Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-11

lr1a1 0t SauOy HOOK SHOWS Vnat the
 United States Has Most Powerful
 Explosive Known That Can Be Used
 to Wreck Inside of Warship-Bursts
 Into Large FraEments.
 That twelve inch shell loaded with only small charge of dunnite, the worlds most effective explosive, will crumple in the side of the heaviest armor clad vessel, though the shell fall short of its mark by twenty feet was recently demonstrated at the beginning of a series of tests at the United States governments proving grounds at San dy Hook, says the New York Herald. Accompanied with secrecy that has made the discussion of the result al most prohibitive, the first test was sole ly for the purpose of determining the safe distance that huge target, built to represent section of an armored side of modern battleship, could be moored from the shore and the observ- CTS assured of freedom from harm from fragments of the exploding shells
 For some time experts of the ord nance department of the army have known of the destructive effect of the explosive substance, which, named after its inventor, Major Beverly W. Dunn, U. S. A., is closely guarded government secret. Foreign nations have sought in vain to learn its com position. Meantime the manufacture of armor piercing shells filled with the explosive has gone on until now the arsenals of the United States are filled with them, and almost all the ships of the navy and the seacoast fortiica- tons have battle supply on hand and ready for any emergency.
 What the government experts did not know, however, was the probable effect if shell should fall short of its mark. The shot fired within the last few days has gone far beyond the expectations of the experimenters.
 To those who were fortunate enough to witness the recent trial the affair was intensely spectacular. A floating mass of woodwork, in dimension the side of a battleship at it's water line, was moored offshore. Then delicately the 1000 pound projectile, with a scant charge of twenty pounds of. dunnite, was submerged four feet in the water and approximately fifty feet from the floating structure. Then all scattered to place of safety, an cleo tric button was pressed, those on shore felt the ground tremble, while a col umn of water shot up into the air 25O feet When the target was again brought to shore the effect of the ex- plosion was plainly manifest and of such a nature that the deductions were readily drawn.
 Major Dunn when seen at the prov ing grounds at Sandy Hook refused to discuss the outcome of the trial, say ing it was a government secret at the present time, although the trials to come, which would cover period of time, would no doubt be conducted more openly.
 AS to the explosive that bears my name" said Major Dunn, T believe it in the opinion of the ordnance depart ment that they have a destructive ma terial that is the best in the world. Its composition is known only to this gov ernment. It is not the highest explo- sive-not by any means-but 1t is the highest explosive so far invented that, contained within the chamber of an armor piercing shell, will contain itself until after the shell has passed through the armor. Then its destructive work, actuated by primer, takes place.
 "Its effect has been accurately de- scribed since the tests in 1901, when the Gathmann gun failed signally with its gun cotton loaded shell to injure an armor plate representing the turret of the battleship Iowa. At the same time the ordnance department fired a shell from a twelve inch coast defense rife. The projectile was in reality a cored shell, it's small chamber loaded with but twenty pound charge of dunnite. The armor plate was pierced and the backing behind it wrecked.
 "The advantages of an armor pierc- ing shell over the ordinary bursting shell can be readily understood by a layman. To infiict the most damage on the ship of the enemy we desire to have our shells enter his ship and then, bursting into large fragments, carry destruction to it's machinery and vital parts. A shell bursting into small fragments would not do that. Tests have shown that the dunnite will do all of the things most desired in actual warfare"