The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1905-07-20

Trial mt sandy Hook shows That the
United States Has Most Powerful
Explosive known That Can Be Used
to Wreck Inside of Warship-Bursts
Into Large Fragments.
That a twelve inch shell loaded with
only small charge Of dunnite, the
worlds most effective explosive, will
cl'ui2ple in the side Of the heaviest
arlnoi. clad vessel, though the shell fall
sho"g Of its mark by twenty feet, was
recently demonstrated at the beginning
Of q 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
~ for the purpose Of determining the
safe distance that a huge target, built
to represent section Of an armored
side of a modern battleship, could be
noored from the shore and the Observ-
ers 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, q. 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 filed with the
explosive has gone on until now the
arsenals Of the United States are filed
with them, and almost all the ships Of
the navy and the seacoast forti6ca-
lions have battle supply on hand and
ready for any emergency.
What the government experts did not
know, however, was the probable effect
If q shell should fall short Of it's 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 battleship at its 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 a place Of safety, an cleo
tric button was pressed, those on shore
felt the ground tremble, while 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 a period Of
| time. would no doubt be conducted
more openly.
"As to the explosive that bears my
name" said Major Dunn, II believe it
in the opinion of the ordnance depart
ment that they have destructive ma
terial that is the best in the world. Its
composition is known only to this gov
eminent. 1t is not the highest explo-
sive-not by any means-but it 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 it's 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 shell
from twelve inch coast defense rife.
The projectile was In reality cored
shell, its small chamber loaded witn
but twenty pound charge Of dunnite.
The armor plate was pierced and the
backing behind it wrecked.
1.-THE advantages Of an armor pierre
ing shell over the ordinary bursting
shell can be readily understood by a
layman. To tnflict 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 its machinery and vital
parts. A shell bursting into small
fragments would not do that. Tests
have shown that the dunnite will do all
o6 the things most desired IN actual
warfare"