To improve the detonation " exploders " with a small quantity of picric powder or even of TNT ( in smaller shells, 3 pdr, 12 pdr-4.7 inch ) was loaded between the fuze and the main lyddite filling or in a thin tube running through most of the shell's length.
32.
A lighter 40-pound ( 18.14 kg ) shell with Amatol filling replaced the original 50-pound ( 22.68 kg ) Lyddite shell early in World War I Together with an increase in cordite propellant from 11 oz 7 drams to 14 oz 5 drams, this increased the maximum range from 4, 800 to.
33.
Amatol, a mixture of cheap ammonium nitrate and TNT ( initially " 40 / 60 " : 40 % ammonium nitrate and 60 % TNT for land shells and 80 / 20 from 1917 ) proved 27 % more powerful than pure TNT and was soon adopted as the preferred HE filling in World War I . TNT and Amatol were approximately 20 % less sensitive to shock and hence safer than lyddite, and Amatol 80 / 20 cost only 7d per pound to produce in 1917 compared to 1s 11d for lyddite and 1s 3d for TNT.
34.
Amatol, a mixture of cheap ammonium nitrate and TNT ( initially " 40 / 60 " : 40 % ammonium nitrate and 60 % TNT for land shells and 80 / 20 from 1917 ) proved 27 % more powerful than pure TNT and was soon adopted as the preferred HE filling in World War I . TNT and Amatol were approximately 20 % less sensitive to shock and hence safer than lyddite, and Amatol 80 / 20 cost only 7d per pound to produce in 1917 compared to 1s 11d for lyddite and 1s 3d for TNT.
35.
In 1906 " Skate " was used as a target in firing trials of the effectiveness of various guns against destroyers . 3-pounder ( 47 mm ) guns proved ineffective, having difficulty penetrating the ship's plating in end-on engagements, and while 12-pounder ( 3-in ( 76 mm ) ) guns caused more damage, it was concluded that a single hit could not be guaranteed to disable a destroyer . 4-inch ( 102 mm guns proved much more effective, particularly when Lyddite-filled shells were used, and this led to a change in destroyer armament to 4-inch guns.
