IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAVY ORDNANCE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir Joseph Whitworth, Baronet, of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HEAVY ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 16th November 1875, and dated the 7th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir Joseph Whitworth
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th June 1875.
I, Sir JOSEPH WHITWORTH, Baronet, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAVY ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
My improvements in heavy ordnance relate to a method of construc-
tion whereby the force of the recoil is distributed throughout the
length of the piece from the breech to the muzzle, and thence back to
the trunnions instead of its action being confined only to the part
between the breech and the trunnions, as is the case with guns of ordinary
construction. By this method the elasticity of the entire gun in the
direction of its length is utilized, and the shock of the recoil is thereby

page_text: distributed and absorbed. Over the front or muzzle half of the gun I
place a long jacket or tube having considerable thickness of metal; this
jacket is screwed on to the muzzle of the gun at its fore end and is
screwed into the trunnion hoop at its rear end.
When the gun is fired the shock of the recoil is transmitted in the
first place from the breech along the gun to the muzzle, and thence back
through the outer jacket to the trunnions.
In order to make the gun as far as possible invulnerable, so as to
dispense with turrets, I give it great thickness of metal, making it
practically as large at the muzzle as at the breech end.
My improved heavy ordnance is intended to be used on board ship or
in forts where weight is no disadvantage. I mount the gun on a turn-
table or otherwise, the trunnions being supported on moveable bearings
of a simple construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sir Joseph Whitworth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Sir
JOSEPH WHITWORTH, Baronet, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Sir Joseph Whitworth, Her special
license that I, the said Sir Joseph Whitworth, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Sir Joseph Whitworth,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agrec
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 HEAVY ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others)

page_text: that 1, the said Sir Joseph wnitworth, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, 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 Sir Joseph Whitworth, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and.
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:―
My improvements in heavy ordnance relate to a method of construc- -
tion whereby the force of the recoil is distributed throughout the
length of the piece from the breech to the muzzle, and thence back to
the trunnions, instead of its action being confined only to the part,
between the breech and the trunnions, as is the case with guns of
ordinary construction. By this method the elasticity of the entire gun
in the direction of its length is utilized, and the shock of the recoil is
thereby distributed and absorbed. Over the front or muzzle half of the
gun I place a long jacket or tube having considerable thickness of
metal; this jacket is screwed on to the muzzle of the gun at its fore
end, and is screwed into the trunnion hoop at its rear end.
When the gun is fired the shock of the recoil is transmitted in the
first place from the breech along the gun to the muzzle, and thence back
through the outer jacket to the trunnions.
In order to make the gun as far as possible invulnerable, so as to
dispense with turrets, I give it great thickness of metal, making it
practically as large at the muzzle as at the breech end.
My improved heavy ordnance is intended to be used on board ship
or in ports where weight is no disadvantage. I mount the gun on a
turntable or otherwise, the trunnions being supported on moveable
bearings of a simple construction.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed,

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a gun constructed according to
my Invention; Figure 2 is an end view looking at the breech;
Figure 3 is an end view looking at the muzzle; Figure 4 is a transverse
section through A, A; Figure 5 is a transverse section through B, B.
a, a, is the main tube or barrel of the cannon, and 6 is the jacket or
tube carrying the trunnion c which may be a part of the said tube or
jacket, or a separate piece screwed to it. This jacket or tube b is
screwed on to the fore part of the barrel at d.
The mechanism of the breech is substantially the same as described
in my Patent, No. 2149, dated 15th August 1871.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim, the method of constructing the cannon substantially as described
whereby the force of the recoil is distributed throughout the length of the
piece from the breech to the muzzle, and thence back to the trunnions,
instead of its action being confined only to the part between the
breech and the trunnions, as is the case of cannons of ordinary con-
struction.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir Joseph Whitworth, have a
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-