All the new cruising vessels yet designed by the Navy Department are to have the ammunition raised from the magazines to the deck by the old-fashioned shell whip hoists, and then transported along the open deck to the various guns, the crews of which are almost entirely unprotected; and this in the day when a storm of small missiles from machine gun, Hotchkiss, and rapid-fire shell guns makes life on the open deck utterly impossible, and when exposure, in combat with a protected adversary, is equivalent to death, and with it defeat and humiliation. The new offensive weapons by which the decks of warships can now be swept by storms of small percussion shell, which readily penetrate the sides of unarmored ships, imperatively demand and necessitate a change in the plan of mounting guns, and of the manner of conveying ammunition to them. It makes but little difference what the number and power of guns a ship may carry, if the crew cannot work them, or get ammunition to them; they will avail but little in a combat with a protected adversary; and protected the adversary can be, if he chooses, without increase of displacement, or abatement of speed or sea endurance.
The contest of the two British ships Shah and Amethyst, manned by highly disciplined crews, with the Peruvian monitor ram Huascar, "manned by a heterogeneous crew of undisciplined insurgents," would seem to prove that one ton of armored displacement was more than a match for eight tons of unarmored. It would therefore be better to have fewer guns well protected than a greater number unprotected.
The annexed illustrations are intended to show that the gunners of cruisers can be completely protected by appropriate armor while working the guns, and that the ammunition can be conveyed directly to the breech of each gun through a vertical tube; or hollow shaft, by which the gun is trained, by means of a pneumatic engine situated in a passage leading to the magazine, below the water line, into which the vertical tube extends.
Fig. 1 represents a plan view of a section of the gun deck of a. cruising vessel. The drawings are made to scale, and the guns represent the standard 6-inch rifle. The side of the ship has four feet tumble home, the guns and shields being mounted in little bay window-like projections, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The gun has no horizontal motion independent of the shield, and when the gun is trained to fire shot, the shield is also trained to deflect them coming from that direction. Attention is called to the very sharp deflecting angles at which the shield would receive shot coming from the direction in which the gun is trained, and also to the great range of fire which can be given broadside guns mounted in this manner.
Fig. 2 represents a cross section of a cruising vessel on the line if of the plane view, Fig. 1. A is the curved shield for water line defense. Beneath this curved shield is a passage leading from the. magazine, and extending along the ship's side under the broadside guns. S is a vertical tube, or hollow shaft, by which the gun and shield on the deck above are trained horizontally, and through which the ammunition is elevated into the shield near the breech of the gun. When the ammunition reaches the top of the vertical tube S, an appropriate guide causes it to fall over into the little truck g which is held in position by a spring; one of the loaders, standing at the breech of the gun, then draws the truck out by means of a lanyard, and takes the ammunition from it, the truck being drawn back by the spring into position for another load.
Immediately over the gun, the upper portion of the broadside V shield is partitioned off by a cushioned platform Z on which the captain of the gun reclines in a prone position, aiming the gun through the sight hole Z in the apex of the V shield. This position over the gun would not be uncomfortable, as the concussion and vibrations of air producing sound are generated from the muzzle of the gun, from which the man would be well protected. This position, which is eminently adapted to the V shield, presents a less cross section of human anatomy than any other.
The shaft of the pneumatic engine M has cut upon it a worm screw, which engages in the gear wheel N secured to the lower end of the vertical hollow shaft, or tube S, and a lever controlling the valve gear of the pneumatic engine is arranged convenient to the hand of the captain of the gun, so that he can train it with great rapidity and accuracy on any object, and hold it firmly in any position.
The broadside V shields are pivoted in the deck above at W, and on the deck below at the top of the vertical hollow shaft and conduit tube S.
The shield and gun are rotated on the anti-friction rollers T and Q, which are protected between two deflective plates, the upper one, R, being attached to the vertical hollow shaft S, and forming a part of the bottom of the shield, the lower one being attached to the deck.
Fig. 3 represents the plan view of a 10-inch rifle mounted en barbelle on a V shield as a pivot gun, with all round fire.
Fig. 4 is a plan view of a loading lever by which it is proposed to convey the heavy ammunition of large guns from the upper end of conduit tube S (Fig. 5) to the breech of the gun.
Fig. 5 is a cross section of the V shield, Fig. 3, on the line k,l.
Fig. 6 is a plane view of X in Fig. 5, a device actuated by a spring for closing the opening between the gun and the shield when the gun is elevated.
Fig. 7 is a cross section on the line In,n of the vertical hollow shaft, or conduit tube S, which is given a deflective form.
In Fig. 5 C represents the loading lever, Fig. 4, which has two arms of unequal length, and is pivoted at the fulcrum between them. E represents a small truck, which traverses the long arm of the lever and is secured to it.
When the ammunition is pushed up through the vertical tube S, a guide causes it to fall over on the truck E, upon which, by means of a lanyard, it is drawn out to the end of the long arm of the lever, where it is held by a spring catch. Hydraulic or pneumatic power is then applied to the small oscillating cylinder G, the piston rod of which is attached to the short arm of the lever, thereby raising the ammunition on the long arm to the breech of the gun, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 5.
The pivot gun V shield is also trained by the pneumatic engine 111, the lever for controlling the valve gear of which is marked B.
By means of the mechanical appliances described, two men can operate a very heavy gun, while there is ample room in the V shield represented by Fig. 5 for at least four men.
It is hardly necessary to state that the mechanical appliances herein described are not in any manner dependent on the principle of deflection, as they can all be applied to an ordinary gun platform, either with or without any form of armor.
The deflective V shield was first brought to the attention of the Ordnance Bureau early in 1881, but received no consideration whatever.
The Naval Appropriation Act of 1882 contained a provision for the appointment of a Naval Advisory Board, to be composed of five naval officers and two civilians; the Act declaring "that no person shall be a member of said board who has any interest, direct or indirect, in any invention, device or process, patented or otherwise, to be used in the construction of the vessels."
The board was duly appointed, met, and gave each of the inventors presenting plans a hearing, and then on January 31, 1883, made a preliminary report to the Hon. Secretary of the Navy, in which they said: "The system of deflective decks submitted by P. A. Engineer N. B. Clark possesses great merits," and "the gun shields presented by Mr. Clark possess decided merits." It is understood such was the opinion of all the seven members of the board.
After making the preliminary report the board met again and adopted the gun carriage designed by the Chief of Ordnance, instead of the armored gun carriage or V gun shields which they had formerly reported upon as possessing "decided merits."
The objection made to the V shields is their weight. While the weight of the steam machinery of the Chicago is 419 pounds, and that of the Boston and Atlanta 448 pounds per I. H. P., the weight of the machinery proposed by me, having separate passage and emergency powers, would not have exceeded 150 pounds, thereby gaining sufficient weight to increase the power and speed, with great economy of fuel at passage speed, and to mount all the guns in invulnerable V shields, completely protecting the men, and avoiding the transportation of ammunition along the open deck, thereby giving thee ships about eight times the fighting force they now possess.