11-inch Small-Port Carriage.
The carriages for ships of the Temeraire or Hotspur class are the same as the 9-inch ones. The turret-carriage is of the muzzle-pivoting type. This carriage presents the peculiarity of having one bracket larger than the other, in order to allow for the circular shape of the turret. The general frame of the carriage is similar in shape to the ordinary type, being double plate on a cast-iron frame, with an interior wrought-iron frame which serves as a guide for the saddle. The gun is supported by the trunnions in a saddle which is nothing more than a massive fork, the leg of which is a hydraulic piston-rod. The arms, containing the trunnion-holes, are supported in the framework of the brackets. The hydraulic cylinder projects through and is secured to the bottom plate of the carriage, and the double-acting pump-brake is attached to a spindle passing through the bracket.
The gun does not rest permanently on the hydraulic, but when at the middle or top of its elevation the saddle-arms are supported by iron blocks, which are put in place through slits in the brackets. When the gun is down the saddle rests on the bottom of its slots. At the low level the gun gets 13° elevation, and at the high level 6° depression. The rear rollers are thrown in action by means of a double-acting hydraulic. The elevating-gear for this gun is different from that of the smaller calibres. Instead of having a curved ratchet attached to the gun, the ratchet in this case is pivoted to the carriage, and a gearing and traveller being clamped to the cascabel of the gun, the breech elevates or depresses up and down the stationary ratchet. This carriage is provided with Scott’s nipping-gear and the bow-compressor, the latter being heavier and double, working on both sides of the slide-plates. These carriages are provided with breechings which pass around a fitting bolted to the inside of the front transom. Additional hydraulic jacks are placed underneath the arms of the saddle for use in case the central one gives out. The slide is similar to the 10-inch, where traversing slides are used. In turrets the slide is a fixture. (See 12-inch slide.)
Carriage and Slide for 12-inch
and 12½-inch M. L. R.
The carriage for turrets of the Devastation class is similar in general to that of the 11-inch. The hydraulic lift for the saddle is not a part of the carriage, however, but a part of the ship, there being two rams, one for raising the gun when run out, and one for raising it when run in. The elevating-gear is also different, in having an arrangement for altering the height of the stationary ratchet to correspond with the different levels of the trunnions. The slide is provided with hydraulic recoil cylinders, which also act as the running in and out power. The piston-head has no holes bored in it, but when the gun recoils the oil is driven out of the cylinder, the flow being regulated by a balanced valve. The pump to move the hydraulic is worked by steam, the direction of the movement being controlled by a lever in the turret.
Carriage and Slide for 16-inch M. L. R.
There is no carriage proper for the 16-inch gun, the trunnions resting in saddles on beams fixed in the turret. Hydraulic piston-rods are attached to each saddle, the two cylinders being connected by a pipe to equalize the strain. The breech of the gun rests on a third block which travels in guides. These guides are hinged at the rear, the forward ends resting by means of a cross-head on the piston of a vertical hydraulic cylinder. By means of this the gun is elevated or depressed. The gun is run in or out, elevated, and loaded by hydraulic power.
Loading Arrangements.
