152 Mounting of Naval Ordnance, 



rid of; for, no doubt, there is, at present, an excess of strength 

 in the cheeks, or sides of the breech-carriage, since so much 

 violent and percussive action is avoided, and their thick- 

 ness might safely be reduced. No objection can arise to 

 this, from the strains to which the carriage is liable when 

 secured at sea, for all those are diminished, in consequence of 

 the gun, in this circumstance, being considerably nearer the 

 deck than on the old system of mounting. 



Every person, in the least acquainted with artillery exer- 

 cises, is aware of the Herculean task of mounting a heavy gun 

 without the apparatus called a gin ; — an apparatus which it is 

 impossible to use on board a ship, and the want of which can 

 only be supplied by strong and complicated tackling at- 

 tached to the beams over head, and by the assistance of many 

 men. This arises from the circumstance of having the whole 

 weight of the gun to be lifted, whilst, by the contrivance of 

 our author, which throws the weight on either the breech or 

 breast-carriage, as occasion may require, this service may be 

 executed v/ith the greatest ease, by a few hands, in an ahnost 

 incredibly short time. On board the Isis, of 50 guns, the 

 operations of dismounting and mounting were performed with 

 a 24-pounder gun, in the space of 2C, with seven men. 



There is one property of Captain Marshall's carriage, 

 which, if made available, will contribute in no small degree 

 to the comfort and health of those who man our frigates. We 

 allude to the property of securing fore and aft. The main- 

 deck guns, from always being run out, cause the deck, in 

 rough weather, to assume the character of a reservoir of 

 water : for the half-ports can never be rendered sufficiently 

 tight to prevent it from coming in. The circumstance, too, 

 of the guns being frequently under the waves, and conse- 

 quently, dragged through them, occasions no small impedi- 

 ment to the ship's velocity. Now, these inconveniences are 

 unavoidable with the common carriage, which, if secured 

 inside, fore and aft, instead of projecting the muzzles outside 

 the ports, cannot be ready for action without serious delay. 

 But with the new carriage this objection does not exist, 

 and, moreover, it possesses the additional good property of 

 lowering the gun. 



As the very extreme ports, at either bow or stern, are 

 usually armed with guns, from the nearest broadside port, 

 when occasion requires, it would appear, at first sight, that 

 Captain M.'s carriage was not capable of such an operation, 

 since the breech-carriage only presents two wheels to effect 

 it. However, our author has here again derived a singular 

 advantage from what certainly appears to be an unpropitious 



