Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

10 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

AGRICULTURE.J -----

HINTS UPON GARDENIira. --

SPORTS AND PASTIMES. --

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT OF FEMALES.

I.THE PRINTERS' PhNSION, ALMSHOUSE,…

GUNNERY EXPERIMENTS ON THE…

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GUNNERY EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROYAL SOVEREIGN. The turret invented by Captain Cowper Coles, R.N., and carried out on board the ship Royal Sovereign, was subjected on Friday to a naval trial at Portsmouth, in the presence of the Duke of Somerset, the Marquis of Hartington, Prince de Joinville, Count do Paris, Sir John Hay, Lord Lauderdale, Lord Stanley of Adderley, the Earl of Kimberley, Sir F. Grey, Admirals Robinson, Fanshaw, Yelverton, Gambier, Middleton, and a large number of officers in the united services. There are three single and one double gua turrets on board the Royal Sovereign. The one fired at was a single one, and is simply a hollow composite cylinder, standin g on a circularwooden turntabJ e of great stren gth, over a double ring of conical metal wheels, which travel over metal roadways, the cylinder with its table being pivoted on a centrally-fixed hollow iron cylinder. and the whole resting on a bed of oak balks, and further supported by iron stanchions springing up from the keelson of the ship. The turret was, how- ever, never designed to resist the Bellerophon's crack 9-inch gun, with which the experiments were made, as no 51"inch plate could be expected to resist a projec- tile propelled from a 9-inch gun at point-blank range. It is well known that a gun of a given calibre will penetrate a plate as many inches in thickness as the gun possesses in point of calibre. Captain Coles naturally complained that a gun of to-day was used against his turret designed years ago to resist only the gun of that day. The first shot from the monster cannon used struck the weakest point of the turret, penetrating its outer plating, which is 5t inches thiok, and glancing in through the port to a depth of about 13 inches, smashing also the skeleton gun and carriage. Bat the principal anxiety was to know if the turret still turned, which is the great point of the invention, and when Captain Coles was asked the question after the firing of the shot, he replied that the works were unin- jured. To sustain his assertion, round spun the turret, in no way disabled, and presenting another and an uninjured target to the Bellerophon. The second shot, though generally less destructive than the former, completely penetrated the iron, splintered the wooden backing, and displaced the plates and bolts. But it did not go through the tower, and the turret again revolved with ease and freedom. A third shot was fired, but with no better effect than the former. As the result of the trial one important fact remains-that no amount of pounding from shot can possibly disturb the equilibrium of the Royal Sove- reign's turret's base. The invention completely triumphed, and if the whole exposed portion had been shot away, the revolving machinery and turntable would still have remained perfect. The experiment was costly, but it has been attended with important and valuable results.

ISINGULAR CHARGE OF STEALING…

THE LOVE OF FINERY.

FACTS AND FACErplM. —♦—

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