Show REPORT ON NAVI I 1 commodore folger enters into details ji I 1 surprising experiments MADE that america Is armor plates that will withstand any guns washington kov nov 22 commodore folger chief of tho the bureau of ordnance in liia his annual report to the secretary of the tho navy which is a very lengthy one asks ap aggregating aggregating nearly two and laign alt millions for c or his bureau but the request seems moderate in ili view of the achievements of the present year anti and the promises fort for the ie future th the e voluminous report is filled with interesting details as to how the american navy compares with tho the navies of foreign nations and liow how native skill and inventiveness have placed this country in advance of all others in ili a IL comparatively ne new so far as the united states is concern concerned field of armor construction st and great gun gull making to arm vessels of tho the new navy guns v varying a 1 n 9 I 1 in I 1 I 1 calibre from four to thirteen rl i inches n c es are required and of those these are alread already maraz completed complete d and 11 aro are afloat A marked step in advance has been made in I 1 improving ying the breech mechanism of the t ten dpn at and twelve inch guns so alry may bo be worked easily and rapidly by hand the bureau Is now bul building laing a nickel steel gun on new designs invented by byam vill sellers which will doubtless binau inaugurated 11 the tile entire use of nickel steel for nav naval A gun gull construction it is stronger and better than ordinary gun steel and the designs permit the tile reconstruction of the tile gun whenever the tube is worn the use in gum guns up to six inches in calibre of f afi a fixed x metallic ammunition resulted so satisfactorily I 1 it is said it will be merely a question of time thae before the idea will be applied to larger ca libres the rapid fire mechanism as applied to five inch guns has enabled five knots to be fired from one cun gull in nine seconds but the result of the application of this mechanism to a four inch gun was followed by results still more remarkable for it has been possible gaible oa ible to fire five shots in fourteen seconds improvements are noted antho in alie quality of domestic brown powder supplied during the tile year and it is stated the bureau has taken stepa to establish the manufacture of brown powder on the pacific coast or au supplying the tile california powder company of banta anta t cuz U uz california with testing implements and guns gun and securing for it the use of dupon formulas harked progress has been made in tho the development of navy smokeless smoke leaB powder during the year it is now made ali fn largo quantities much safer than other powder unaffected by climatic conditions and su u in a marked degree to the best european smokeless powder tests with liefl high x were made willi w t great success and shells filled with this material were fired at the high of 2000 feet second from rifled guns and exploded upon impact pact with water at 6 yards y aeils arils range Experiment I 1 another american explosive have shown that shells filled with this material can be fired th rough six one inch plates and burat burst deto delo natively at will beyond be ond then them thee these the e experiments are r regarded e g a crded as sett litiF a long discus don ilon with r regard g r ato to the relative merits of firing high hight e explosives i bivas from air air guns or powder guns T 1 ll 11 he t speaks ill in terms of praise of the dene developments lits in this country of the manufacture of armor pierce piercing pro projectiles ta 1 e s arid a ind and save says in a test recently I 1 made 11 e at indian is 1 1 head of eight inch shells two of the celebrated german two of carpenter and two of the stirling product the trio gar car i 1 penter shells were nearly equal to if not superior eu to it the ie bit boot of houza t tare arethus ahns far delivered in conniry one of the stirling projectiles showed qualities of very cry supe superior bior character the deliveries of t the h a automobile torpedoes were delayed bv by the difficulty expert experienced in securing suitable naska but these at last have been obtained from froni domestic doine tic steel co companies m an e and a number ot of the how well ell atit e hed and other torpedoes are expected to be presented for testing at an early date commodore folter speaks approvingly of tile submarine boat oat now the sub subject 0 t of experiments at chic chicago FO ahil hile fuli full saca cess ii n not attained he I 1 e invention is promising is 1 aig and he lie suggest tj a combination with it in ili effect effective live warfare of a contro controllable lable floating torpedo or submarine gun I 1 under the tile head of torpedo boats the makes a strong recommendation that petroleum be used for tor fuel in these boat iner increasing eating their radius of it action c I 1 ion giving better control and ge generally n orally increasing their efficiency emi bency rhe the report says davs the labor troubles at homestead put a temporary stop top to the armor ina manufactured by Car carnegie fiegie but the work again agai 11 be began and antl it is is hoped flow in i a a short time nan the to total armor product of or carmenio Car Carn ecio and bethlehem com companies ompa nies will reach six six or seven hundred tons of finished plates per month the ordera orders for armor to the arr full 11 amount of both contracts have been placed and as there adelf eang about tons still needed f still n nettled le led I 1 f for or it tho to ships authorized bv by law the apartment is preparing preparing to advertise for b bids is for this quantity of f armor annor of nickel steel a and nd t treated rea t bob by y the process at the discretion of the department T touching the developments or 01 armor in this coun try the tile report describes a test 0 of blast last july of ot two ten inch nl nickel c kel steel steil plates blates on oil one of these five e eight ight inch Holt aier shells were smashed without in injuring the plate the test was more se e vere than an any ever before made the commodore thinks 1 ks the result of this treat great development 0 of f a armor nil will doubtless doubt lew bo a to check the ten tendency deney in europe to abandon the guna guns of large calibre which was caused by the belief that the present gu guns ns were more than amplo ample to penetrate ill the heaviest armor some information that may mav lead to a revolution revolution inan in gun making and alla also have far reach lne ng effects ec ts in in other directions Is contained in part of the tile report which I 1 treats of the nickel steel alloys following up certain made by james cilev of the ga glawson w ordnance bureau they lave succeeded in snaking alloy of steel with 25 15 1 5 per percent cent of nickel that possesses all the best qualities and strength with high elasticity distributed throughout phout the tile mass of metal ind and best of all practically non tion corrodible in I 1 the tile air and a almost most ro so in in water Th experimental clr run gull barrels and torpedo net nets are to be made at once of tilts alloy and it if to believed the gun barrels of thia this material materi alwill will not only be ie rust proof but will resist the cor corrosive roslie action of 01 the powder bases gases because of metal which hax has deiv oil only ly one tenth of the susceptibility of steel to magnetic force foree it is to also pro proposed 1 to construct an armored tower which the compasses com of one of the new jewels of this material |