Improvements in Mounting Guns on Board Ship to allow of their being Fired at High Angles
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Nov., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 1st Aug., 1891-Accepted, 26th Sept., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mounting Guns on Board Ship to allow of their
being Fired at High Angles."
I, ANDREW NOBLE, a Companion of the Bath, late Captain in the Royal
Artillery, of Elswick Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Manufacturing Engineer,.
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
A fixed circular well or pit is formed within the vessel its sides rise up above
the deck to a sufficient height to form a good coaming all round.
A strong support or foundation is formed at the bottom of the pit upon which is
fixed a circular rail. A live ring of rollers rests on the rail and a circular rail on
the underside of a turntable rests upon the rollers.
The turntable carries a howitzer mounting such as is described in the Specifica-
tion of the Patent No. 1674 of 1885.
The foundation is formed at such a level in the well that the muzzle of the gun
when raised into firing position is about at the same level as the bulwark rail.
The gun and mounting are thereby totally masked with the exception of the
very small portion of the muzzle which appears above the rail when the gun is at
the higher angles of clevation.
-
The turntable also carries a roof for closing over the top of the well and a
leather flap is provided all around the edge of the roof to keep out water.
An opening is made in the roof for the muzzle of the gun to pass through
and when the gun is below the roof in housing position the opening may be closed
over by hatches.
To keep out water when the hatches are removed coamings may be provided
around the edge of the opening except where they would come in front of the
muzzle of the gun.
The wall of the well or pit may be made of such thickness for purposes of
protection as the circumstances of the vessel will allow.
The mounting is suitable either for a muzzle loading or breech loading gun.
In
the case of a muzzle loading gun the gun may be loaded through apertures formed
through the sides of the well when it is below the deck level and has been turned
into a horizontal position.
Datad this 4th day of November 1800
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mounting Guns on Board Ship to allow of their
being Fired at High Angles.
I, ANDREW NOBLE, a Companion of the Bath, late Captain in the Royal
Artillery, of Elswick Works, Newcastle upon Tyne, Manufacturing Engineer,
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:—
This invention has for its object improvements in mounting guns on board ship
to allow of their being fired at high angles.
A gun mounted in accordance with my invention is shown by the annexed
drawings.

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical section with the gun and its carriage in elevation.
Figure 2 is a plan.
Figure 3 is a plan with the upper part removed.
Figure 4 is a large scale vertical section of a portion.
A is the ship's deck. A fixed circular well or pit B is formed within the vessel
-its sides rise up above the deck to a sufficient height to form a good coaming all
round.
A strong support or foundation is formed at the bottom of the pit upon which is
fixed a circular rail C. A live ring of rollers D rests on the rail and a circular
rail E on the underside of a turntable E rests upon the rollers.
The turntable carries a howitzer F in respect to which I do not claim any novelty.
but which I will presently describe.
The foundation is formed at such a level in the well that the muzzle of the gun
wlien raised into firing position is about at the same level as the bulwark rail of the
ship.
The gun and mounting are thereby totally masked with the exception of the very
small portion of the muzzle which appears above the rail when the gun is at the
higher angles of elevation.
The turntable also carries a roof G for closing over the top of the well and a
leather flap His provided all around the edge of the roof to keep out water.
The flap H is fixed to the roof and its overhanging edge is supported at intervals
by screws I and by these it can be lifted clear of the coaming of the pit to admit of
the roof turning freely with the turntable and gun;
An opening G is made in the roof for the muzzle of the gun to pass through and
when the gun is below the roof in housing position the opening may be closed over-
by hatches.
To keep out water when the hatches are removed coamings G² may be provided-
around the edge of the opening except where they would come in front of the
muzzle of the gun.
The wall of the well or pit may be made of such thickness for purposes of
protection as the circumstances of the vessel will allow.
The angle of inclination of the gun when fired may be varied within limits
indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1. The gun is also represented in dotted lines
in the housed position and in the loading position.
The mounting is suitable either for a muzzle loading or breech loading gun. In
the case of a muzzle loading gun the gun may be loaded through apertures B¹ B',
formed through the sides of the well, when it is below the deck level and has been
turned into a horizontal position.
A circular overhead rail K and tackle K' is provided for conveying the ammuni
tion. L is the rammer.
On the turntable E there are two standards c c and upon them at c¹ care
guide surfaces which form the slide along which the carriage of the gun moves
when the recoil takes place. The standards c c also aid in supporting the roof G.
d is the carriage in which the gun is held by its trunnions. ff are rams sup
porting the carriage d immediately in rear of the trunnions. The rams ff enter
into hydraulic cylinders around which air vessels h-are, formed. The cylinders
and air vessels communicate near the lower end. by a small passage and through
this passage the liquid in the cylinder is driven when the gun recoils. A stop.
valve prevents the return of the liquid and a bye-pass is provided with a valve
which is opened by means of a handle to permit the gun to rise again to the firing
position. is a hand wheel for rotating the turn table which it does by being
geared with a vertical axis on which is a pinion engaged with a ring of teetli upon
the central support or foundation and n is another hand wheel. for varying the
inclination of the gun; it is geared with an axis parallel to the gunislide and.on
this axis is a sliding pinion which remains-at-all times engaged withian: arciof teeth
fixed upon the gun.

page_text: 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 :-
1. The arrangement herein described for mounting a gun on board ship consisting
in providing a circular well or pit in the vessel and a turntable supporting a roof to
the well or pit and also an inclined slide, on which is mounted a howitzer and
carriage with suitable recoil apparatus.
2. The structure substantially as described and illustrated by the annexed
drawings for carrying a gun on board ship.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1891.