View source for Turret ship

{{Short description|19th century warship type}}
{{For|the type of late 19th century commercial steam vessel with an unusual hull shape|turret deck ship}}
[[File:USSMonitor1862.3.ws.jpg|thumb|Turret of {{USS|Monitor}}, one of the first turret-armed warships]]
'''Turret ships''' were a 19th-century type of [[warship]], the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving [[gun turret]], instead of a [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] arrangement.

==Background==
[[File:HMS Prince Albert (1864).jpg|thumb|[[HMS Prince Albert (1864)|HMS ''Prince Albert'']], a pioneering turret ship, built by naval engineer [[Cowper Phipps Coles]].]]
Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th century, the classic [[ship of the line]] design used rows of port-mounted guns on each side of the ship, often mounted in [[casemate]]s. Firepower was provided by a large number of guns which could only be aimed in a limited arc from one side of the ship. Due to instability, fewer larger and heavier guns can be carried on a ship. Also, the casemates often sat near the waterline, which made them vulnerable to flooding and restricted their use to calm seas.

[[Gun turret|Turrets]] were [[weapon mount]]s designed to protect the crew and mechanism of the  [[artillery|artillery piece]] and with the capability of being aimed and fired in many directions as a rotating weapon platform. This platform can be mounted on a [[fortification|fortified]] [[building]] or [[structure]] such as an anti-naval [[land battery]], or on a [[combat vehicle]], a [[naval ship]], or a [[military aviation|military aircraft]].

==Origins==
Designs for a rotating gun turret date back to the late 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KbN-xWTj7kC&q=Gillespie+Turret+1805&pg=PT36 |title = Duel Between the First Ironclads|isbn = 9780307817501|last1 = Davis|first1 = William C.|date = 2012-05-09| publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing }}</ref> Practical rotating turret warships were independently developed in [[Great Britain]] and the [[United States]] with the availability of steam power in the mid-19th Century.

===British developments===
[[File:HMS captainWilliam Frederick Mitchell.jpg|thumb|left|{{HMS|Captain|1869|6}} was one of the first ocean-going turret ships.]]

During the [[Crimean War]], Captain [[Cowper Phipps Coles]] of the British [[Royal Navy]] constructed a [[raft]] with guns protected by a 'cupola' and used the raft, named ''Lady Nancy'', to [[Siege of Taganrog|shell]] the Russian town of [[Taganrog]] in the [[Black Sea]]. ''Lady Nancy'' "proved a great success",<ref name="captain1p21">{{cite book|last=Preston |first=Antony|title=The World's Worst Warships |location=London |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|year=2002|isbn=0-85177-754-6|page=21}}</ref> and Coles patented his rotating turret after the war. Following Coles' patenting, the [[British Admiralty]] ordered a [[prototype]] of Coles' design in 1859, which was installed in the floating battery vessel, {{HMS|Trusty|1855|6}}, for trials in 1861, becoming the first vessel to be fitted with a revolving gun turret. Coles' design aim was to create a ship with the greatest possible all round [[arc of fire]], as low in the water as possible to minimise the target.<ref name="Barnaby">{{cite book |title=Some ship disasters and their causes |author=K. C. Barnaby |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |year=1968|pages=20–30}}</ref>

The British Admiralty accepted the principle of the gun turret as a useful innovation, and incorporated it into other new designs. Coles submitted a design for a ship having ten domed turrets each housing two large guns. The design was rejected as impractical, although the Admiralty remained interested in turret ships and instructed its own designers to create better designs.

Coles enlisted the support of [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], who wrote to the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], the [[Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset|Duke of Somerset]], supporting the construction of a turret ship. In January 1862, the Admiralty agreed to construct a ship, {{HMS|Prince Albert|1864|6}}, which had four turrets and a low freeboard, intended only for coastal defence. Coles  was allowed to design the turrets, but the ship was the responsibility of the chief Constructor [[Isaac Watts (naval architect)|Isaac Watts]].<ref name="Barnaby"/>

Another of Coles's designs, {{HMS|Royal Sovereign|1857|6}}, was completed in August 1864. Its existing broadside guns were replaced with four turrets on a flat deck and the ship was fitted with {{convert|5.5|in|mm}} of armour in a [[Belt armor|belt]] around the [[waterline]].<ref name="Barnaby"/> Early ships like {{USS|Monitor}} and ''Royal Sovereign'' had little [[sea-keeping]] qualities being limited to coastal waters. Coles, in collaboration with Sir [[Edward James Reed]], went on to design and build {{HMS|Monarch|1868|6}}, the first seagoing warship to carry her guns in turrets. [[Keel laying|Laid down]] in 1866 and completed in June 1869, it carried two turrets, although the inclusion of a [[forecastle]] and [[poop deck]] prevented the guns firing fore and aft.<ref name="Barnaby"/>

===American developments===
[[File:USS Monitor plans.jpg|thumb|Inboard plans of {{USS|Monitor}}.]]
The gun turret was independently invented by the Swedish inventor [[John Ericsson]] in the United States.<ref name=Sandler>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9-0ZuKsMvIC|title=Battleships: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|author=Stanley Sandler|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=27–33|isbn=9781851094103}}</ref> Ericsson designed USS ''Monitor'' in 1861. Erickson's most prominent design feature was a large cylindrical gun turret mounted [[amidships]] above the low-freeboard upper [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]], also called the "raft". The raft extended well past the sides of the lower, more traditionally shaped lower hull. A small armoured [[pilot house]] was fitted on the upper deck towards the bow, however, its position prevented ''Monitor'' from firing her guns straight forward.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |year=2006 |title=Blue & gray navies: the Civil War afloat |ref=Tucker06 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Maryland |isbn=1-59114-882-0|page=171}}</ref> {{efn|Ericsson later admitted that this was a serious flaw in the ship's design and that the pilot house should have been placed atop the turret.}} One of Ericsson's prime goals in designing the ship was to present the smallest possible target to enemy gunfire.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Stephen C.|year=1990|title=The Design and Construction of the USS Monitor|ref=Thompson90|journal=Warship International |publisher=International Naval Research Organization |location=Toledo, Ohio| volume=XXVII|issue=3 |issn=0043-0374}}</ref>

The turret's rounded shape helped to deflect cannon shot.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mindell |first=David A. |year=2000 |ref=Mindell |title=War, Technology, and Experience Aboard the USS Monitor |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-6250-2|page=41}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McCordock |first=Robert Stanley |title=The Yankee Cheese Box |ref=McCordock |publisher=Dorrance |year=1938 |page=31}}</ref> A pair of [[donkey engine]]s rotated the turret through a set of gears; a full rotation was made in 22.5 seconds during testing on 9 February 1862.<ref name="Thompson"/> This design was technologically inferior to Coles', and made fine control of the turret difficult.<ref name=Sandler/>  If turret rotation overshot its mark it was difficult to make a correction. Either the engine would have to be placed in reverse or another full rotation was necessary.

Including the guns, the turret weighed approximately {{convert|160|LT|t|0}}; the entire weight rested on an iron spindle that had to be jacked up using a wedge before the turret could rotate.<ref name="Thompson"/>  The spindle was {{convert|9|in|cm|0}} in diameter, which gave it ten times the strength needed in preventing the turret from sliding sideways.<ref>{{cite book |last=Baxter III |first=James Phinney |author-link=James Phinney Baxter III |title=The Introduction of the Ironclad Warship  |url=https://archive.org/details/introductionofi00baxt |url-access=registration |edition=reprint of the 1933 publication |year=1968 |publisher=Archon Books |location=Hamden, Connecticut  |oclc=695838727 |ref=Baxter|page=[https://archive.org/details/introductionofi00baxt/page/256 256]}}</ref> When not in use, the turret rested on a brass ring on the deck that was intended to form a watertight seal. In service, however, this proved to leak heavily, despite [[caulking]] by the crew.<ref name="Thompson"/>  The gap between the turret and the deck proved to be a problem as debris and shell fragments entered the gap and jammed the turrets of several {{Sclass|Passaic|monitor|3|warship}}s, which used the same turret design, during the [[First Battle of Charleston Harbor]] in April 1863.<ref>{{cite book |last=Canney| first=Donald L. |title=The Old Steam Navy |ref=Canney |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland <!-- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzAhAQAAIAAJ no preview--> |year=1993 |volume=2: The Ironclads, 1842–1885 |isbn=0-87021-586-8|pages=79–80}}</ref> Direct hits at the turret with heavy shot also had the potential to bend the spindle, which could also jam the turret.<ref>{{cite book |title=Our Iron-clad Ships: Their Qualities, Performances, and Cost. With Chapters on Turret Ships, Iron-clad Rams |last=Reed |first=Sir Edward James |ref=Reed |location=London |publisher=J. Murray |year=1869 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourironcladship01reedgoog|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ourironcladship01reedgoog/page/n295 253]–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Broadwater |first=John D. |title=USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage  |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-60344-473-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht7Im50Mec8C |ref=Broadwater|page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=H. W. |title=Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare From 1855 to 1895 |volume=1 |ref=Wilson |year=1896 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3DgGKmaHDEC|page=30}}</ref>

The turret was intended to mount a pair of {{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[smoothbore]] [[Dahlgren gun]]s, but they were not ready in time and {{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on|0}} guns were substituted.<ref name="Thompson"/> Each gun weighed approximately {{convert|16000|lb}}. ''Monitor''{{'}}s guns used the standard propellant charge of {{convert|15|lb|kg}} specified by the 1860 ordnance for targets "distant", "near", and "ordinary", established by the gun's designer Dahlgren himself.<ref>{{cite book |last=Field |first=Ron |year=2011 |title=Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads |ref=Field |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-78096-141-5|page=33}}</ref> They could fire a {{convert|136|lb|1|adj=on}} round shot or shell up to a range of {{convert|3650|yd}} at an elevation of +15°.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olmstead |first1=Edwin|last2=Stark|first2=Wayne E. |last3=Tucker |first3=Spencer C. |year=1997 |title=The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon |ref=Olmstead |publisher=Museum Restoration Service |location=Alexandria Bay, New York |isbn=0-88855-012-X|page=90}}</ref><ref>Lyon, David & Winfield, Rif ''The Sail and Steam Navy List, all the ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889'', pub Chatham, 2004, {{ISBN|1-86176-032-9}} pages 240-2</ref>

==Culmination==
[[File:HMS Thunderer (1872).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Thunderer|1872|6}} incorporated hydraulic mechanisms into the turret, and marked the transition toward the modern [[battleship]].]]
{{HMS|Devastation|1871|6}} of 1871 and {{HMS|Thunderer|1872|6}} of 1872 represented the culmination of this pioneering work. These [[ironclad warship|ironclad]] turret ships were designed by Edward James Reed. They were also the world's first [[Mast (sailing)|mastless]] [[battleship]]s, built with a central [[superstructure]] layout, and became the prototype for all subsequent warships, leading directly to the modern battleship.

== Surviving examples ==
*The only preserved steam and sail turret ship in Europe is the mid 19th century Dutch [[ironclad]] [[HNLMS Schorpioen|HNLMS ''Schorpioen'']].
*The Chilean and Peruvian flagship ''[[Huáscar (ironclad)|Huascar]]'' is a memorial at Talcahuano.
*A replica of the [[Chinese battleship Dingyuan|Chinese battleship ''Dingyuan'']] was built as a [[museum ship]] in 2003.

==See also==
*[[Barbette ship]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ironclad types}}
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turret Ship}}
[[Category:Ship types]]
[[Category:Shipbuilding]]