AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF GUN AND CARRONADE CARRIAGES
Year: 1812

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
COLONEL WILLIAM CONGREVE, of Cecil Street, in the Strand, in the
City of Westminster, and County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third
did, by His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date, at Westminster, the
Eleventh day of May, in the fifty-second year of His reign, give and
grant unto me, the said William Congreve, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority,
that I, the said William Congreve, my exors, admiors, and assigns,
should and lawfully might, during the term of years therein mentioned,
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF GUN
AND CARRONADE CARRIAGES." in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso that if I, the said William Congreve, shall not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing, under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within two calendar months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that
then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages what-
soever thereby granted. shall utterly cease. determine, and become
void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, may more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said William Congreve, do hereby declare that my said Invention of
AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF GUN OR CARRONADE CARRIAGES." applicable
either to land and sea service. is described in manuer following, that is
to say. Tha whatever piece of ordnance is to be mounted, whether
gun or carronade, it must be cast or made with a loop similar to that
of a carronade, and with this provision this principle of carriage is
applicable to every nature of ordnance, from the largest to the smallest.
The carriage consists of two parts, an outer carriage or slide A, A. B. B.
(Fig. 1 2. 3.) having a traversing motion on a fixed centre C, and an
immer carriage or hed a, a, b, having a recoiling motion in the outer
carriage.
Fig. 1, represents the gun or carronade run out for action; Fig. 2,
shews it when recoiled; Fig. 3, is a rear view of the carriage. The
outer carriage or slide is formed of two side pieces A. A, and two
transoms B, B, or sometimes with only one rear transom, and a trans-
verse iron plate p. p, in front. The inner carriage or bed is formed of
'two side pieces a, a, or it may be constructed with only one, and one
rear transom, (with or without the roller r.) and is connected in front
to a cast iron cradle d, d, Fig. 1, 2, 3, by a strong transverse bolt y
the head and nut of which, working in a rabbate in the inside of the
side pieces A, A. of the outer carriage, connect the two carriages
together, so that the inner carriage cannot rise or disengage itself from
the outer one when the piece is fired, to which is added a smaller
transverse bolt, a little behind the principal stop bolt, to keep the rear
of the inner carriage from tilting. This cradle is cast or made of iron or
any other suitable metal in one piece, (as seen in Fig. 3.) with ears e, e,
to receive the loop of the gun or carronade, to which it is connected by
a bolt D.D. passing through these cars, and through the loop, and
having trucks T. T. fixed upon its ends. These trucks, working on

page_text: the upper surface of the side pieces A. A. support the principal weight of
the piece; and as the trunks are fixed by linch pins to the holt D, D.
which moves freely in the loop of the piece and in the ears of the
cradle, it follows that the turning of the bolt turns both the trucks.
and thus causes the piece and its inner carriage or bed to move back-
ward and forwards in the true path of the outer carriage or slide. For
the purpose, therefore of turning this bolt, it is made to project beyond
the trucks, and is furnished with levers L.L, which may be shifted for
a fresh purchase, either by slipping it thro' the holes i, i, in the ends of
the bolt, Fig. 3, similar to the handle of a vice; or by making it with a
fork to work on a square at the end of the bolt, as in Fig. 4, 5, 6; or by
shipping it into different holes in the periphery of the truck itself; in
fact, there are various other modes of application capable of producing.
the same effect. And here it must be observed that this is very im-
portant application of the lever, forming an essential part of this patent..
If the lever projects only two diameters of the truck beyond its peri-
phery, it gives a power of six to one; and therefore, as it far exceeds
the power of the gun tackle purchase, may be made intirely to super-
sede its use, altho' it may also be continued with it. In fact, by
these means, a boy with a very short lever will work a 12 po* car-
ronade one man can with case run out an 18 po', and so on in
proportion a statement sufficiently proving the importance of this
construction. The trucks may either be cast round or with a number
of sides, as in the Drawings, (for instance with 16, or any other num-
ber,) to prevent their ever slipping round without moving the piece,
when the lever is applied or they may be made to turn independently
of the bolt, so as to work individually each with a lever. Now, altho
the great facility of this mode of mounting ordnance arises from the
action of these trucks, still it is desireable that they should be prevented
from acting when the piece recoils in firing. They may, therefore, for
this purpose, be furnished with a pall, or other similar contrivance, to
check their revolving in that direction; or this object may be accom-
plished in a more simple and easy way, by passing the lever L, previous
to the act of firing, thro' the holes X, or Y, (Fig. 1, 2, 4, 5. 7, 8.) in
one truck, across either the front or back of the ears of the cradle (as.

page_text: shewn by, 1, Fig. 3,) and thro' the corresponding hole in the
opposite truck, which obviously locks them both and prevents their
turning either way when so locked; and, indeed, not only deadens
the recoil, but prevents the piece running forwards again after firing
until the lever is drawn out. This application, therefore, of the lever
for palling the trucks is very important, and must be considered as
coming within the exclusive privilege granted by this Patent. On this
point I have, however, further to specify that the desideratum of prevent-
ing the truck from turning when the piece recoils may be accomplished
by casting the trucks with only six or eight sides, in which form they will
slide back when the gun recoils, altho they will carry the piece back-
wards and forwards, acting as a series of fulcra when the lever is
applied. There is another general property of this construction to be
stated, namely, that it gives the power of elevating the piece much
more considerably than any otlier existing gun or carronade carriage,
by allowing the cascable to drop between the inside pieces of the inner
carriage, in so much that it will in the construction, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6, give 45 of elevation with a carronade. The quantity of eleva-
vation or depression may be regulated by a bed and coin, as in Fig. 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, or by a screw, as in Fig. 8, or by a rack and bolt.
Fig. 1 and 2, represent that particular construction of the slide deno-
minated the outside principle, as it throws the piece so much further out.
This may, in fact, be applied to any part, but is best calculated for one
where the sill is moderately low as the side pieces of the slide are raised
upon the port sill itself, the carriage traversing thereon by means of a
centre bolt C, (furnished with either a nut or a forelock) which connects
the slide to the gunwale by working in the strong transverse iron
plate p, p, rivetted across the front of the outer carriage. This centre
bolt is either screwed firmly into the port sill or let into it with a tongue,
thro' which the breeching bolt X. Fig. 2, is driven, and which effectually
prevents its being drawn by the action of firing; or the carriage may be
secured to the side of the vessel (as in Fig. 7,) by a swivel bolt working
in a plate across the port sill, thro' the inside and outside ends of which
the breeching bolt X, Fig. 7, is driven. Fig. 4, 5, represent that par-
ticular construction called the inside principle, in which the whole of the

page_text: carriage is within the port, no part resting on the sill. This is calcu- .
fated for ports or gunwales where the sill is of considerable height, for
instance, above 10 inches, as it obviously keeps down the height of the
carriage. The only difference in this case is, that the side pieces of the
slide are shorter and do not project beyond the front transom. The
connection, therefore, with the traversing centre C, is provided for by a
strong iron neck fixed to the front transom. This fixture may either be
permanent as in Fig. 4, or effected as in Fig. 5, by two bolts m, n; m,
permanent with a nut, and n, moveable with a forelock, so that n, being
removed, the whole carriage will train round to lay fore and after, close
to the side without casting off the iron neck or stay, and being ready for
action again merely by replacing the small bolt n. Fig. 7, represents a
different construction of slide and bed, possessing all the above pro-
perties as to working the piece by the truck and levers. The lower
carriage or slide A, A, is nearly the same as that above described, but is
longer. But the bed E, B, D, is supported wholly on the slide instead
of the rear of it resting on the deck, as in the foregoing constructions.
The front part of the bed E, is a cradle of cast iron in one piece, with
ears for the bolt and trucks similar to those in Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
The rear part D, Fig. 7, is also one piece of cast iron with arms
F, F, resting on the slide these two pieces E, and B, are connected
together by two longitudinal bolts f,f, binding them into one mass with
the wooden block B, between them, thro' which the bolts pass. The
rear of this bed supports the coin or elevation screw, and the arms F, F,
are provided with dropping palls, which hold the piece
firing until relieved from the counter sunk rocket r, r.
down upon the slide by projections on the cast iron
front and back, which projections work under a rabbate in the side
pieces of the slide, as in the other constructions. In all these con-
structions the rabbates are sewed with a piece of plate iron. Fig. 8
and 9, represent a side and end view of the carronade slide now in
general use in the royal navy adapted so as to receive the properties and
facilities of the above principle of construction, arising from the use of
the levers and trucks according to the principles of my improved con-
struction, and therefore so far coming within the provisions of this
board after
This bed is kept
parts forming its
.
.

page_text: patent. The requisite additions may be made at a very trifling expense,
being merely a prolongation of the bolt D, D, to receive the trucks as
in the foregoing constructions, and two pieces of timber. R, R. (Fig. 8
and 9) for the trucks to run upon and to keep the bed in the direction
of the slide, the sides of which for this purpose must be cut parallel, but
no other part of the old slide and bed requires the least. alteration, as is
evident by inspecting the Drawing. The breechings in all the applica-
tions of this improved system of carriages are supposed to lead from a
single ring bolt in the side as giving an equal strain in all positions of
traverse, tho' it may be applied as in common. This construction also
allows of another and very convenient mode of applying the breeching
by leading it entirely within the slide, by which means.it is completely
kept off the deck, and wholly out of the way in working the piece.
In witness whereof. I the said William Congreve, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twelve.