this shell is adapted; hence Maximite has shown itself capable of withstanding the shock of penetration of armor plate as thick as the armor-piercing shell itself will stand, and furthermore, in the maximum quantity which the largest shells are capable of carrying.
In the 12-inch shell for piercing still thicker armor, the charge space is considerably smaller and the length of column of explosive very much shorter, so that, although the shock upon the projectile would be greater, still the shock upon the explosive would not be any more severe than that exerted upon the Maximite in the above test.
The writer has developed a fuse which will carry 100 grains, or even more, of a fulminate of mercury compound, together with more than 2,000 grains of a picrate, through the thickest armor plate, without going off prematurely, and which will act promptly to explode the bursting charge of Maximite immediately it gets through the plate.
A section of the common 12 inch seacoast rifle, and a section of torpedo gun proposed by the writer in a lecture before the Royal United Service Institution of Great Britain, June, 1897.
The problem of successfully throwing high explosives from powder guns may be said to be already solved. Not only this, but the far more difficult problem has been solved, of successfully firing high explosives through armor plate to explode inside of a war vessel.
An equally important feature of the problem has also been met, and that is the safety in storage of high explosives in quantity, especially in the magazines of a battleship. The refractory character of Maximite is such that it is rendered absolutely safe under such circumstances. Furthermore, it is so insensitive that projectiles filled with it could not be exploded by other projectiles striking them and exploding among them.
In a recent test by the Government, three 3-inch shells were filled with Maximite and armed with a point fuse filled with fifty grains of fulminate of mercury, and the fuses fired by electricity. As a result, the forward ends only of the shells were blown off by the fuse, leaving the whole rear portions of the shells unbroken, and filled with unexploded Maximite. The fragments of the forward ends, which were
