Improvements relating to Objective Indicating in Coast Batteries and to Charts and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jure, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 30th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Objective Indicating in Coast Batteries
and to Charts and Apparatus therefor.
i, Captain FRANCIS GLEADOWE STONE, Brigade Major, Royal Artillery,
of 8, Guilford Lawn, Dover, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
A chart on which is marked everything that is necessary for the requirements of
any given system of coast defence, showing the ares of fire of each gun or group of
guns, in a single block for each battery or fort, graduated by radial lines converging
on the observing station of the battery as centre, the zero of the graduations being
true North. One or more observing stations for the officer commanding the R.A.
defence are also shown, & referred to as the C.R.A.'s station or stations. A sighted
pointer is pivoted about the C.R.A.'s station, provided with a scale of yards, & a
traveller moving on the scale. Pivoted to the traveller is an indicating needle, also
graduated in yards, the zero on the needle corresponding with the position of the
pivot on the traveller.
The position of any ship or other object on the sea area can be shown relative to
any battery or fort, by moving the traveller to the range of the ship or object, &
swinging the indicating needle round to the observing station of the battery or fort
in question, the graduation on the arcs of fire of the said battery, when the
indicating needle cuts them, will give the true bearing of the object from that
battery, & the graduation on the indicating needle immediately over the observing
station of the battery will give the range of the object.
The objective indicator enables the C.R.A. to
1. Tell how many batteries, & how many guns in each battery can bear on any
given objective at any given time.
11. By the mere communication of a bearing, to indicate exactly to the commander
of any fort or battery the objective which he is to engage.
III. To indicate the range from any battery to any objective without using more
than one range finder.
Dated this Lith dov of Iune 1880
FRANCIS G. STONE, CAPT., R.A.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Objective Indicating in Coast Batteries
and to Charts and Apparatus therefor.
I, Captain FRANCIS GLEADOWE STONE, Brigade Major, Royal Artillery,
of 8, Guildford Lawn, Dover, in the County of Kent, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to objective indicating in coast batteries and to charts and
apparatus therefor.
One object of my said invention is to enable the commander of the Royal
Artillery or the commander of a system or group of two or more forts or
batteries, or of two or more electric or other search light stations hereafter
called the section commander to ascertain from a central or head observing
station the following information, riz. Which of the guns in each of the said
forts or batteries, or which of the said search lights, can be brought to bear
upon any ship or other object selected by the section commander, also to transmit

page_text: the bearing and range of the said ship or other object from the said central or head
station to cach of the said forts or batteries, or search light stations relatively to the
said forts or batteries or search light stations. The said section commander is thus
enabled to communicate to those in charge of the said forts or batteries, the
necessary information to enable them to sight the said object by means of a sighted
pointer, a position-finder, or a range-finder or the like, and thus to identify the said
object so that they can train or point their guns or direct their search lights upon
the same.
:
accomplish the desired result. as follows, ris. I provide a chart drawn to any
convenient scale upon which are shown in their actual relative positions according
to this scale all the forts or batteries to be controlled from a central or head
observing station occupied by the section commander, and also the arcs of fire of
each gun or group of guns in the forts or batteries in the system. These ares of
fire are blocked or massed together for each of the said forts or batteries and are
graduated by radial lines converging on the observing station of the said fort or
battery, the graduations being preferably so arranged that zero is the true north.
The position of the search lights (where such exist) are also shown upon the said
chart and the training ares thereof, the latter being suitably graduated to correspond
with the other arcs shown upon the chart.
I also provide an indicating apparatus or objective indicator, that is to say, a
device for ascertaining from the said central or head observing station or other
given point, or station marked on the said chart, the bearing and range of any
objective relatively to any of the other points or stations marked thereon. The said
device comprises a pointer or arm provided with suitable sights and so arranged as
to be capable of pivoting about the point which represents on the chart the central
or head observing station, or other given point shown on the chart. This sighted
pointer or arm is provided with a suitably graduated scale indicating in yards the
various ranges; zero being at the centre of the pivot. A traveller or sliding block
is arranged to move freely upon the said pointer or arm, a suitable index being
adapted to show at any time the position thereof upon the said scale. To this
traveller or sliding block is pivoted or coupled one extremity of a measuring rod or
bar, having thereon a graduated scale similar to that of the above mentioned pointer
or arm, zero being at the centre of the pivot.
I provide, moreover, for enabling the said indicating apparatus to be easily and
expeditiously transferred to other points or stations which may be also marked
upon the chart.
I am thus enabled to utilize the said apparatus at one or other of
two or more points or posts of observation. This is advantageous, inasmuch as an
observing post which may be suitable under certain conditions is frequently
unsuitable under other conditions; for instance the suitability of the observing
station may be affected by the nature of the attack, the direction of the wind, the
presence of fog, or other causes.
In the accompanying drawing, I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure is a plan,
Figure 2 a side elevation partly in vertical section, and,
Figure 3 a transverse section of the linea, Figures 1 and 2, illustrating one form
of my indicating apparatus attached to a chart.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
A is the chart, which is secured in any suitable manner upon a board A¹ or other
flat surface; B B are the observing stations of the forts or batteries forming the
system or series: C, C indicate the positions of the guns or groups of guns in the
said forts or batteries, D D are the graduated arcs of fire, or of horizontal or
lateral training for the said guns; E is the central or head observing
station for the commander of the said system of forts or batteries; F is the
sighted pointer or arm, G is the sliding-block or traveller, H is the measuring
rod or bar.
The graduated ares D are struck from the corresponding points C as centres

page_text: and are terminated, by the permissible angles of training of the said guns. The
groups of arcs D belonging to each battery should be painted a distinctive colour,
the arcs belonging to the search lights (where such exist) are preferably coloured
a uniform red. The said arcs, moreover, are each numbered or marked to corre-
spond with the gun to which they appertain, and are graduated by radial lines
converging upon the observing station of each fort as a centre. The arcs D are so
graduated as to have zero at the same point of the compass, say true north. The
chart A is drawn to any suitable scale. I prefer, however, when practicable, to
employ a scale of 125 inches to a mile.
The sighted pointer or arm is pivoted at the central or head observing station E
by means of a pin, screw, or bolt F and a socket or bearing A2 in the board A', or
in any other convenient manner, so as to be readily removable, and capable of being
swing or moved through an arc of 160 degrees, or through any other desired angle
upon the chart A.
is a graduated are marked upon the chart A and struck from the central
observing station E. The said area is so graduated as to have zero at the same
point of the compass as the ares D. Fis an index or pointer provided upon the
free extremity of the sighted pointer or arm F, and adapted to indicate upon the
said graduated area the bearing of the object observed. F is a graduated scale
marked upon the sighted pointer or arm F and giving the desired ranges in yards.
bare the sights which are hinged or jointed at to the said pointer or arm F
When out of use, the said sights are folded down as shown in full lines in the
drawing, and when required for use they are raised or elevated as shown in dotted
lines in Figure 2. ee are springs for retaining the said sights in position when
they are either folded down, or raised. The traveller or sliding-block G is arranged
to move freely in a suitable groove or way F³ (as shown more clearly in Figure 3)
provided in the sighted pointer or arm F. d is a set-screw or thumb-screw for
clamping or securing the said traveller or sliding-block in any desired position
upon the sighted pointer or arm F. d' is an index intended to show the position
of the said traveller or sliding-block relatively to the graduated scale The
measuring rod or bar His pivoted at H' to the traveller or sliding-block G, and is
also provided with a graduated scale H indicating in yards the various ranges, and
corresponding with the graduated scale F2.
The sighted pointer er arm F, is as above stated, so pivoted at the central or
head observing station that it can be readily removed therefrom. To enable it to
be secured at any other desired point or position upon the chart I prefer to provide
a suitable socket or bearing substantially similar to the socket or bearing A2 at
alternative observing stations.
'
The manner of using the apparatus is as follows, that is to say-To ascertain
from the central or head observing station E the bearing and range of a ship or other
object on the sea area, relatively to any of the batteries or forts in the system, the
chart A is first suitably placed at the central or head observing station E, and
correctly oriented so as to correspond with the bearings of the coast, or so that
zero on the ares on the chart will be due north, or towards any other predetermined
point of the compass; then, the apparatus being properly arranged on the chart
the sighted pointer or arm F is moved or adjusted until the said ship or other object is
accurately sighted. The traveller or sliding-block G is then moved or adjusted to
the
part
of the scale which indicates the range of the ship or other object (the range
having been previously found by means of any suitable range-finder) and the
measuring rod or bar His swung or moved round over the chart to the observing
station of one of the batteries or forts. The graduation of the ares of fire D of the
guns of the said fort or battery where the measuring rod or bar H cuts or intersects
them, will give the true bearing of the object from the said observing station, and the
graduation on the said measuring rod or bar inmediately over the latter will give
the range of the object from the said station. The bearings and ranges of the guns
in any of the other forts or batteries which are capable of being brought to
bear upon the objective are then found in a similar manner.

page_text: こ
The commander of the Royal Artillery at the said central or head observing
station E is thus enabled to judge which of the said forts or batteries in the
system are most favourably situated for engaging the said objective. The said
bearings and ranges are then communicated by the commander of the Royal
Artillery from the said central or head observing station E to the commanders of
the desired forts or batteries in the system or group, by means of telephones,
telegraphs, speaking tubes, flag or other signals, or in any other convenient
manner.
The commander of each of the other forts or batteries in the system or group is pro-
vided with a chart or plotting board having the ares of fire of the guns in his battery or
fort marked thereon, and with a sighted pointer or arm, substantially similar to
that at the central or head observing station, or with a telescope arranged on a
graduated dial. The said chart or graduated dial is correctly oriented so that zero
of the ares thereon will correspond with due north, or with whatever other pre-
determined point of the compass corresponding with that selected for zero of the
ares upon the chart at the central or head observing station.
Upon receiving from the said central or head observing station the said range
and bearing, the commander of the fort or battery adjusts his sighted pointer or
arm, or telescope thereto, and is thereby enabled to identify the objective which he
is to engage. The said commander then effects the training of his guns or such of
them as are capable of bearing thereon upon the said objective, in the usual manner.
When the objective is within short range and is moving rapidly it is advisable for
the officer at the central or head observing station to give a reading slightly ahead
of the true one, in order to allow for the time taken up in transmitting the message,
and for the brief delay in taking up the reading at the battery.
Whatever means are employed at the observing stations of the forts or batteries
in the system or group, for obtaining a line of sight upon any object, must be
correctly oriented with zero as true north, or whatever other point of the compass
may have been determined upon, so that, when a bearing is given from the central
observing station E it can at once be taken up correctly at the said observing
stations of the other forts or batteries in the system, by simply traversing the
telescope or sighted pointer or other instrument employed to the bearing given, and
thus obtaining a line of sight to the objective.
Provided that all the ares are similarly graduated in one system of forts or
batteries, the nature of the said graduations is unimportant.
When used in conjunction with a position-finding instrument giving the bearing
as well as the range of the objective, it is not required to sight the latter by means
of the hereinbefore described indicating apparatus, consequently the chart and the
said indicating apparatus may be placed in any convenient position, at the central
or head observing station E. The traveller or sliding-block G is moved or adjusted
to the range given by the said position-finding instrument, and the pointer F
adjusted upon the graduated are a to the bearing given thereby the measuring rod
or bar H is then moved or adjusted into line with the observing stations of the
several forts or batteries in the system, and the bearing and range of the said
objective therefrom read off as before. In this case it is not necessary for the
person manipulating the indicating apparatus to see the object, consequently a
position finding instrument of this kind is especially adapted for use with my
improved apparatus at night.
;
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
First. The herein described method of providing for the indication of the range
or bearing, or both the range and hearing, of an object from two or more observing
stations, by means of a single range-finder or position-finder at one of the said
stations.
Second. A chart for the purpose above specified, having marked thereon in

page_text: their relative positions a central or head observing station and one or more forts or
batteries or search light stations in the vicinity thereof, and provided with graduated
arcs of circles having as their centres respectively points indicating the position of
the central or head station and of the guns in the said batteries, or of the search
lights, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purposes specified.
Third. The improved apparatus constructed substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings and operating as, and for the purposes,
above specified.
•
Dated this 22nd day of December 1890.
FRANCIS GLEADOWE STONE.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.