Improvements in Barbette Naval and other Gun Mountings.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Dec., 1898-Accepted, 4th Feb., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Barbette Naval and other Gun Mountings.
We, SIR W. G. ARMSTRONG, WHITWORTH & COY. LIMITED, Manufacturing
Engineers, SIR ANDREW NOBLE, K.C.B., F.R.S., and RALPH THEW BRANKSTON.
Engineer, all of Elswick Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
The gun house we make of elliptical form in plan and covered with an arched
roof-thick curved armour (say 6 inches) being carried well round the front and
thinner curved armour plates all around the sides and rear.
The main girders of the turntable by which the gun house is carried we make
to extend to the rear of the gun house so as not only to form a very substantial
means of carrying the house but also to form a good support for the descending
plate used for protection against shell exploding below the house.
The gun house armour is carried from the turntable by yielding stays which
keep the armour say 10 inches all round clear of the turntable so that should the
gun house be struck it may move locally to an appreciable extent without injury
to the turntable.
The cylindrical armour wall of the barbette by which the turntable pivot is
protected we make to extend down from the upper deck to the deck below so as to
protect more efficiently the turntable supports.
To allow of this being done without increasing the weight of armour used we
keep the turntable pivot of as small a diameter as practicable by employing a
ball race instead of a live roller ring as heretofore.
The main girders of the turntable are made deeper immediately above the ball
race. The balls lie between a hardened ring on the underside of the turntable
and a fixed hardened ring at the top of the support and the ring of balls is
enclosed by a cylindrical flange extending upwards from the inner side of the fixed
ring and a descending flange from the outer side of the turntable ring. The
turntable is also held down by hook clips carried by it hooking under a ring flange
around the top of the ball race supports.
The engines and hand gear for turning the turntable we place below under pro-
tection of barbette armour.
A duplex powder hoist is carried up through the centre of the armoured space
containing the hydraulic and hand power training gear-and through the centre
of the armoured space above to the underside of the centre of the turntable-
and delivers the powder through an inclined tube carried by the turntable to one
or other side of the gun.
The projectiles may be stowed on the floor of the gun house and by blocks sup-
ported on an endless runner on the underside of the roof of the gun house the shell
may readily be conveyed to the breech of the gun. As the runner is continuous
whenever a shell is delivered on to the loading tray the empty block may be
assed round to the other side.
The elevating and loading of the gun may be effected by hand power alone
or it might be by hydraulic or other power if desired.

page_text: For serving the projectiles into the gun they are as heretofore placed in succes-
sion on to a hinged carrier at the left side of the rear end of the gun with the
nose of the projectile rearwards and then swung round to bring the projectile nose
foremost ready to be pushed forwards into the bore.
The pivot around which this carrier swings we secure to the breech end of the
gun instead of carrying it as heretofore by a bar extending back from the cradle-
and to serve the projectiles on to this hinged carrier we employ a hinged tray
lying alongside of the left hand side of the gun and pivotted at its forward end to
the carriage so that its rear end can be raised or lowered. The tray is arranged
to carry several projectiles one in rear of the other and is balanced (when loaded
with projectiles) by springs below it to such an extent as to allow of the rear end
of the tray being readily pulled down by a handle provided for the purpose to
bring it into position for a projectile to be pushed off from it onto the hinged
carrier.
The other projectiles can then be pushed forward along the tray and another
added at leisure. In this manner several projectiles can be ready for use without
the labour of lifting from the floor. A hydraulic cylinder may be employed instead
of springs and spring box or toothed gear working into a rack. If desired the
hinged tray might be pivotted in the middle instead of at its end.
Vaugh 1908
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Barbette Naval and other Gun Mountings.
We, SIR W. G. ARMSTRONG, WHITWORTH & COY., LIMITED, Manufacturing
Engineers, SIR ANDREW NOBLE, K.C.B., F.R.S., and RALPH THEW BRANKSTON,
Engineer, all of Elswick Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object improvements in barbette naval and other
gun mountings.
Our improvements are shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section.
Figure 2 is a plan view on a larger scale and partly in section of the gun house
and gun carried within it.
Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in section of the same.
Figure 4 is an end view of the gun house.
Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in section of the chamber containing the
engines and hand gear for turning the turntable.
Figure 6 is a plan view partly in section of the same.
Figures 7 and 8 are plan and side elevations showing a tray and carrier for
serving projectiles into the gun. Figures 9 and 10 show how the carrier is
mounted on the breech end of the gun.
The gun house A we make of elliptical form in plan and covered with an arched
roof-thick curved armour A¹ (say 6 inches) being carried well round the front and
thinner curved armour plates all around the sides and rear.

page_text: The main girders B of the turntable by which the gun house is carried we make
to extend to the rear of the gun house so as not only to form a very substantial
means of carrying the house but also to form a good support for the descending
plate used for protection against shell exploding below the house.
The gun house armour is carried from the turntable by yielding stays C which
keep the armour say 10 inches all round clear of the turntable so that should the
gun house be struck it may move locally to an appreciable extent without injury
to the turntable as described in a former Patent No. 22,637 of 1897.
The cylindrical armour wall D of the barbette by which the turntable pivot is
protected we make to extend down from the upper deck to the deck below so as to
protect more efficiently the turntable supports and to allow of this being done
without increasing the weight of armour used we keep the turntable pivot of as
small a diameter as practicable by employing a ball race E instead of a live roller
ring as heretofore.
The main girders of the turntable are made deeper immediately above the ball
race as seen in Figure 3. The balls lie between a hardened ring F on the underside
of the turntable and a fixed hardened ring G at the top of the support and the ring
of balls is enclosed by a cylindrical flange G¹ extending upwards from the inner
side of the fixed ring and a descending flange F¹ from the outer side of the
turntable ring. The turntable is also held down by hook clips H carried by it
hooking under a ring flange around the top of the ball race supports.
The engines I and hand gear J for turning the turntable we place below under
protection of barbette armour-by either or both of these motion can be given to
the vertical shaft K to turn the turntable in either direction.
A, duplex powder hoist L is carried up through the centre of the armoured space
containing the hydraulic and hand power training gear and through the centre of
the armoured space above to the underside of the centre of the turntable-and
delivers the powder through an inclined tube M carried by the turntable to one
or other side of the gun.
N are shot and shell hoists by which projectiles may be passed up into the
gun house through an aperture O in its floor-P is a locking bolt by which the
gun house may be restrained from turning when the aperture 0 is brought over
any one or other of the hoists N.
The projectiles may be stowed on the floor of the gun house as shewn and by
blocks R supported on an endless runner S on the underside of the roof of the
gun house the shell may readily be conveyed to the breech of the gun. The
runner may be continuous as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 2 so that whenever a
shell is delivered on to the loading tray the empty block may be passed round to
the other side or the runner may be simply of a horse shoe form extending around
the rear end and two sides of the roof of the gun house, as illustrated in Figure 7.
The elevating and loading of the gun may be effected by hand power alone or
it might be by hydraulic or other power if desired.
For serving the projectiles into the gun they are as heretofore placed in
succession on to a hinged carrier T at the left side of the rear end of the gun
with the mose of the projectile rearwards and then swung round to bring the
projectile nose foremost ready to be pushed forwards into the bore.
The pivot T around which this carrier swings we in some cases secure to the
breech end of the gun as shown in Figures 7 to 10 instead of carrying it as hereto-
fore by a bar extending back from the cradle and provide a spring catch T³ to
restrain it from swinging when the gun recoils. To serve the projectiles on to the
hinged carrier we employ a hinged tray U lying alongside of the left hand side
of the gun and its forward end pivotted at U₁ to the carriage so that its rear end
can be raised or lowered. The tray is as shewn arranged to carry several projectiles
one in rear of the other and is somewhat more than balanced (when loaded with
projectiles) by springs in a casing V below it but only to such an extent as to allow
of the rear end of the tray being readily pulled down by handles U2 provided for

page_text: the purpose to bring it into position for a projectile to be pushed off from it
onto the hinged carrier T.
The other projectiles can then be pushed forward along the tray and another
added at leisure. In this manner several projectiles can be ready for use without
the labour of lifting from the floor. A hydraulic cylinder may be employed instead
of springs and spring box or toothed gear working into a rack. If desired the
hinged tray might be pivotted in the middle instead of at its end.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The construction of barbette naval gun gun mountings substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the drawings annexed.
2. The combination of the turntable--the gun house made elliptical and to
extend rearwards beyond the turntable-the main girders of the turntable made
to extend rearwards to carry the rear end of the gun house-the gun house armour
carried by yielding stays from the turntable-the ball bearing ring by which the
turntable is supported and the cylindrical armoured wall by which this bearing
and its supports are protected.
3. The combination of the turntable-the elliptical gun house carried by it-
the ball bearing ring supporting the turntable-the cylindrical armoured wall
protecting this bearing and its supports and the armour protected chamber below
containing engines or hand gear or both for turning the turntable.
4. The carrier T turning on a pivot T¹ secured to the rear end of the gun.
5. The combination of the pivotted carrier T and the pivotted counterbalanced
tray substantially as described.
Dated thin 91at da.
Dream11000
SIR W. G. ARMSTRONG, WHITWORTH & CO. LIMITED.
A. NOBLE, Director.
T. M. FALKNER, Secretary.
A. NOBLE.
A. T. BRANKSTON.