Monday, March 18th, 1861.

Captain E. G. FISHBOURNE, R.N. C.B. in the Chair.

IRON-CASED SHIPS-continued.

"SIMOOM" EXPERIMENTS OF 1849, 1850, 1851-SPHERICAL SHOT and Shell.

By Captain E. PELLEW HALSTED, RN.

IN the searching examinations which took place before the Estimates Committee of 1848, much evidence and many opinions were elicited on the moot subject of iron and wood. The experience of the Captains of the "Nemesis" and "Guadaloupe" were there given in several important details with great minuteness, and there the state of the "Ruby" when fired at, was divulged. Several valuable and favourable views of the prospects and properties of iron were also put forth by other able and experienced parties, the relative weight of whose opinions may be easily examined by aid of the admirable Index to the voluminous Report of the Committee. Of course, all favourable views were elicited by the examinations of the late tenants of political Power, while the then holders of it seem to have met this mode of warfare by steadfast allegiance to the results of the "Ruby," generally referred to under the term of "The Portsmouth experiments."

In 1849, however, are to be traced the circumstances which led to the next open revival of the struggle, and produced those further and more rational experiments which furnished the condemnation of the use of iron for ships of war as it stands to the present day.

In every Mail contract the vessels to be employed are required to be so constructed as may enable them in time of emergency to be taken for the public Service; and as several of the Steam Companies holding these contracts, and especially the one which still ranks as the giant of the race, had largely adopted the use of iron, and all were steadily increasing the number of such vessels, it seems to have occurred to the anti-iron champions that the victory so gallantly won in front, might be compromised or even lost by this liability to attack by a flank movement, to prevent all chance of which it was resolved to carry the war beyond the sphere of the Fleet Royal and expurgate the foe from its position in that of the Merchant. Accordingly a Committee was appointed under competent authority, which duly came to the unanimous verdict that the terms of the contracts had not been observed by the Mail Companies in respect to the adaptation of their vessels of iron for the

purposes of war; and this verdict was brought into direct application by means of a further Select Committee, appointed by the Legislature in the beginning of the above-named year. The subject thus specially submitted for inquiry was the desirableness of fitting the entire merchant Steam Fleet so as to enable it to be employed as auxiliary to the Navy in protecting the home coasts in case of hostilities; in remuneration for the maintenance of which fitments, certain privileges or payments were to be assigned in respect to each vessel fitted, and the exclusion from these privileges of all vessels of iron was felt to be little less than a tax against the use of that material, and pressed all the more sorely on both the builders and owners of such vessels, as proof of the many advantages they possessed over those of wood was just at that time becoming daily manifest, especially in regard to strength of structure where a constant high postal speed had been contracted for. It was before this Committee that an acknowledgement was forced that the "Ruby" had indeed been a "vessel very slightly built;" and, notwithstanding the sentence which had been passed against iron,-"That no vessel of that material intended for real. war had yet been subjected by experiment to any proof of shot whatever;" -the very argument used against the introducers of iron at the time of its condemnation, and which, if not practically refuted, seemed likely to be employed as a formidable weapon against those who had produced it. Thus seems to have originated the next, and the last, extensive series of shot experiments against the material for ships of iron, which began in November, 1849, and lasted on, with intervals, till August, 1851. The first portions are given, with results and illustrations, in the Blue Book No. 737 of 1850, and the entire series, with one most weighty, and perhaps involuntary, omission, in the second part of Sir Howard Douglas's fifth edition of Naval Gunnery. I shall quote indifferently from both these authorities, according as I find them to support my own views, and of course shall thereby open my statements to fair challenge by any who may think those views to be controverted, rather than supported, by the works referred to.

The experiments ordered in November, 1849, were limited to ascertaining those relative powers of resistance of oak plank and iron plating which I before had occasion to use when telling the tale of the "Ruby;" but I did not then state, that they go to establish a very remarkable coincidence, if it be not a direct relation, between the powers of resistance to the impact of shot, and the proportional specific gravities (1 to 8) of the two materials. The experiments are also valuable from the regularity of their gradations, and it, therefore, is the more to be regretted that they are not complete. They establish that a plate and a 3-inch oak plank are both musket-proof at 40 yards; that a , or a half-inch, plate and a 4-inch plank are both canister-proof at 100 yards with a 6lb. charge from the 32-pounder; and that a g, or three-quarter inch, plate and a 6-inch oak plank were neither of them proof against grape-shot from the same gun and with the same charge at 200 yards; but we are not told anything further; and it is this incompleteness, of not ascertaining the relative thickness of plate and of wood which is grape-shot proof, that I have ventured to regret. These experiments seem to have had in view a general, rather than a specific, object; but those which

followed, and commenced in June 1850, were specially intended to illustrate the effects of shot on the "Simoom," the largest of the quondam frigates, and which had then been launched since May, 1849, without, apparently, having suggested any earlier test of her shot and shell properties.

In Sir Howard's account of these experiments, I find the description of a great many sorts of sides, all represented as belonging to the "Simoom;" sides varying in material, in thickness, and in nature and mode of construction; sometimes they are of iron plating only, sometimes of iron and wood combined, now with the iron inside, and now with it out; now with iron plates over wooden timbers, and now with wooden plates over iron timbers. In short, many strange devices and structures were fired at, almost all of which are spoken of as "the sides," or similar to the sides, of the "Simoom;" and this makes it necessary for me to point out, that the two experiments described, and which are stated to have taken place respectively "in June, 1850" and "on the 11th of July, 1850," are those alone to which I shall attach any real importance, as these are also the only ones of which the details are given in the Blue Book; and of the targets used on these two occasions, that one used on the last of the above days is the only one out of the whole series which presented a true section of the side of the "Simoom," and for the effects on which, that ship, or any such, can be held responsible. I shall designate these two targets respectively as Nos. 1 and 2, and proceed to observe of them, that No. 1 was a double section, or a section of both the sides of the ship, but of the ironwork of those sides only, and without the wood-work. It was fired at from a range of 450 yards, as was also No. 2, with various guns and various charges, the rear section being placed 35 feet behind the front one; and immediately between the two, at a distance of 10 feet from the front section, was placed a screen of one-inch fir plank, together with a more extended screen of canvas, the one to prove the severity of the splinters, the other to show their number; the plates of both sections being of thickness, and built together, in all respects as regards iron work, in the same manner as in the vessel herself.

But in addition to this faithfulness of representation in No. 1 target, in respect to the iron portion, No. 2 target faithfully represented the true structure of the "Simoom's" sides in respect to wood also; and I think that the following description, as given in the Report, will show that this difference between the two was not unimportant, as the difference of the effects of the firing in the two cases did in reality prove. The Report states of No. 2 target:

It was filled in and made solid with 54-inch oak timber between the iron ribs, and 4-inch oak planking above the water ways, which were 1 foot thick, and 3-inch fir plank above the port-sills. These were strongly secured to the iron plates by bolts "through all," and clenched; in fact, the inside timber was that of a frigate, with a casing outside of -inch iron plates.

Rather a naïve statement, it will be admitted, when compared with the description in the Report of No. 1 target, by which it will be seen that this "inside timber of a frigate" had been purposely omitted, "because

it would not have added to the safety of a vessel or crew;" and this intentional omission becomes especially noticeable from the fact, that this timber support had been given to the ship when building, consequent upon the proof of its value as shown by the Woolwich experiments, and for the express purpose, among others, of intercepting splinters, which, as in the Woolwich cases, it will be shown that it was really found to do. It is much to be regretted however that No. 2 was not a double target, like No. 1; and that the use of screens was not resorted to in this case also in order to show the number and severity of splinters, as we should then have had valuable data whereby to assist in determining a very important point of the present day; viz., the practical difference shown, by a similar fire on similar plates, having in the one case a backing of timber, and having in the other none; any practical difference of the effects of splintering in these two cases being in truth the point of most value to be elicited from these experiments at all, since the question of penetration had been already determined by the experiments of November, when and even plates were shown to be perfectly penetrable by 32-pounder grape-shot with only a 61b. charge at a distance of 200 yards.

I find that these "Simoom" experiments were again entirely one-sided; and, like the former ones at Woolwich, they furnished no data for determining comparative effects of an equal fire on equal targets of wood and iron-as, indeed, it is more than probable they were never intended to do. But, thanks to the armoury of Sir Howard, this important desideratum I shall, to a considerable extent, be enabled to supply, by resorting to that portion of his work in which he gives us in full detail the effects of a fire of solid and hollow shot, directed from the same gunnery ship in 1838, against the sides of the "Prince George" hulk, for the express purpose of deliberately examining such effects, and which I proceed to use for my purpose thus. I will extract from the details of the firing at No. 1 and No. 2 targets two cases each, such as appear to me to have produced the most destructive effects on the iron plates; and against these I will quote four cases of the most destructive effects on the sides of wood; but, as in the latter case no 10-inch shot were fired, I think it fair also to omit the effects of firing at the targets with this sized shot; hoping that the day is near when this, and many other practical points at length happily recognised as of true National importance, will be made the subject of fair, open, and comparative experiment.

No. 1 Target.

No. 1 shot, 32-lb. solid, charge 6 lb.-Struck the 2nd row of plates, making a hole 8 by 9 inches between the 5th and 6th ribs from the left of the target. The shot split, and there were a great many splinters, which spread very much. The wooden screen behind, and placed about 10 feet from the iron plates, had two planks knocked down, and about 25 splinters passed through it. In the rear target, part of No. 6 rib was knocked away, and a hole made by one of the splinters passing through the plate, 32 splinters struck the target, one broke the 2nd rib and knocked off two rivet heads.

No. 7, 8-inch hollow shot, charge 10 lbs.-Struck the 4th row of plates, making a hole 15 by 9 inches, and curling up the plate at the back, leaving a very ragged hole; the 5th rib was hit, and about 11 inches of it and the flange were very much broken; 4

rivets were knocked away. The shot split, there were a great many splinters, one of which struck about 80 yards, and nearly at right angles to the line of fire.

No. 2 Target.

No. 7 shot, 32 lbs. solid, charge 10lbs.-First graze 8 yards short, shot struck the section, making a round hole through the iron and wood 84 inches. The shot split into very many pieces; the wood stopped the splinters of iron plate, but not those of the shot, which ranged about 300 yards.

No. 9, 8-inch hollow shot, charge 10 lbs.-Struck the section on the left angle rib, shot split into a great number of pieces, which ranged on, covering a space of from 100 to 300 yards in length, and 60 in breadth, diameters of hole 10 inches by 9 inches.

Before putting before you the details of firing at wood, I think it fair to submit for your consideration that, as these were never made for that comparative purpose I am applying them to, it is more than probable that the amount of splinters of all sizes actually made were never counted or noted with the same accuracy and minuteness as was provided for in the case of the "Simoom" targets.

I proceed to quote from the 161st, 162nd, and 165th articles of Sir Howard Douglas's work, fifth edition, as follows, taking the shot detailed in the 161st article as two, out of the four, cases for comparison:

161st Article.-Two 32-pounder shot fired separately, with charges of 10lbs. 11 ozs. entered at the same place, so as to render it impossible to distinguish their separate effects; together, after penetrating through the ship's side in firm wood, they shattered a sound wooden knee; they then passed across the deck, cutting down a wooden stanchion 6 feet long and 8 inches square; this they shattered to pieces, causing many splinters, six of which were very large, and one of them swept the deck as far as the pumps; one of the two shot penetrated its own depth in sound wood on the opposite side of the deck, and there stuck; the other struck and splintered a port on the opposite side, after which it rebounded against the side which it first entered.

162nd Article. Many hollow shot were fired with remarkable effects from 68-pounder guns, making penetrations which varied from 25 to 56 inches. One of these, with a charge of 8 lbs., penetrated the side of the hulk, passing through 28 inches of good wood, tore out the iron hook which holds the port-hinge, and fractured the after side of the port, driving the splinters about the deck. It rent away the end of a beam, grazed the deck, passing through two planks, and cutting down a stanchion 8 inches square, making several large splinters; it then struck against the opposite side of the ship, from whence it rebounded against that which it entered.

165th Article.-A 68-pounder shot, with a charge of 8 lbs. and an elevation of 1 degree, after two bounds penetrated to a depth of 24 inches, close to the side of a port just above the lower port-sill, in bad wood, started the inside planking, and tore off a piece, which splintered. One of the splinters, a very large one, was thrown beyond the main hatchway to the opposite side of the deck. The shot having crossed the deck struck a corner of the main hatchway combings, and tore out a large piece on each side, destroying the use of the combings. It struck a winch handle which was lying on the deck, and drove one end of it through a port-scuttle. After striking the combings the shot grazed a beam and fell on the deck.

Among the assembly I have the honour to address there are many far more competent than myself to weigh the comparative results I have thus brought together; and it is no fault of mine that I am unable to place before them still more full and varied details of the relative destructibility by shot of wood and iron.

The subject, however, as every one now most powerfully feels, has passed beyond the hands of Professional judgment alone, and has become a National question, if ever a question could truthfully be so called. But the Nation and I might even add the Profession, has never been per