3-011-854 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Section of the Warrior floating target, showing the hole made by the 600-pound shell and the displacement of the upper plate, 1864. Diagram of '...a section through the target as it would appear if cut vertically through the centre of the hole made by the shell...the target was composed externally of armour plating 4½ in. thick, resting upon and bolted to a solid backing of teak 18 in. thick, which backing was again supported by an inner plating and framework representing the body of the ship...On taking the target to pieces the shattering effect was found to have extended far beyond the limits of the hole...Previous to the practice the timber supports at the back of the target were covered with planks strongly nailed to the timbers...The whole of these inclosing planks were torn off and blown away by the explosion of the shell. One of the massive timber struts was also tom away from the target by the blast, and another was broken laterally by the same cause. The shell appears to have exploded just as it entered the timber-backing, and it made a hole in the back of the target about four times as large as that in the front...The displacement of the armour plate and the damage to the timber backing is clearly shown in our Engraving'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.