Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-27
Arkansas Destructive Attack
on Florida Begins.
FIRST SHOT HITS MONITOR
Results Expected to Revolutionize
Armor-Plate Construction.
HIGH EXPLOSIVE IS EMPLOYED
Believed That It's Effects Will Make
Necessary Some New Means Of
Protecting Hulls.

THIMBLE sHoAL, Lower Chesapeake
bay. May 27-The beveled eleven-inch
steel armor plate Of the monitor Florida
bears a big black wound. the first shot
| from the Arkansas big gun having struck
her at 1912 O'Clock.
| The naval and army experts at once
| boarded the Florida tor make an investi-
CATION of the result of the experiment
| The shell shot struck the turret on the
right side of the starboard gun and
| knocked out all the metal between the
| gun and the rim of the turret.
| Whether or not the result is as it should
! be remains to be told
Purposes Of Tests.
| Wind and weather permitting. the
| ordnance officers of the navy today be-
gin an experiment which they confident
| ly believe will have far-reaching results.
Indeed, it is entirely possible. in opinion
| of some experts. that the outcome OF the
lessons that will be taught by the de-
structive attack of the monitor Arkansas
with her big twelve-inch guns and by
the torpedo boat Morris with her Ameri-
canized Whitehead torpedoes upon the
monitor Florida will be the most radical
changes in naval construction; If not in
the hull. then certainly in the armor
protection now afforded.
The experiments will be. costly. Without
doubt serve criticism will be directed at
the Navy Department. not only by public
lists identified with the little navy"
party but by economically minded legis-
lators.
Necessifv of EYneriments
The startling experiment conducted a
year or two ago at Sandy Hook by the
army ordnance officers really made this
test of today necessary. On that occa-
sion the army ordnance officers invited
few navy men down to the Hook to see
them shoot some high-exploSive shells at
armor plate of various thickresses and
inclined at different angles to the line of
fire.
The high-explosive shell simply ripped
the plates into fragments. AS these
plates fairly represented the armor OF
a protected deck, the naval officers quick
ly saw that If these shells would do the
same work upon a floating ship not a
vessel in the navy could be regarded as
safely armored.
This terrific explosive was the discov-
cry or invention of a West Point grad
uate in the ordnance corps, who patriot
ically made it over to the United states
government But there was no telling
when some foreign government might
evolve another explosive of equal or
greater power. SO it behooved our naval
constructors to look about for means to
increase the armor protection to match
its splendid development in the gun and
| its projectile.
Actual Firing Required.
First it became necessary to ascertain
whether the shells would function when
| fired at a vessel as they had when di-
| rected against the armor plates on shore.
| Nothing would do but an actual firing
test And this could not be conducted
with any profit on some old hulk. but
exact battle conditions must be repro
duced.
That is why the President and the Sec
retary of the Navy gave their sanction
to this remarkable test of placing a
lmillion-and-a-half-do dollar monitor al short
range before the muzzle Of modern
| twelve-inch American naval rife.
The feature of the Florida test will be
the firing of twelve-inch shell loaded
| with this terrible explosive at that point
| between the two twelve-inch gun ports
on the inclined face Of the Floridas tur-
ret where the armor is eleven inches
| thick and thoroughly face-hardened by
| the Krupp process.
| Anotl.er point upon which the naval
constructors expect TO be informed oy
the shooting at the turret is the enect
| upon the turning mechanism of that great
mass of steel and the various electrical
and other devices inside. of blow OF
the twelve-inch shot on the outside.
May Be Put Out of Action.
Much of this mechanism is fastened te
the wall of the turret by bolts and Other
means. 1t is apprehended that smash
ing shot delivered outside the turret wal
and opposite one of these instruments
will send that apparatus flying across
the turret. putting that part Of the shir
out of action
The experiments also will test a new
design OF military mast which has beer
erected on the stern of the Florida. Th'
| mast has a base of twenty-four feet II
diameter. tapering to the base OF 9
purpose of the mast is to furnish Ar
observation point for officers.
| The present construction Of the mas
of sheet steel is regarded as defective
Should this steel be punctured by shell
and the shell explode on the inside th'
mast would be blown to pieces.
The new mast is constructed of hollow
steel tubes. woven together in circuia
manner, the design of the constructor
being 10 afford a support for the observer
which will withstand shots and explosives
Many shots will be hred at this new towe
TO test its ability to stand after being Gu
through in many places
The torpedo test will be for the purpos
of testing both the effectiveness of tor
pedo nets and for ascertaining the meri
of newly devised water bulkhead. bull
within the ship beneath the armor belt.
Details Of the Target.
The Florida is one of class of fou
monitors built for coast defense work
She was built at Elizabethport. n ]
and completed in 1903. The cost of he
hull machinery and armor was S1.3o7, l3o
Added to this was an expenditure of S2ll,
ois for armament and equipment.
She is 252 feet long. 50 feet beam; draft
l2ln feet. displacement. 2.155 tons: horse
power 400: speed. II knots: coal capac
i,y 400 tons She has one mast and on
smokeppe.
Her armor Us II inches thick amidshlps
taperng to ; inches at either end. She ha
! protected deck of armor " inches il
thickness The armor of the barbe,t
and turret is IL inches thick and that o
the coming tower inches.
Naval officers say none Of the vessel
of this class has done anything sine
, they were commissioned, except shoy
utter worthlessness The type has beel
set down BY general consent in the nav,