The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-07-30
VIII Penetrate ArnnOr of
Biggest Ship Afloat.
WAR TO BE REVOLUTIONIZED
No Man-Of-War Can Stand Up Against
Coast Defense With New Equipment.
Startling Announcement Of Officer Of
Ordnance Bureau.

The army ordnance officers believe +
they have discovered a new explosive /
so powerful and at the same time 50
capable of control by new fuse ar
irresistible by the heaviest aTmoT I
manufactured. They believe they can /
penetrate any warship anoat. and either /
blow her IN or wreck her
This startling announcement is made /
on the authority OF an officer high in
the ordnance office.
The claim is that the ordnance Off
GERS have discovered a fuse and new
high explosive which admit Of the
heaviest rife driving q steel projeeeIe
through the best aTmoT made. at aver
age fighting distance and under noT-naI
conditions. which viii not be detonated
until the point Of the shell is through
the plate and Gu the inside Of the back
ing along the ships sides. No 1oreign
government has the secret Of the fuse
arrangement or knows what the hi5a
explosive is Manufactured OF
Uncle Sans Secret.
For the present at least the United
States Army has secret which may
revolutionize battIeship construction
and have far-reaching effect upon the
design Of future ships Of the line.
General Crozier withholds carefully
from the public the faintest idea Of
what this fuse is like or what chemical
properties are employed in making the
explosion He believes that the navy
will have to meet this army invention.
but precisely how he is unable 20 state
One of the most competent naval
architects and the designer OF many
recently built WaTships is authority for
the statement that we have no battle
ship built OF under construction whose
plans we're not drawn On the SUPPOSE
ton that her armoT-piated sides could
not be penetrated by shells containing
high explosive. He knows OF the army
invention and believes it VIII be neces-
sary for the navy to give serious heed
10 It in preparing designs for the fight
ing ships Of the future
An important feature Of the discovery
IS that il was made by army officers
and ret purchased from some foreigner,
so that there IS a stronger probability
Of its not coming into general use
General Crozier states that no other
nation has perfected q device which
enables a deadly high explosive to be
shot through the side Of battleship
and exploded as the point passes
through the plate
Proiectiles Fired From Rified Guns.
a feature Of this most remarkable CT
recent ordnance discoveries is the abil-
ity also OF the heaviest rifled guns 20
fire armor-piercing protectfles 70 the
fun limit Of tI.eir range with the charge
IN the inner arrangement Of the shell.
The difficulty heretofore encountered
has been to give q projectile sufficient
velocity to have any effect en- side armor
before the charge was detUnated and the
shell exploded Experiments conducted
by the navy at the Indian Head proving
station with high 'sives have failed
10 develop shell that would penetrate
armor with high explosive charge. The
difficulty has beer with the fuse, and
the fact that on impact the charge would
frequently he fred. thus producing a
mere surface effect. General CroZieT
claims that all these difficulties have
been overcome and that IL Is no longer
problematiCal, but that 12-inch gun
has been fred at the best 1z-inCh armor
tration with the shell containing the ex-
plosiYe.
General Crozier claims that the charge
also materially increases the penetrat-
ing POKER Of the projectile.
Can Penetrate Fourteen-Inch Armor.
General Cruzier claims that the limit
OF pec1trStioB for Pinch gun is prob
ably Z inches CT the best Krupp armor.
but that a shell with the fuse device and
containing the explosive would have
such Increased velocity as to carry q
large part OF the shell through at least
Il inches of arOor. Briefly. he says that
Il inches of armor may be penetrated
by an explosive shell, whereas only L
inches can be pierced By 4 projectiIe.
Thus. according 10 General CTozier, the
explosive shell has the double ad-
vantage OF being able 70 pierce heavier
aTmor than any other shell. and win
carry a most destructive high explosive
along with It
In explanation Of The increased power
Of the explosive shell over that known
AZ the aTnlor piercing and containing no
explosive, General Croker states that
the high explosive remains auiescent in
the shell until full nenetTation IS at
tanned; Shen the fuse detonates. and
this causes the poins OF the prcjectile
10 be hurled forward through the re-
naming part Of the armoT.