Steel Shell
"Steel Shell" (with capitals) was the British term for the Hotchkiss 3 and 6 pounder Common pointed shells and some others such as the QF 1-pounder base-fuzed round. They had attributes of British "Common Pointed" shells as they were filled with gunpowder, had base percussion fuzes and a heavy pointed nose (almost 3 c.r.h.). But the nose was closer in design to British A.P. shells - the solid section was longer than Common Pointed, and the body held proportionately less powder than Common Pointed. It was intended for Naval use.
In common usage, "steel shell" (without capitals) served to differentiate a shell constructed of steel from one constructed of cast iron (C.I.).
Read more about this topic: List Of British Ordnance Terms
Famous quotes containing the words steel and/or shell:
“The tyrant custom, most grave senators,
Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war
My thrice-driven bed of down.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
—Isaac Newton (1642–1727)