§ MR. H. B. SHERIDANsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether it is true that at Shoeburyness, on Tuesday, the 8th instant, the Warrior target, or section of the Warrior's side, was twice pierced through by round shot; whether the shot was a 150 lb. Armstrong shot, fired from a 300-pounder Armstrong Gun; whether the charge of powder was 50lb.; whether the 150lb. shot with a 40 lb. charge of powder failed to penetrate the target; and whether the 300-pounder Armstrong Gun can be worked on board ship?
GENERAL PEELsaid, he also wished to put a question to his noble Friend with regard to this gun. He wished to know when it was finished, and why the trial had not taken place before?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETin reply said, that the questions of the hon. and Gallant Members referred rather to the War Department than to the Admiralty. He believed, however, that it had been thought necessary to test the gun in various ways before it was brought to the actual business of firing at the target. He was not really able to give a definite reason why the gun had not been tried earlier. With regard to the question of his hon. Friend (Mr. H B. Sheridan) he thought he had better refer all who took an interest in the important experiment which took place last Tuesday, to an article which had appeared in The Times. Nothing could be fairer, or, he might add, more graphic, than the description which The Times gave of that experiment. He would only state shortly that there were four shots fired from what was called the 300-pounder Armstrong— that is, as a smooth-bored gun, it fired a shot of 150 lb.; but, if rifled, it would fire an elongated shot of 300 lb. On Tuesday last the first experiment was with a shot of 150 lb., and 40 lb. of powder. It was fired at the Warrior target, at the distance of 200 yards; but he was bound to say that the target had had 766 a good deal of shaking by previous experiment. The first shot struck the target on a part which had been, he thought, rather more shaken than the other parts of it. The shot entered, made a hole in the armour plating, and passed through eighteen inches of backing, being stopped by the inner skin of the ship, but it crucked that skin. The next shot, with 40lb. of powder, hit nearly on the same spot. The fragments of the shot went through plating, backing, skin, and all; and there were proofs that it would have created considerable damage in the interior of a vessel. The third shot Sir William Armstrong requested might be fired with 10lb. of powder additional; but some doubts were entertained, not whether the gun would stand such a charge, but whether so large a charge would be burnt to give the shot greater velocity. The third shot was fired with 50lb. of powder, and fired at that particular part of the target which represented the strongest part of the ship. The fragments of the shot went through the plating and backing, and he believed were buried in the supports at the back of the target. It was not very easy to say whether the whole charge of powder had burnt, but evidently a good deal more powder had burnt, because the effect was much greater. The fourth shot took place under the same circumstances. It went through the plating and backing, and buried itself, like the previous shot, in the scaffolding at the back. In reply to the last question of his hon. Friend, whether the 300-pounder gun could be worked on board ship, it was hazardous for him to say decisively, but he believed they could carry a 300-pounder on board ship; but at the same time it was questionable whether a ship could carry plates sufficiently thick to resist it.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he wished to ask the noble Lord whether that clear and graphic account which appeared in The Times of that morning, describing what took place at Shoeburyness on Tuesday, was with the sanction and approbation of the Admiralty; and whether the noble Lord thought it desirable that all the experiments that were now being made from time to time with regard to the power of guns should be made public?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, he had no hesitation in saying that the Admiralty had given no sort of sanction to the publication of the report of the experiments on Tuesday last. It was a moot question whether it was desirable that all 767 these costly experiments should be made public. With reference to a question of his hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Chatham (Sir Frederick Smith), whether he was prepared to lay on the table the Report on the iron-plated ships, he might say the Admiralty had no desire to withhold any information which the House thought it desirable to have, but they had a strong opinion that it was not altogether advisable to lay that Report on the table at present.