of chromium Is that il possesses the property
OF keeping carbon in the form OF Hardening car
bon" another Is that IL raises the limit OF satura-
ton for carbon, and therefore rs presence I'M
doubtedly greatly facilitates the process Of car
I buriEhuon, which has TO be performed prior 10
is much more dnncult than that OF ordinary steel
Its liable 10 crack during the process thus neces
stating the use OF oil As cooling medium whereas
the ordinary nickel steel armor Is water tempered
ton is accomplished by charcoal under a high
and prolonged heat while In the case of Rrupp
plates IL is obtained by means Of a hydrocarbon
gas and requires furnaces especially adapted
ingly tough, requires longer time in the ma
chine shop TO cut and grind its edges TO final d.
mansions and 10 drill for bolts &c
Tho maximum depth OF hardness which can
three quarters OF on inch and an inch and quar-
any depth desired. Flats have boon manuals
.ured by the Harvey process which are as Seo god
Rear Admiral O'Nci snys thoso arc exceptional
plates, and tho armor manufacturers arc unwil
ling 10 guarantee tho delivery OF Hnrvoyizod
armoI which will give equally as sood u 5ssnls
iled and Krupp armor. this table has been pro
pared by tho Bureau Of Ordnance. giving pcrfors-
ton al the range OF 5000 yards, with smokoess
p and %S sn
incrcased thickness Of from Is 70 20 per cent may
DO perforated:
Weight Psyora- RYors-
a XXI v,lo,n B,ry"v k,~no