The Daily Dispatch: July 6, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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Artillery experiments upon an iceberg

--The English screw steam-frigate Mersey, Captain H. Caldwell, has reached Halifax.-- When approaching the banks of Newfoundland, Capt. C. fell in with some icebergs, and thought it would be interesting to experiment on them with rifled cannon. Accordingly, an Armstrong shell was fired at a small iceberg, about 150 feet high, from a distance of four miles and a half. Such was the effect that a block of ice, judged to be of about 100 tons, fell from the summit. This large weight, falling from the top of the berg, removed the centre of gravity, which caused the whole fabric to roll over and rock to and fro. It was considered a most satisfactory test of the vast range and destructiveness of these missiles.--Further trials were made with other projectiles supplied to the navy — namely, hollow shot, percussion, and shrapnel, and time fuze shell, &c.--all tending to exhibit one feature in modern warfare at sea, viz: the extreme probability of every vessel being in flames soon after she is engaged.