Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-11-16
Monitor Puritan Sinking,
Is Rushed to Yard
After uncontined Explosion Of
High Power Nitro-g|yceTine.
Test Rsfutes Previous Contention
Of Naval Ordnance Officers.

Fort Monroe, Va, NOV. lo.-HlSH eA-
plosive tests made today on the monl-
tor Puritan while at anchor in Hamp-
ton Roads, damaged the vessel 50 Sc
rlOusly that it was necessary 10 Tow II
hurriedly to dry dock in the Nor1olk
navy yard. The tests made were re-
Quired by provision in the ordnance
appropriation bill passed by the last
session of Congress.
There were two explosions, each oil
200 pounds of nitro-glycerine gelatine
uncOnfined except as to Il thin covering
of sheet iron. In the first test the ex-
plcsive was placed against the side of
the after turret of the monitor; i'll the
second against the side of the vessel,
just above the water line.
Naval officers and experts present
acknowledged that more damage was
done than they had anticipated.
The first explosion cracked the side
pltae of the turret, which was IL inches
thick and forced it inward about eight
inches. A cat and two chickens inside
the turret where ordinarily the gun
ners and sighter would be, ere not
killed.
The second explosion bent in so
badly the 10-inch side plate of the yes
sci, thereby opening a big hole below
the water line, that the rear end of the
boat sank to the bottom in less than
two minutes after the explosion.
The Puritan draws IS feet and was in
only 10 feet of water, but in a few min
utes one of the big compartments was
almost filled and water was pouring up
f~~<v 1rI~
the old fighter
Until the vessel is drydocked it will
be impossible to determine the exact
extent of the damage below the wa
terline or how much of the lower part
Of the vessel was flooded. OF the two
explosions the second was the more Sc
we're, the nitro-glycerine causing the
monitor to shake as if she had been
struck by small earthquake. Capt.
Austin NJ. Knight. president of the spe-
cial naval ordnance board, who re-
NAMED on the Puritan to discharge the
explosive, said the shocks We're severe
Almost on the spot where the superior
ity of new form of fighting vessel, the
ironclad, was determined 48 years ago,
today there was discovered possible
it was not known positively that the new
explosive, the invention of Willard s.
1sham, is more destructive than the pres
ent form of explosive which does it's
deadly work from the inside rather than
from the outside, nevertheless 1t was
practically acknowledged that serious
consideration must he given to the new
outside explosive
Mr.. 1Sham himself witnessed the tests
With the first he was not satisfied, claim
ing that if it had been against a fiat in
stead of rounded surface it would have
worked much greater havoc. The second
accomplished nearly as much as he ex-
pected. The resistance of the frames
and the effect below the armor belt was
what he wanted to have determined by
the test, and he said afterwards he felt
sure an examination in dry dock would
prove him right.
On the Puritan with Capt. knight be-
sides the cat and chickens We're four sail
ors Among the navy and army officials
and powder experts who witnessed the
tests from aboard the tug Wahneta were
Rear Admiral Mason. chief of the bureau
of ordnance; Chief Constructor Watt of
the navy, Major O'ITearn OF the ordnance
department and Gen. Arthur Murray
chief of the coast artillery. About so
coast artillery students saw the tests
from the mine planter General S. S.
Mills
AS soon as the Puritan is dry docked
the special board on naval ordnance will
examine her injuries and make report
Mr.. lsham's explosive is composed of
~ parts nitr o-glycerine. seven parts gun
cotton and one part marble dust 1t
forms gelatinous substance He claims
1t is far more powerful and more de-
structive than the present form of ex-
ploSive. The naval experts who were
present today claimed, however. in spite
OF the damage that Il modern Pinch
shell would have done more
Washington, Nov. 10.-The result of
the experiment of the monitor Puri-
tan, as shown by the press reports,
refutes the contention of naval ord
nance officers that the explosion
would not materially damage the ves-
sci. They have held that the uncon-
fined charge would follow the lines Of
east resistance and consequently
spend its force upward and outward.
The navy department has not vet
received a report of the test, but dis.
cussine the question unofiicially. Off
GERS almitted that the disabling of
the ship supported the claims of the
inventors of the gelatine. The prob
lem which now presents itself, they
added was by what means could a
similar nnconfined charge be placed
and exploded along the side Of ship
in time of war. Some officers intinated
that the airship might be utilized for
cropping the explosive on a man of
war, although they emphasized the fact
that an aerial craft would have to be
at least 5000 feet above a battleship
to be outside the range of its guns and
at this great height. the battleship.
Notwithstanding IFS massive proper
ton, would present a small target.