A POWERFUL SHELL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4527, 5 April 1934, Page 3

A POWERFUL SHELL

"NOTHING CAN STOP." Hundreds of Sheffield's new 16in. naval shell that "nothing can stop" have been produced for the Admiralty by the big armament firm of which Sir Robert Hadfield is the head. Secret tests, under Government supervision, at Shoeburyness proved that these shells, then in an experimental stage, would crash clean and unbroken through 16in. armour plating.

The explosion then takes place with "disastrous effects" (to use Sir Robert's own description). In one test one of these shells was fired at 12in armour plating. It forced open the plate and punched out 6cwt. of solid steel in a four-thousandth part of a second. In April last year Sir Robert Hadfield told a meeting of shareholders that the shell, which had been patented in eight countries, had proved effective even when hitting its objective sideways. Describing the terrible havoc which the shell would create, he added: "If the time for large employment comes, we are ready to meet the requirements of the Army and TSTavy with the projectile, which is capable at long ranges of carrying the charges through the armoured protection of enemy ships with disastrous effects."