Turret
A turret is a device, placed on a vehicle or an installation fixes military, which makes it possible to direct in site, the armament which it carries, while maintaining this last under a protection. It is distinguished from the Barbette, which with the same function by the fact, which the protection of the turret is mobile and can extend even to the roof, whereas in a barbette, the shielding is fixed, and it weapon is inevitably, with sky discovered. There exists many type of turret, whose movement can be manual or motorized, some can even be entirely automated, not requiring the presence of being useful for the weapons which it contains. The range of weapon embarked in turrets goes from the Mitrailleuse, to parts of Artillerie, several tens of centimetres of Caliber.
Naval use
The turret is essential in the navy of war, with the increase in the gauge and the mass of the pieces of artillery. The number of the guns of each ship, must then be reduced, to preserve stability on water, and it is advisable to use those Ci, in the most effective possible way, by increasing their field of fire. One of the first examples of ship equipped with a turret is the Monitor, used during the American Civil War, it is followed by HMS Capitain of Cowper Phipps Coles, in 1869, which is to him the first ocean liner to use an artillery out of turret. However, little time after its startup, on September 7th 1870, the Capitain capsizes, showing that the use of turrets and veils, are not easily compatible. The British will regulate the problem by giving up the propulsion with veil, as of 1871, with the two ships of the class Devastation. At the end of the 19th century, the use of the turret takes a lead in the largest units of the navy of war, like the linerships or the armoured Croiseur S, the units lighter, like the protected cruisers and the destroyers, remaining equipped still a long time with an armament on pivot, protected by simple a Bouclier, which is faster to point and lighter.
On the majority of the ships, the guns equipping the turrets are still with loading by the mouth, but the generalization of the loading by the cylinder head, will allow the increase in the rate of shooting, while maintaining being used them for the shelter, at the time of the service of the part. However, the increasingly heavy shells often require machines to be even charged, which still oblige to bring back the part to certain of Hausse, with site, to introduce the ammunition, this delays of as much the opening of fire. Thereafter, one will develop mechanisms interdependent of the gun, which will make possible the loading in any position.
Automobile use
Besides some Armoured car S before, the first important use of a turret appears on the tank French FT-17. The formula to assemble a directional armament on 360° on an armored vehicle, is a success such as henceforth, the majority of the armoured tanks will adopt it. It makes it possible to venture right in the middle of the enemy zone, by engaging the objectives and the threats, on all the circumference of the machine. Mainly, only some hunters of tanks and self-propelled guns will preserve an armament in casemate, because they are supposed to be spread in support behind the friendly forces, and that economically that made it possible to mount very powerful guns, on frames which would have been unable to embark it out of turret. A fashion of the tank to several turrets was in vogue during the Années 1930, in particular at the British and the Soviets, one hoped for this way of engaging several objectives simultaneously. But the experiment of the combat, showed that this formula was full with disadvantages, the coordination of the shooting was almost impossible, the fields of fire of the various turrets were reduced, and it vehicle was bulkier, because of a crew many. The formula to mount most French canon possible in a single turret, quickly became the standard.
The first turrets of armoured tanks being light, they turned by the action of the gunner which operated upright, a shoulder pressed on the stick of the weapon. The increasing gauge of the weapons one had to resort to the motorization of the turrets, become too heavy, the energy of the principal engine or of the electrical motors was then employed, but one kept a manual back-up system, using a crank and a reducing system to actuate the turret, in the event of breakdown, or when one wanted to use the tank in static position, driving decree. The use of this mode of pointing returned the operation, a full rotation of the turret on a Tigre tank, took for example, 720 turns of crank, but more discrete. First of all single-seat, the turrets became Bi then three-seater, in particular under the impulse of the Germans. Even if it made the turret bulkier, this increase in the number of being useful, appeared capital, because it allowed a better distribution of the roles between the various men. The formula envisaging a chief of vehicle, disengaged from the obligation to serve the principal weapon, being able to observe the battle field and to find the objectives there, and of a gunner and a provider, respectively pointing and supplying the weapon, showed its superiority at the time of the combat of the beginning of the Second world war.
Air use
The first directional air armaments, were initially assembled on pivots, but one passed quickly to the use of weapon on circular rail, allowing serving as better field of fire. The speed of the planes increasing, the need to protect the crew from the elements and to improve aérodynamisme of the apparatuses, pushed to cover these turrets not protected by glazings, which thereafter became armor-plated to provide a little protection, with the machine gunners. Rotation, first of all manual of the turret, became electric, as the mass to be driven increased. The following evolution, at the end of the Second world war, was the use of devices of remote control, which exempted being used for it to be out of turret, beside the weapon, and made it possible to place it well at the shelter, in a pressurized compartment.
The directional armament out of turret, was generally employed on the heavy aircraft, incompetent because of their low maneuverability, to quickly point a fixed armament against an objective. The vocation of this type of armament is thus rather defensive, some attempts carried out to use the turret offensively, appeared little succeeded, like the Paul Bouton Defying for example, showed it. Indeed, the fixed assembly of the armament made it possible to save much mass, which was employed better, to improve the capacity of operation of the plane, or the power of its armament. Moreover, the use of turrets, required planes multiplaces and thus heavier, and posed many problem of coordination between the gunner and the pilot.
Use in the Fortification S
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