The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-11-13
ARMORED TuRRET
UNDER HEAVY FIRE
a Remarkable Experiment Re-
Gently Made in French
Navy, and Results.
BIG GUNS WE'RE USED
After the Turret Had Been Pounded
by Two Massive Projectiles It
Wasn't Hurt Seriously, and
Turned Readily.

Paris Correspondence OF New York
Courier des Etats-Unis: Complete re-
ports of the result of the experiment
recently made upon the forward tur-
ret of the battleship Suffren are now to
hand. The cable has already Informed
US that the startling test was made for
the purpose OF discovering the effect OF
the shock from a heavy projectile upon
the interior installations of the turret
as well as upon the organs which CON
meet 1T with the hull of the vessel.
In the case of the Suffren the pieces
trained upon her were 3O5 millimcters
M II millimeters Caliber. The thick
ness of the armor of the turret protects
1t from p~erforation, but the effect OF
the shock upon its interior arrange
ments remained to be ascertained.
Would it put the thing out of order by
damaging the mechanism Of its rotn-
zion. weakening its connection with The
hull. or running the pointing and
charging contrivances? If so. the re-
suit would be to destroy the offensive
force OF the ship, probably at the very
beginning of a fight.
h forward turret of the Suffren,
chosen for the target. shelters two
pieces of POS m~illimeters, the heaviest
caliber of the French navy. 1t Is pro-
tected by steel armor 26 centimeters In
lH1SNiltSS. 10 save lIe hTllOT from III
jury 1t was covered on the starboard
side by steel plate destined to receive
the shock. On top, for the purpose of
facilitating the fire. q broad strip of
sailcloth was placed; n on each side
of the turret par-eclats, or tenders,
were set up to catch the flying frag-
ments which might cause accidents.
The entire crew Of the Suffren remained
on board.
. The Ms S9nnD which n rrinc tun
guns Of sos ~millimeters, fired at the
turret with one of them. The normal
weight of the charge Of powder was
reduced, in order to give to the shell at
the instant 1t struck the turret of the
Suffren a velocity equal to that which
1t would have with the formal charge,
If the two ships were at the average
fighting distance.
The result of the experiment showed
that. after the shocks of two powerful
projectiles, the turrets of French bat
tleships can be worked easily and. rap
idly. Moreover, we may almost say
that In future naval battles q pro-
1ectile will never strike a turret at
right angles to its axis, as was the
case the other day off Brest.
The firing test which the Suffren
stood was of the highest Importance. 4
different result from the one obtained
might have caused a complete revolu-
don In the construction OF battleships.
III under the rigorous conditions in
which the experiment was made the
fire of the Messena had put the inside
machinery Of the turret out Of order
turrets would have been condemned
n naval construction would have to
be transformed. But. happily, no dam
g was done, and the people who
watched with intense interest the result
of this sensational experiment will be
pleased to learn that the turrets of
the battleShipS are excellent from every
point of view.
Here are a few details obtained by the
Matin from high official authorities:
After the firing Of a few blank car
tridges the first real shot was fired at
1880 in the morning with a velocity at
the striking point of 500 meters. The
turret stood the test ~splendidly. At 4
o'clock in the afternoon there was no
hesitation about bringing the velocity
OF the projectile UP to GOO meters and
another shot was fired under these con-
ditions. The shock produced no effect
upon the turret, and all the machinery
of the interior, including even the most
delicate auxiliary ~contrivances, re-
manned intact and in perfect working
order. The sheep inside the turret
We're 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 tur-
ret. 1t was split vertically and horizont-
ally by the enormous shock of the pro-
6ectile. 1t follows. therefore, that the
guns are well protected by the tur-