French Invent Armorplate.

New York Times 100 years ago today, September 15, 1912:
Great Things Are Expected of a New Combination of Metals.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    PARIS, Sept. 14.— The launching of the new battleship Paris at the end of September is exciting considerable interest in engineering and shipbuilding circles.
    The armor plating on the new vessel is made entirely of a new metal of French invention, which will, it is expected, render a battleship less vulnerable to shell fire, and mark a new epoch in naval shipbuilding.
    The new metal is made in the workshops of the Compagnie des Forges et Acieries de la Marine at Saint-Chamond, and contains a good proportion of chromium and nickel, giving great elasticity and, at the same time, hardness at least equal to that of cemented steel.
    The plates made for the battleship Paris have come successfully through the firing tests, and great satisfaction is felt that, in the world-wide researches for an improved armor plate, necessitated by more powerful naval artillery, French engineers have scored the first triumph.