Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1888
We, WILLIAM ANDERSON of 3 Whitehall Place, Engineer, and JAMES ATKINSON
LONGRIDGE, Civil Engineer, of 15 Great George Street, both in the City of
Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of our invention is to protect guns, their mountings and detachments,
from the projectiles of the enemy, by a system of armour. This is accomplished in
the case of non-disappearing guns by enclosing the gun and the greater part of its
carriage in a strong metal shield or mantlet which may follow somewhat the form of
the chase of the gun and cover the breech at the top and sides, the shield or mantlet
at this part, descending in the form of a curtain at the front and sides so as to enclose
the breech mechanism and the greater part of the carriage except at the rear where
access is had to the interior of the shield for working the traversing and elevating
gear. This shield may either rest on the gun or on its carriage or partly on both,
and it participates in the movement of the gun's axis both in altitude and azimuth.
When the shield rests on the gun itself, it recoils therewith, but when it rests on the
carriage it does not participate in the recoil of the gun, but only in that of the part
on which it rests. The lower part of the carriage or mounting which is not within
the curtain portion of the shield may be protected by a low barbette of metal which
in some cases may form a portion of the carriage or mounting.
At
The muzzle of the gun inay be protected by a movable shutter closing the front
end of the tubular part of the shield which encloses the chase, this shutter being
moved aside when the gun is fired and being operated from within the shield.
the rear part of the gun shield proper, there may be carried a light fan-like extension
of the shield radiating at top and sides to protect the gun detachment from rifle-
fire.
The form of shield or mantlet above described, may be conveniently applied to gun
carriages such as those described in the complete specification of another application
for Letters Patent made by the said James Atkinson Longridge dated May 11th
1887 No. 6934 or to the gun carriage for which Letters Patent were granted to the
said William Anderson dated the 7th day of March 1885, No. 3039, and to other
forms of gun carriages.

page_text: In the case of disappearing guns, the shield forms a convex or flat cover for the
entire top of the barbette in which the gun is mounted. This shield or cover is
attached to the descending part of the gun mounting and moves up and down there-
with. When in its lowered position, the edge of the cover may descend slightly
within the barbette. which is thus entirely closed against the enemy's fire and when
the gun rises to firing position, the shield rises also, a sufficient distance to leave
either an all-round opening or to bring a single firing port in the cover above the
barbette. The weight of the cover and other parts of the descending apparatus
appertaining thereto, may be counterbalanced by weights or by hydraulic or pueu-
matic pressure.
This form of cover may conveniently be applied to the system of gun described
in the specification of the said James Atkinson Longridge aforesaid.
Datad this 5th day of Tom 1000

page_text: We, WILLIAM ANDERSON, of 3, Whitehall Place, Engineer, and JAMES ATKINSON
LONGRIDGE, Civil Engineer, of 15 Great George Street, both in the City of
Westminster, 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 :-
The object of our invention is to protect guns, their mountings and detachments,
from the projectiles of the enemy, by a system of armour.
The Luvention is applicable both to ordinary non-disappearing guns and to guns
which are mounted en barbette or in a turret so as to disappear from view whilst
being loaded and pointed.
The invention as applied to non-disappearing guns, consists in enclosing the gun
and the greater part of its carriage, in a strong metal shield or mantlet which may
follow more or less closely in form the general outline of the gun and carriage and
which participates in all the traversing and elevating motions of the gun, and which
may also, in some cases, participate in the recoil motion of the gun or of the carriage
or mounting, according as the shield is supported on the gun or on a recoiling or non-
recoiling part of the mounting.
The Invention as applied to a disappearing or barbette gun, consists of a convex
shield adapted to form a cover for the barbette pit or turret which shield or cover is
carried by the raising and lowering portion of the gun mounting so that it moves up
and down with the gun rising above the barbette or turret when the gun is raised to
firing position and descending so as to completely close the harbette or turret when
the gun is lowered for the purpose of being loaded, and pointed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specifi-
cation, wherein similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
Figures 1 to 6 illustrate the invention as applied to a non-disappearing gun, figure 1
being a longitudinal section, figure 2 a plan, figure 3 a cross-section, and figure 4 a
rear view of the shield or mantlet of a six inch gun armoured according to this
invention. The gun herein illustrated is mounted on the hydraulic recoil carriage
forming the subject of previous Letters Patent granted to the said James Atkinson
Longridge dated the 11th day of May 1887 and numbered 6934, wherein the gun
is fitted to slide as a piston through a hydraulic cylinder communicating through
the trunnions with an air cushion or other elastic medium whereby the energy
of recoil of the gun is absorbed as described in the specification of the said
patent.
A is a strong metal shield or mantlet, constructed in one or more pieces and
made of bronze, iron, or steel. It encloses and follows somewhat the form of the
chase of the gun and covers the breech at the top and sides, the shield or mantlet
at this part descending in the form of a curtain or petticoat A' at the front and
sides so as to enclose the breech-mechanism and the greater part of the mounting

page_text: except at the rear where access is had to the mechanism within the shield for working
the traversing and elevating gear. This shield may either rest on the gun or on its
carriage, or partly on both, and it in all cases participates in the movement of the
gun's axis, both in altitude and azimuth.
In the example here illustrated, the armour shield or mantlet A A' is supported
upon the hydraulic cylinder B through which the gun recoils, as described in the
aforesaid previous patent, the shield resting thereon through the intermediary of a
cushion C of elastic material contained in a longitudinal saddle trough fixed on the
cylinder B. The front of the part A' of the shield abuts against the front end of the
hydraulic cylinder B by an elastic buffer D of an annular form, as shewn in figures 1
and 4 whereby longitudinal shocks are absorbed. In this case the shield participates
in all the motions of the gun, except the recoil, the gun being quite free of the shield
and recoiling within or through it.
The muzzle of the gun may be protected by a movable shield E closing the front
end of the tubular part of the armour A which encloses the chase, this shield being
moved aside before the gun is fired and being operated from within the mantlet. This
muzzle shield is carried by a longitudinal shaft F mounted alongside the chase
armour A and passing within the mantlet to the breech where it is operated by the
hand gear shewn in figure 4, or otherwise. At the rear part of the mantlet proper,
there may be carried a light flaring extension shield G radiating at top and sides to
protect the gun detachment from rifle-fire. The lower part of the mounting which
is not within the petticoat portion A' of the mantlet, may be protected by a low
barbette H of metal which may form a portion of the mounting, as in the example
illustrated.
The form of shield or mantlet above described, may be conveniently applied to gun
carriages such as those above referred to and here illustrated, and also to the gun
carriage for which Letters Patent were granted to the, said William Anderson dated
the 7th day of March 1885 and numbered 3039, and to other forms of gun
carriages.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal, and figure 6 a cross, section illustrating the last
mentioned application. In this case the weight of the shield or mantlet is supported
by the gun through cushions C, the gun being free to recoil independently of the
shield. The shield hears against the front of the carriage through a buffer D
and only recoils to the extent to which this part of the carriage may recoil,
if at all.
Figure 7 illustrates the invention as applied to a disappearing gun mounted in
a barbette wherein the gun is lowered after firing, by the energy of recoil acting
through a liquid upon an elastic medium whereby the energy of recoil is stored up
for again raising the gun to firing position. The construction and operation of the
gun mounting being similar to that described in the specification of the said James
Atkinson Longridge's former patent No. 6934 of 1887, to which reference should be
had for a description thereof, but the present invention is applicable in connection
with other constructions of mounting for disappearing guns.
A is the shield which is represented in the elevated position. When lowered, it
forms a convex or flat cover for the entire top of the barbette in which the gun is
mounted. This shield or cover is supported by pillars I carried on the girders J
which are carried by the central member K of the descending part of the gun
mounting or carriage so as to move up and down therewith. When in its lowered
position, the edge of the cover A may descend slightly within the barbeite which is
thus entirely closed against the enemy's fire, and when the gun rises to firing position,
the shield rises also a sufficient distance to leave an all-round opening between the
shield and the top of the barbette or turret, as represented in full lines in the drawing.
The shield may however, be of the form represented in dotted lines and have a single
firing port a in it, which when the shield is elevated comes above the barbette, as
shewn, and when it is lowered descends within the barbette. The weight of the 5
cover, and other parts of the descending apparatus appertaining thereto, may be
counterbalanced by weights or by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Enclosing a non-disappearing gun, and its mounting, in a strong shield or
mantlet, substantially as herein described and shewn in the drawings, the said shield
or mantlet being so supported as to participate in the traversing and elevating
motions of the gun whether it also participates in the recoil motion thereof or not, as
specified.
2. The herein described shield or mantlet constructed and applied substantially as
shewn and described with reference to figures 1 to 6, and provided with a flaring
extension shield at the rear for the purposes specified.
3. The combination with a barbette or turret and with the raising and lowering
gear of a disappearing gun mounted therein, of a convex shield participating in the
ascending and descending movements of the gun and adapted when lowered to cover
in the top of the barbette or turret, and when raised to expose a firing aperture for
the gun, substantially as specified.