The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-13
ARTILLERY AND TURRETS.
Interior OF sunren's Turret Un,n Jured In
Recent French Test at Brest.

Parin Correspondence 81. tAc Courier do,
Etats-Unis.
Complete reports Of the result Of the eN
pertinent recently made upon tho forward
turret Of the battleship Suffren are nov Ia
hand. The cable has already informed ia
that the startling test was made for the p,,r.
pose Of discovering the effect OF the shock
from a heavy projectile upon the interior In
stallations Of the turret ~ well as upon III.
organs which connect il with the hull Of The
vessel.
In the case Of the Suiren the pieces trained
upon her we're sSS milimstres and PA mill,
Of the turret protects II from perforation. but
the effect OF the shock upon Its interior ar
T T remained ih,n 70 be ascer,slned
ing the mechanism Of it's rotation. weakenin,
It's connections, with the hull. or running thr
pointing and aH Sha, nd GSon,riva1Ses' \ 20
ming Of tight
The forward tuIret Of the sufiren. chosen
limetres, the heaviest eu!ibre of the French
SaSE Il + hE steel %
from INJURY WAS on the star fsaH,
side by steel plate destined to receive the
shock. On top, for the pu rpose Of facl tatinc
the, Are. broad strip Of sailcloth was placed
tenders. were set up to catch the fly ing frag-
ments which might cause accidents, The
entire crew Of the sufiren remained on board
The Massena, which carries two guns Of 3Oi
millimetres. fired at the turret with one OF
them. The normal weight Of the charge OF
powder was redu ced in order to give to the
Suffren velocity equal 10 that which IL would
have with the normal charge, If the two ships
were at the average fighting distance.
after the shocks Of two. powerful prof ecttiies,
worked easily and rapidly. Moreover. we
w asSs y t9r y s e1 Sss
andes 70 it's axis. a. was the case the other day
The firing test which tho suf!ren stood was
Of the highest Importance, 4 dincren. result
from the one obtained might have caused a
complete revolution in the construction Of
tons n which the experiment was made the
fire Of the Masssna had put the inside maohin,
cry OF the turret out OF order turrets would
Ssve 70 81 aaH a Rp Ssppy
damage was done. and the people who watched
with intense interest the result Of this sensa
The turrets Of the battleships are excellent
from every point Of view,
Here are fey details obtained AIM by the
" Hite irt the hf Tn S Of few blank cartridges
the frst real shot was fired at 1880 In The
morning, with velocity at the striking
the GSn te.s sp!snddiS. At oeocs in ''f the
afternoon there was no hesitation about
brin ging the velocity OF the projectile
up to 8O0 metres. and another shot was
fired under these conditions. The shock
produced no effect upon the turret, and all the
machinery Of the interior. including even the
most delicate auxiliary. contriynnoes, re-
NAMED intact and in perfect working order
The sheep inside the tlrret were not worried
in the least After this second shot the guns
were moved both mechanically and by hand
As to the sheltering plate OF the turret. 1t
was split vertically and horizontally by the
enormous shock of the projectile. II follows.
therefore, that the guns are well protected by
the turrets