The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-12 00:00:00

Turret Ships

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sir,—Before the trials of the Royal Sovereign
:ook place it will be remembered that many and

,oud were the cries and evil prophecies of the anti-
turret party. "The concussion of 401 b. of powder

would be so great that no gunners would exist in
the turrets." " When the ship was in motion it

would be impossible to move tbem." " The decks
would blow up." And lest, though not least, the

ship would be uninhabitable. All these objections
have, however, ben dispcsed of, and experience
has proved exactly the reverse, es testified in Capt.
Osborn's reports ; but, like all great innovations,
no eooner era one set of oljntions disposed of
than others are set on foot, some real, some ima-
ginary, by engineers, shipbuilders, practical, un-
practical, scientific men, friends and foes. Tt, this
I can have no otjection. An invention on which
there is so much pending cannot be too severely
tested or criticised, for if the principle is right, it
will only tend to bring its merits more to the sur-
face. Your correspondents, when discussing the
possibility of the guns losing their power of traitnr
ing in turrets, appear altogether to forget that
broadside guns also can lose their restricted powers
of training ; and I think it will be allowed by all
impartial judges that turrets have not only been
ta'-iject to our experiments severely testing this
point, but that it has also been more fully tested in
actual warfare than any other mode of working
protected guns, while no broadside target with a
gun in it fitted as cur ironclads has ever been fired
at. In 1862 the revolving shield in the Trusty
was fired at with solid 68 and 110 pounders until
perforated, and, although of inferior construction,
at the end of the trials, after 44 hits, it worked as
readily as ever.
The Rolf Krake small Danish turret ship, so re'l
peatedly in action, and having twice been dismasted
under fire, never had the revolving powers of her
turrets affected. We find that up to January, 1864,
by Admiral Dahlgren's official report, the American
turrets had been hit on an average 128 times, and,
although some had been more or less damaged, we
do not now hear any complaint either of their pivots
or revolving powers getting out of order, and it does
❑ot appear in the slightest degree to have affected
their confidence in the principle for working heavy
guns, as the Americans are daily increasing
the number of these vessels,* and other
countries are following their example. We
must try and calmly weigh all sides of
a question upon which, at all events, the
future armament of our navy depends, and it
is, I em sure, not generally known that the broad-
side guns in our ironclads also work on a pivot, but
that broadside pivot, instead of being, as the turret

pivot is,' a w rought iron cylinder, 2 feet in
diameter, 41 inches thick, placed amidship on the
lower deck out of the way of shot, is a mere bolt
4 inches thick, and exposed in the lower port sill
within a few inches of the outside of the ship. Oa
this a bar works to which the carriage is attached,
so that any shot striking in the vicinity would dis-
tort the pivot, which if the least out of the centre
would effectually jam or prevent the training of that
gun. The maximum training allowed by this
broadside pivot is only 30 deg. each way, and in

case of this getting out of order a second one
is provided inside the port which admits of much
lesa training ; this, however, is only just within the
ship's side, and a heavy shot striking in the vicinity
would disable both. A port of this description
with pivots and gun complete has never been fired
at, and I will guarantee with one well-directed or
chance shot that a gun carriage in a port so fitted
shall be efitctually stopped working.
If the Admiralty and country ate not satisfied
with our trials in the Trusty (the report of which
has never been allowed to appear), and insist
upon ignoring the experience of the Americans and
Danes, by all means, then, however expensive it
may be, fire at the Royal Sovereign, but let

the test be competitive, and shot for shot,
against any other protected gun afloat, when 1
feel sure that the success of the turret would he
greater than has been already achieved. It is now
said at Whitehall that if ever they work 300 and
600 pounders in broadside ports it is to be done by
machinery. Ought we not then to subject these
ports and their fittings to at least the sem° tests
that turrets have already undergone ?
There is another very important point in these
broadside guns; the port holes, even to admit of
their very limited training, are bevelled away inside
like an inverted embrasure, having a horizontal
opening 2ft.4irt on the outside, and 6ft 4in on the
inside, leaving trifling support or backing to the
armour-plate at the edges of the port, where, if
struck by heavy shot, the armour-plate would as-
sured:rbe converted into a cloud of splinters pass-
ing into those confined and crowded batteries, doing
more mischief than if the ports had been left their
legitimate larger size, with square and well-sup-
ported edges; while the ports, or rather apertures,
through which the muzzles of the gun protrude in
the Royal Sovereign's turrets are, if anything, the
strongest part, being faced with ten inches of iron
and the same backing and support as any other part
of the turret. This being the cace, it will readily
be recognised that I am most at.x.iou3 for any fair
and competitive trials; but whatever is to be done,
let it be done quickly, and do not let us potter ever
the Royal Sovereign for another 12 months.—Yours
truly, COWPER P. COLES.
Southses, Nov. 9.