The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-03-03

creased power Of dealing with materials,
already alluded 10.
CONTEST OF ARMoR AND PRoJRCTIIE.
The modern contest began with the intro
duction Of horizontal shell fire in the third
decade Of the century. This term must be
explained. II has been said that all ships
guns up to 1915 threw non-explosive pro-
%jectiles. In practice this il true. although
Nelson alluded to certain shell supplied
TO him for trial. which he was unwilling
| 20 use because he wished not to burn his
prizes, but TO take them alive. A shell Is
a hollow projectile filed with powder. the
idea of which is that upon reaching the
! enemy II will burst into several pieces.
each capable Of killing a man and the fame
not impossibly setting woodwork on fire.
IL was necessary that the powder within
should not explode from the combustion
Of the cartridge Of the gun. for II 1t did IFS
force, combined with that Of the cartridge.
might burst the gun. yet the process that
should result in bursting must begin at that
moment or else II would not take place nj
all. This difficulty was met by a short
column OF hard compressed powder called
The fuse. which extended from the outside
TO the inside OF the shell. The outer end
was inflamed by the charge of the gun. but
from It's density il burned slowly, So that
The charge OF the shell was not enkindled
ior five. ten or more seconds This eA-
pedlent was in use over a century ago,
bur. owing 10 imperfections OF manufact-
IRE, no certainty was attained that the
fuse might not be driven in or broken by
the force Of the discharge. or the shell
itself be cracked and SO explode premn-
rurely. Shell. therefore. were fired with
very light charges and TO obtain sufficient
range go far enough they were used in
very short. very thick guns. called bombs
or mortars. to which great elevation was
given. Such firing. because. the shell
flew high in the air. was called vertical
firing. in Contradistinction to the fire OF
the long gun or carronade. called hori-
2ontal fire. because the projectiles rose
little above the level.
The destructiveness Of shell from or
binary guns was so obvious. especially for
forts to use against wooden ships, that the
difficulties were gradually overcome, and
horizontal shell fire was introduced soon
7 wv ~ ""'' '''' '''
time for thought and change. But although
the idea was accepted and the fact realized.
practice changed slowly. ~ II tends to
do in the absence of mergen In the
attack on Vera Cruz in 1898 Farragu' was
present and was greatly impressed, as
with n novelty. by the effect OF what he
called the Shell shot A" n hybrid term which
APPLY expresses the transition state Of
mems minds al the time. ] remember an
officer who entered the navy in 1910 telling
me the respectful awe and distrust with
which his superiors then regarded the
now weapon. a very few nf which for each
gun were supplied tentatively. Ten years
more. however. saw a great change. and
in 1853 tho attack of the Russian squadron
Of wooden sailing ships upon the Turkish
vessels in the Ray of Sinope gave an object
lesson that aroused the naval world to
what wooden ships must expect from hori-
zontal shell FIRE. In a few minutes three
out Of seven Turkish frigates were in flames.
while Of nine sailing ships and two steamers
only one Of the latter escaped
HORIZONTAL SHELL PlRF.
The Crimoan var followed quickly. and
~ 1854 the wooden steamships Of the line
II the allies. vessels identical in fighting
characteristics with those Of Trafal gar,
attempted TO silence masonry works AZ
Scbastopol. Though the disaster was not
50 great, the lesson Of Sinope was reafirmed
Louis Napoleon. thoughtful man, though
scarcely q man ~ action. had foreseen the
difficulty. and had already directed the
construction Of Ave floating batteries which
were 70 carry armor. Before the war
ended these vessels attacked the forts at
kinburn. which they compelled to sur
render. losing themselves no men except
by shells that entered the gun ports. Their
armor was not pierced.
Horizontal shell fire had called for iron
armor, and tho two. ms opposing factors.
were now established in the recognition Of
men. The contest between the two sums
ny the progression and the fluctuations Of
military ideas which have resulted in the
hHttlcship Of to-day, which. as the feet
ship. remains the dominant factor in nava
warfare. not only in actual fact. but in
present probability. From the first feeble
beginnings al Kinhurn to the present time.
although the strife has waxed greatly in
degree. il remains unchanged in principle
and in kind. To exclude the shell, because.
starting as one proJectile. il became many
after penetration. In what does it differ
from excluding the rapid-nre gun, whose
projeCtiles are many from tho first and
penetrate singly'
There occurred. however. one singular
development, an alteration from the nor
NAL line Of advance. the chief manifesto
ton Of which, from local and temporary
conditions. was in our " country. This
was the transient pr~edominance Of the
monitor type and idea the ironclad vessel.
with none but a very few very heavy guns,
mounted in one or two circular revolving
, turrets. protected by very heavy arnor.
The monitor type embodied two Ideas.
The first was the extreme Of defensive
power. owing TO the snallncss OF the tar get
and the thickness Of lis armor; the hull
OF the vessel rising but little above the
water. the turre' waS substantially the
only target. The second was an extreme