IMPROVEMENTS IN CANNONS AND PIECES OF ORDNANCE, AND IN SHOT AND PROJECTILES FOR CANNONS AND PIECES OR ORDNANCE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Gower, of Stratford, in the County of
Essex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CANNONS AND
PIECES OF ORDNANCE, AND IN SHOT AND PROJECTILES FOR CANNONS AND PIECES
OR ORDNANCE"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin. Gower at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th February 1855.
I, BENJAMIN GOWER, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CANNONS AND PIECES OF -ORDNANCE, AND IN SHOT AND PROJECTILES FOR CANNONS
AND PIECES OF ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in constructing the cannon or piece of ordnance in
two pieces, of wrought or cast iron, or of any other material generally used for
such purposes, but I prefer using wrought iron, as being more suitable; one
piece forming the breech or set of breeches and another the barrel. The piece
of metal containing the breech or set of breeches I make in the form of a
wheel mounted on a vertical axle; the breach or each of the breeches (if more

page_text: than one) being made in the wheel by boring from the periphery towards the
centre, the wheel being made of a thickness sufficient for this purpose. The
orifices may, however, be cast in the wheel (if made of cast metal), or they
may be bored. I make the diameter of the bore of the breech somewhat larger
than the diameter of the bore of the barrel, with the exception of a short portion
of the breech end of the barrel, which is made somewhat conical, and so that
the diameter at the breech end may be the same as that of the breech. The
breech is so constructed that it may revolve, and so that it will contain several
charges at one time if necessary. I secure the breech to the barrel by means of
a metal strap or band, and I secure the breech up to the barrel by means
of a screw or other suitable arrangement; for the purpose of preventing the
escape of the explosive power where the parts come together. My improved
shot or projectile I make of cast iron, and elongated, that is to say, of a length
greater than its diameter, and it may be either made solid, or with a hole or
holes through the centre, into which hole or holes I put the thread of a screw
or a portion of such a thread, for the purpose of causing the projectile to revolve
more or less during its flight by the action of the air upon the screw in its
interior as it passes through the air. The hole or holes referred to may be
either with or without a screw thread, as may be required. To prevent the
escape of the explosive power through the hole or holes during the act of firing,
I place behind the shot or projectile a small piece of iron or other material
sufficiently strong to stand the explosive power, and slightly attached by means
of wax or other means which will not be too strong to prevent its falling off
when the projectile leaves the barrel. To prevent windage between the shot
or projectile and the interior of the barrel, I place a ring or rings of lead or
other soft material in a groove or grooves cut or cast round the periphery of
the shot or projectile, the ring or rings projecting sufficiently above the surface
of the harder metal, to cause the soft metal ring or rings to fit tightly within
the bore of the barrel when fired, I use soft metal in this way, not only for
the purpose of preventing any escape of air or powder whilst the projectile is
passing along the barrel, but also for preserving the interior of the barrel from
abrasion or injury by the action of the hard metal of which the projectile may
be formed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Gower in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
GOWER, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the cighteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Benjamin Gower, Her special licence that I, the said Ben-
jamin Gower, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Benjamin Gower, my executors,. administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CANNONS AND PIECES OF ORDNANCE, AND IN SHOT AND PROJECTILES FOR CANNONS
AND PIECES OF ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Benjamin Gower, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Gower, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My said Invention consists, firstly, of improvements in cannons and other
pieces of ordnance, which I construct in two pieces, one of which pieces forms
or contains the breech or set of breeches of a gun, and the other of such pieces
forms the barrel of the same gun.
In Figures 1 and 2 of the said accompanying Drawings I have shewn how
a gun may be constructed according to my Invention; Figure 1 being a
longitudinal vertical section of the gun, which is shewn in the Figures, and
Figure 2 a plan or top view of the same gun. Similar parts in those two
Figures are marked with similar letters of reference.

page_text: In each of those Figures A, A, is the barrel, having a circular bore of equal
diameter throughout its length, until within a slight distance of the breach,
where it assumes to a slight extent the form of a hollow truncated cone; that
is, it gradually increases in diameter until it becomes of equal diameter with
the bore of the chamber, or each of the set of chambers forming the breech or
breeches, which is or are of a diameter slightly greater than the general bore
of the gun. The breech or breeches B, B, herein-after more particularly
described, is or are connected with the barrel by a strap or band C, C, of
wrought iron or other suitable material. The strap or band C, C, as shewn in
the Figures, is a hollow cylinder from the end of it, which is nearest to the
muzzle of the gun to the part C³, C³, (Figure 2), which is within a short
distance of the breech end of the barrel, and when made it is accurately bored
so as to fit the external surface of the barrel. In order to fix the strap or band
C, C, securely upon the barrel of the gun, it is heated, and being then passed
over the barrel into the proper position it shrinks by cooling, and the contraction
causes it to be fixed firmly on the barrel. At A', A', (Figure 1,) the thickness
of the metal of the barrel of the gun or piece of ordnance increases suddenly
by an external shoulder, and the fore part C', C', (Figure 1,) of the strap or
band is made to fit it, as shewn most clearly at Figure 1, for the purpose of
preventing the barrel from being driven forward through the strap by the
explosion of the gunpowder, or other explosive compound used. On the strap
or band C, C, are placed the trunnions of the gun G, G, (Figure 2.) The
trunnions G, G, may either be formed as part of the strap or band C, C, or may
be formed on a ring or band made to fit on to the strap or band C, C, and to
be shrunk upon it, in like manner as the strap or band C, C, is shrunk on the
barrel A, A; but instead of a shoulder, as at A¹, on the barrel, a double
shoulder or circular recess would be requisite on the exterior surface of the
strap, so as to receive the ring, and prevent any shifting of the ring, having
the trunnions formed thereon either in a forward or backward direction. The
strap or band C, C, after nearly reaching the breech end of the barrel at C², C²,
as shewn on the plan at Figure 2, ceases to be of the hollow cylindrical form,
and is carried on in the form of two horizontal straps or plates (one above and
the other below), made sufficiently strong to hold or carry the circular breech
piece B, B, mounted upon a vertical axle, and containing in it at its periphery
the several breeches or chambers of the gun. In the upper part of the strap
or plate C, C, I make a conical hole C³ immediately above the touch-hole,
which in the Drawing is shewn to enter the chamber at the back part of it,
but it may be made to enter the chamber at any other part. At the further

page_text: end of the upper part of the strap C, C, there is a spring lever H, fastened to
that part of the strap or band C, C, by a bolt or screw, having a tongue M on
it, as shewn in the Figures, fitting into a hole M¹ in the breech piece con-
taining the chamber or chambers of the breech, when the chamber out of which
a charge is to be fired is correctly in a line with the barrel A, A. The lever H
by its own spring presses down on the breech piece, and as the breech piece
revolves, the tongue M drops into one of the holes M', when it comes under it,
retaining the breech B,. B, 'firmly in its then position, so as to prevent any
lateral play of the chambers when the gun is being fired. The strap C, C, need
not be made separately from the barrel A, A, as herein-before described,
except when making large cannon or pieces of ordnance, and it is so contrived
in order to avoid the necessity of having castings or forgings of inconvenient
size in single pieces. In smaller cannon or pieces of ordnance the top and
bottom horizontal straps or plates from C, Figure 2, to the further end of the
strap where the lever H is fixed on, may be. formed as part of the barrel A, A,
and in one piece with it. The breech piece B, B, of the gun, as shewn in the
Figures, consists of a piece of wrought iron or other suitable metal made in
the form of a wheel, having several breeches or chambers in its periphery; but
it might be made in the form of a segment or segments of a wheel, having a
chamber or chambers in similar positions. The chamber, or each of them, if
more than one, is to be bored in the periphery or circumference of the breech
piece from the periphery towards the centre, but slightly larger in diameter
than the general bore of the barrel, as before described, and for the purpose
which will be seen or understood from the description of my improved shot or
projectiles herein-after contained. Each of these chambers is cylindrical, of
equal diameter throughout, and all of them (if more than one) are exactly equal
in their several dimensions, and similarly placed in reference to their common
centre, and to the barrel A, A, so that in revolving round each may come
exactly into line with the barrel A, A, of the gun when in position to be fired.
This wheel-like or segmental breech is made to revolve or turn horizontally on
a vertical axle D, D, at its centre, so as to bring the chamber or each chamber
in succession into line with the barrel for the purpose of being fired, and after-
wards remove it, so as to allow of loading the chamber or chambers. Through
the centre of the breech piece B, B, is a hole bored true; through this hole
passes the pin or bolt D, D, which forms the axle, upon which the breech piece
B, B, revolves or turns. The pin also passes through holes in the upper and
lower pieces of the horizontal strap or band C, C, so as to be held in a vertical
position. The bolt or pin D, D, and the upper and lower pieces of the band

page_text: or strap C, C, hold the breech and barrel securely together, preventing the
brecch piece B, B, being driven back, and the strap C, C, (more particularly
that part which is shewn at C', C',) preventing the barrel from being driven
forward by the explosion of the gunpowder or other explosive material used,
thus keeping the barrel and the breech piece firmly together while the gun is
fired, and preventing the escape of any of the explosive gases at the breech of
the gun, by which part of the power obtained from the explosion of the gun-
powder or other explosive compound used might be lost. The pin D, D, running
vertically through the upper and lower continuations of the strap or band
C, C, and through the breech B, B, between these parts of the strap, as herein-
before described, is, as shown more particularly in Figure 1, cylindrical
throughout the greater portion of that part of its length which passes through
the hole in the breech piece; but a little way from the upper and lower surfaces
of the breech, the bolt or pin is cut off at an angle, remaining semicircular
on the front half of its diameter. On the top of the pin is a flat circular
head D¹, concentric with that part of the bolt or pin which passes through the
breech piece B, B. Underneath the lower part of the horizontal strap or
band C is fixed, by means of screws, bolts, or other suitable means, a stepped
carrier E, E, in which is inserted a stepped nut K, K. On the lower portion
of the pin D, D, it will be seen that, after passing through the lower horizontal
strap or band C, C, and the upper portion of the nut K, K, there is cut
the thread of a screw on that part of the pin D, D, which is shewn of the
least diameter, as at D³, Figure 1. The upper or stepped portion of the nut
K, K, rests on the carrier E, E, and is free to work round in its bed on the
same. The lower portion of the nut K, K, has a female screw cut on it to
work on the male screw on the vertical pin at D³, its outer form being hexa-
gonal, or any other usual form, to enable the wrench-headed end of the horizontal
lever E, Figure 2, to turn it round through one angle of the hexagon-headed
nut K, K. Through the wrench-headed end of the lever E, E, is passed a
pin or cotter to fasten them up together, so as to prevent looseness by wear,
and to admit of adjustment as may be necessary; and through the other end
of the lever E it will be seen that a vertical female screw is cut, so as to work
on the male screw cut on the horizontal lever F, as shewn at F1, Figure 2.
The lever F has a head at its extremity at F2, Figures 1 and 2, where it
passes through a stud I, fastened to the lower horizontal part of the strap C, C,
by a screw working in it, and in the radial arm of the lever E, as shewn in
the Figures. The horizontal lever F is worked by a handle or handles F', F¹,
shewn in the Figures. By screwing forward or backward, the end E¹ of the

page_text: lever E works the nut round the thread D³ of the vertical pin D, causing the
pin D, D, to rise or fall in the orifices in the strap C, C, thereby pushing
backward or forward the breech B, B, by means of the wedge-shaped back at
the top and bottom of the pin D, D, thus enabling the breech piece B, B, to
be drawn back or loosened from the end of the barrel A, A, when any chamber
of the breech piece B, B, is to be loaded or set in line with the barrel A, A,
and to be screwed up tight to the barrel A, A, previously to firing the cannon
or piece of ordnance, and so prevent the escape of any of the strength of the
gunpowder or other explosive compound used, as before stated.
My said Invention consists, secondly, of improvements in shot and projec-
tiles for cannon and other pieces of ordnance, which are made of a cylindrical
or elongated form, that is to say, of greater length than diameter.
My improvements in constructing such shot or projectiles consists, firstly,
in constructing them with a hole or holes through them in the direction
of their length, in which hole or holes I make or place the thread or
threads of a screw or a portion of such a thread; or each such hole may
be made spirally, in the shape of the thread or a portion of the thread of
the screw, or in a line at an angle with the line of the intended flight of the
projectile, for the purpose (in each case) of causing a projectile forced from a
gun with a plain or smooth bore during its flight to revolve more or less on
an axis coincident with the line of its flight, by reason of the air passing through
the hole or holes and acting upon the screw or screw-like form thereof, and
thus produce a revolving motion to the projectile, similar to that communicated
to a shot or projectile fired from a rifled gun. When the shot or projectile is
not required to revolve in this manner, the hole or holes may be made plain
and straight, and by constructing them in that manner the same weight of
metal will produce larger projectiles than when they are cast solid.
My said improvements in constructing such shot or projectiles as before
mentioned consists, secondly, in placing a ring or rings of lead or other soft
metal round each shot or projectile, for the purpose of preventing windage
between the shot or projectile and the interior of the cannon or piece of
orduance from which it is discharged; and also for the purpose of preserving
the interior surface of the barrel or gun from abraision or injury, by the action
of the hard metal of which the projectile may be formed. For these purposes
I cut or cast a groove or grooves round the periphery of a projectile, and in
each groove fix a ring of lead or soft metal, projecting sufficiently above the
surface of the hard metal, of which the body of the projectile is formed, to
cause the ring to fit tightly within the bore of the barrel or gun from which

page_text: it is to be fired. In Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the said Drawings I have shewn
how such shot or projectiles may be constructed. Figure 3 is an end view,
and Figure 4 a longitudinal section, of a shell cut through from C to D,
Figure 3; and Figure 5 is an end view, and Figure 6 à longitudinal section,
of a shot cut through from A to B, Figure 5. The shot or projectiles repre-
sented in these Figures are shewn made as in a form cylindrical towards the
base, but conical at the opposite end, so as to come to a point. At the base
of each shot, shell, or other projectile I make a small countersunk recess (as
shewn in the Figures), into which a disc of wadding, metal, or other suitable
material is tightly fastened, so as to prevent the force of the explosive gases
from escaping through the holes, herein-before described, on firing the cannon
or piece of ordnance, but yet not so firmly, but that easily in the transit of
the shot or projectile; the resistance of the air passing through the hole or
holes causes it to drop out, leaving the hole or holes through the shot or pro-
jectile open to the free passage of the air on its pursuing its course. On the
outer circumference of the shot or projectile are shewn recesses, into which,
and projecting beyond the surface of the shot or projectiles, are collars of lead
or other soft substances, for the purpose of more effectually preventing windage,
as herein-before described. When the projectiles are intended to be used with
my improved gun, above described, these collars are made to fit accurately the
diameter of the bore of the chamber or chambers of the breech, and conse-
quently slightly larger than the bore of the barrel, while the body of the shot
or projectile is slightly less than the bore of the barrel. On firing the charge
in the chamber the ball is projected along the barrel, and the collar, of lead
or other suitable material, is tightened into the barrel, in a manner which is
not, I believe, attained by any other arrangement, so as to prevent that loss of
explosive force technically called windage. In the case of shells or hollow
shot made with longitudinal holes, such as before mentioned, the holes should
be made of tubes fastened in after the shell is cast, instead of being cast
with it.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I declare that I do not intend to claim as of my
said Invention the construction of guns of wrought iron, or with revolving
chambers or breeches, or with several chambers or breeches, nor the making
of shot or projectiles of an oblong or cylindrical form; nor do I claim any of
the elements of either part of my Invention, further or otherwise than herein-
after expressed or mentioned. And I further declare that I do claim as of
my said Intention

page_text: First, the combination of the barrel of a cannon or piece of ordnance
with an enlarged chamber or breech, or several enlarged chambers or breeches
contained in a moveable breech piece, and the mode of connecting such a
barrel and breech piece by means of a strap and vertical pin or bolt, as herein-
before described.
Secondly, the mode of constructing oblong shot or projectiles with longi-
tudinal orifices through them, and also with rings of soft material round them,
in manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Gower, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
DENJAMIN GOWER.
(LS.)