England’s Strangest Warship.

Manawatu Herald, 22 February 1902, Page 2

England’s Strangest Warship.

The most novel warship (says the London " Daily Express ”) in existence appears on the Admiralty list. It is known as H.M.S. Excellent, but H.M.S. Excellent never weighs anchor, never gets up steam with Belleville or any other boilers, has never left these shores in searcn of any enemy. The ship as a ship, in fact does not exist. H.M.S. Excellent is an Admiralty fiction. The name has been bestowed upon what was thirty years ago a mere mudbank off Portsmouth, but which, now, thanks to the exertions of the “ handy man,” is the most perfectly' equipped gunnery estab ished in the world. On H M.S. Excellent —-or Whale Island, as it is sometimes called—the armour plates for British warships are tested. Special proof butts have been built for the purpose. For its supply of armour plates the Government relies entirely upon tha enterprise of private firms. Very few of these are wealthy enough to put down the costly plant necessary for producing armour plates and stand the expense of not less costly experimental work that has to ,be constantly undertaken if the manufacturer would keep ahead of his rivals. Great is the competition among the firms who do produce armour, and the result is that the Admiralty is constantly being asked to try some make of plate that is designed to offer more resistance to ' projectiles than the older patterns did. In oMr words, the Admiralty lets the private firms do the experimenting, and selects tha best from the material offered to it. When a firm has produced something they deem an advance upon the product of their rival*, they send it on board H.M.S. Excellent and ask the Admiralty to subject ,the plate to the official test. The armour is built up in prpof cells against a strong backing of oak to keep it rigid, and when everything is ready a day is fixed for the experiment. This is conducted by a party of gunners under the direction of the captain of H.M.S. Excellent. Admiralty officials watch the proceedings, and the firm whose goods are on trial are permitted to send representatives, though the latter are little more than spectators. Five projectiles are fired at the plate, one at each corner, and one in the centre. For testing sin plates a 4.7 in gun is used, for 6in plates a Bin gun, for 9in plates a 9.2 in gun, and for foot thick plates a 12in gun. The firing takes place at short range, with charges carefully calculated to give a high striking velocity to the armourpiercing projectile with which the gun is loaded. When the gun : is aimed), everybody goes into a bombproof shelter, and the gun is fired by electricity. As soon as the . danger is over the party emerge from their shelter. The plate is carefully examined, photographed, and the depth of the indentation—if any— ' measured. Time after time is this repeated if the plate shows sufficient resisting power 'until the trial is completed. Sometimes the projectile punches a hole through the plate or cracks it in all directions as if it were a bit of glass instead of a big mass of rolled steel. Then an an-

favouraSffi verdict given and the unfortunate manufacturer finds that research and experiment that have cost him perhaps hundreds of pounds will bring him no return. When any new invention is brought to the notice of the Admiralty and accepted by that august body, the inventor is required to disclose every detail of manufacture. It is, in fact, one of the strictest rules that the process from beginning to end shall be plainly stated, so that a strict watch may be kept by the properly ap- • pointed officials. In this way, and in this way only, can the standard of quality be assured.