Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-11-08
VALUE Or VANADIUM,
viii Reduce Vessels Weight and
Permit More Speed.
70 BE USED IN WARsHIPs.

Good For Big Guns Also, Preventing.
Erosion; Now Problem Before the
United States Nays Bureau Of
ordnance-of Officers Much Interested.
Much interest Is expressed in naval
circles in the recent announcement.
that the navy department. had officially
adopted yanadfum as a means OF In
creasing the resistance Of steel used in
armor on warships. Experiments al
ready have been made with vanadium
in alloyed steel, and ordnance officers
| now admit that the use of vanadium
will mark an epoch In ordnance con-
struction. II
Experiments have shown that armor
Eplate treated with a process of vana-
dium combined with chromium and
nickel will resist a projectile 15O per
cent greater than will the armoa plate
made by the Krupp process. Plate Of
every class has been tested and thor.
oughly proved in the presence Of Rear
4 N1dSOl, = CAlSl tSouSIIu
1 Capps and score of other navy Off
cials, including Mr.. Newberry, assist
Iant secretary Of the navy. A deck
4 plate three, and one-half inches In
thickness made Of the vanadium fux
1 withstood a test that smashed Krupp
| plate three and seven .eighths inches in
thickness to bits, says Washington
correspondent of the New York Her
aid. That test was held at Indian Head
a few weeks ago.
The torpedo gun Of Lieutenant Com
mander Davis is product Of vana-
dium, and the great tensile strength Of
the new steel is shown by the fact that
the original Davis projectile, made Of
i ordinary chrome nickel steel, weighed
q thousand pounds and could not be
floated to it's objective point, while the
successful projectile made of vana-
dunn steel, weighed only eighty pounds
and withstood the shock of forty
pounds Of dunite without crack or
warp. Nj
It is now the aim of navy officials to
use the vanadium fux in the manufac-
ture of steel work In the makeup of a
warship, including the big guns. By
the use of lnadium the weight Of the
vessel will be greatly reduced, thereby
increasing The speed without loss of
fighting efficiency. Another advantage
of vanadium will be that it will pre-
vent erosion of the big guns, which is
now a problem before the bureau of
ordnance. ....
4 In connection with vanadium it is
said that one of the mysterious things
which for years puzzled navy men and
makers of armor plate was the fact
that Krupp armor made at Essen prov
ed better than armor made under the
Krupp process elsewhere. 1t was not
until the experiments with vanadiun
as fux began that the secret was dis.
closed. An analysis of the Krupp plate
made in Pittsburg showed that it con.
tanned a trace of vanadium. Since nc
vanadium was mentioned in the KrupI
process, an investigation was begun
and the fact developed that small
quantity of vanadium was in the Swiss
iron ores which are used in Essen.
The value of vanadium is in the fact
that it is what steel men call a 'tscav
enger." h *E S~@
1t clears out all the impurities that
may be in the steel and gives the othel
elements, chromium and nickel, 6
chance to do the work for which they
are intended without interruption by
gases and other deleterious matter
The use Of vanadium prevents all pos
sibility of the blowholes that caused
so much trouble and talk in navy cir
cles few years ago.
While yanadium Is sometimes refer
red to as "new element" its value il
the making Of steel has been shown tt
some extent since 1886, when it wa.
discovered by French scientist. Lat
er German scientist discovered it II
Switzerland. but not until recently
was 1t found in such quantities as tx
make 1t commercial possibility. Fol
years steel men have been searching
for yanadium, and the whole world
has been prospected over. Fortunes
have been spent In the search.
The mine from which the navy de
partment will get vanadium is located
on top Of the Andes mountains, IL
: Peru. The deposit is three and hal
miles long and a mile and q half wide
: It's depth Is unknown. ~ .H
{ 81