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SOME NOTES ON NAVAL GUN-DRILL ANN PRACTICE. 
The commands for drill appear to be simple and adequate: a Cast 
loose and load;” “At the target;” “Commence.” The drill-book 
lays down that the objective shall always be indicated. The gun- 
captain then gives : “ Right, quick ” (or slow), “ Left, quick ” (or slow), 
“ Stop ! ” “ Raise,” “ Lower,” “ Well! ” 
In the orders for training right and left refer to the muzzle , in those 
for elevating, raise and lower refer to the breech ; exactly the opposite 
to our custom. 
The gun-captain fires the gun himself, from the rear, when his sights 
are on, and with the rising motion of the ship. 
So far from objecting to a heavy rolling motion, the seamen-gunners 
prefer it. It saves elevating. They lay the gun horizontal, raise their 
sights, and wait for the upward roll. 
Guns are invariably fired with the rising motion, except when the 
ship is rolling very heavily indeed, when the downward roll is taken 
advantage of to check the recoil. 
The Naval carriages and slides, designed to save room as much as 
possible, always look very light and simple after many of our land 
mountings designed for emplacements where space is of no object. 
The captain of gun stands, when firing the 5" and 6" B.L., only 
some four feet from the breech, and the gun recoils just short of him. 
The steep Vavasseur slides and powerful buffers check them very ef¬ 
fectually. With the new 6" Q.F. guns the recoil is only nine inches. 
The underlying principle of Naval gun-drill is : “Carry on;” “Get the 
gun off;” “ Hit the enemy, and lose no time in doing it again ;” but 
its application appears rather opposed to our ideas of strict fire discip¬ 
line and rigid drill. I heard the Instructor-in-Gunnery a Petty Officer, 
say : “ Lend a hand, my lads, if you see a man struggling with a 
heavy job, why donT you lend a hand and help him ?” 
Their keenness, conspicuous throughout, if possible, increased when 
he said this. They literally “ chucked ” the 6" shell into the bore, a 
couple of men behind the loading numbers giving “ more power to 
their elbows,” while the powderman, with his powder (the Navy never 
say cartridge) in a case like a long leather bucket, was handed along 
by all the higher numbers until he reached the gun, and held his case 
so that the charge could be rammed home, the rammer passing through 
the case and into the chamber. The instant it was home two pairs of 
nands swung round the breech-block and forced over the lever, if it 
worked stiffly they clapped on a tackle and heaved it round. The gun- 
captain had his gun trained and partially laid by the time the loading 
was completed. 
Everything and everybody was made to move, and to move quickly. 
“ It's no use playing with things, my lads,” said the Gunnery Instruc¬ 
tor. As an example of rapidity, I may mention that on board the 
Curlew , a course of seamen-gunners, qualifying for captains of guns, 
and competing among themselves for time and accuracy, fired 8 rounds 
each, in all 74 rounds, from the 6" B.L. on Yavasseur mounting’, using 
half charges. The total time taken to finish the practice was 56 
minutes. Of course their range was always clear and everything 
worked satisfactorily. On looking over the other side sights in several 
