# Royal Naval Biography/Smith, George (a)

Layout 2
GEORGE SMITH (a), Esq. [Captain of 1832.]
Obtained the rank of lieutenant in Sept. 1815; and served as such on board the Dispatch sloop, Comm. William Clarke Jervoise, on the Mediterranean station. In 1830, being then a commander, he was appointed to superintend the instruction of officers and seamen in gunnery, on board the Excellent 58, at Portsmouth; and all inventions relating to this part of the equipment of a man-of-war, were referred for his opinion. He was promoted to the rank of captain “for improvements in gunnery,” April 13th, 1832.
This officer is the inventor of very superior sights for ships’ guns, and of a moveable target, at which the crews of H.M. ships are now generally practised, for the purpose of instructing them in the art of pointing the great guns. The target is thus spoken of in the Hampshire Telegraph:–
“As the advantage of dispart or top-sights is now generally acknowledged, the object is – first, to teach seamen the application of them, as simply and expeditiously as possible; and, secondly, how to fire when their ship is rolling, or when firing at a moving object. The principle of the invention is entirely novel, and its name does not convey an adequate idea of its nature and utility. The following may make it intelligible:– On one end of a wooden bar, or lever, about eight feet long, is hung a light frame, three feet square, filled with canvas; on one side a white cross is painted, on the other a circle, with a bull’s eye. The lever vibrates from the centre, on a pin attached to an octagon block of wood, eighteen inches in length, and eight in diameter, on which is the requisite machinery to allow it a vertical and lateral motion, either singly or together, and to stop them both at the same instant: the lever is balanced by a weight at the opposite end, the whole suspended by an iron bar, about three feet long, to cne of the foremost beams on the main deck, either object of the target facing aft. A gun, ascertained not to be loaded, is run in under the half deck, and the men taught the first principle of pointing, by being made to bring the sights and a fixed object directly in one, the target being stationary. The lever is then made to vibrate, which causes the object to pass and repass before a man’s eye, as he keeps the sights in one, so as to represent the effect of his ship when rolling; and by the simple application of a line (the main feature of the invention) rove through a fair leader at the ventfield, representing a lock lanyard, and carried along under the beams to a trigger in the machinery of the target, a man, who is made to stand with it at a ​distance, as if the gun would recoil, has the power of stopping the motion of the lever as quick as the action of a great gun lock, and, consequently, fixing the object where it happens to be when he pulls the trigger line; he is then to look along the sights on the gun, and see if he has fixed the object in a direct line with them; if he has, he has fired a good shot; if not, it is presumed he would not have hit his mark if actually firing. The lever is made to move laterally, so as to represent an object to fire at opening from forward or aft. When it is wished to increase the difficulty of hitting the mark, the lateral and vertical motion can be given at the same time, to shew the effect of the combined pitching and rolling motion. This inboard exercise is calculated to teach men to fire a good shot, by quickening their eye; and to be a sure and easy test of a man’s abilities as a marksman. It can be carried on without interrupting the ordinary duties of a ship at sea or in harbour; and, though it is (save the explosion) the same as firing, it is not intended to curtail the expenditure of powder and shot, but to prevent any from being thrown away. As the crew of one gun only is thus exercised at a time, the important part of working the guns can be attended to in another part of the ship. The utility of this Lever Target, as it is now called, is obvious, when an officer wishes to ascertain, in a newly commissioned ship, what men are fittest to be selected as first and second captains of guns, as a man will shew what manner of man he is in one exercise. It is equally adapted to all classes of vessels, and can be fixed upright on deck, or hung to a beam. It is sufficiently portable, as it stows away in a box the size of a grape shot-box. In order that its effect on a ship’s company may be exemplified, its inventor has suggested a plan for a floating target, being merely an old hammock, stretched and painted, in a light iron frame, to stand up in the water at right angles, on a spar frame, moored by grapnels abreast of the ship. The intention is to present a conspicuous object, that may be repeatedly struck, and to prevent the expenditure of casks, which are often destroyed by the first shot that strikes them.”