JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

[Detail of image below: “War Manufactures at Woolwich Arsenal:  700-lb Palliser Shells for the 38-ton Gun“.  Source: Scientific American Supplement, June 1879.]

I’ve written earlier on this blog on the Woolwich works (“Very, Very Heavy Metal–the Woolich Infant, 1876″) that touches on some very heavy artillery, superior monsters all, with the “Infant” in question being an 80-ton gun. That came to mind seeing this big full-page engraving in Scientific American of Woolwich in 1879 and this stationary parade of potential of  death and destruction (and we’re glad to have them on our side) 700-lb shells.  That’s Sir William Palliser shells, which were manufactured as armor-piercing, and intended to do major damage to armor-plated warships–hyper-damage, actually, considering the 410-pounder in this variety was very highly effective.  This shell was just an absolute brute. 

This is a detail from:

[Apologies for  the waviness–the book is very large and getting it to lay flat was not really a consideration.]