The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

TORPEDO-LAUNCHING TUBES. 235 bayonet-joint. The system is so arrangée! that the tube can be moved as required, for obtaining the desired angles of elevation and training. The mounting consists mainly of a rear support on rollers, pro vid ed with the elevating mechanism ; in front the tube is carried on a horizontal axle on two rollers, which, when the spherical part is in its seating, can be raised so that the tube is only carried by the seating in the side of the ship and the rear rollers, in which position it is given the desired training. This type is not shifted as easily as the preceding one, and is better suited for service on ships, in the armament of which several launching-tubes are provided. Spherical-Jointed Tubes with Elevating and Train- ing Mechanism for Destroyers (Figs. 780 and 781, Plate CXXXIV.).—This pattern differs from the preceding one in the addition of mechanical gearing for training. The front truck is connected to the rear roller-frame by formed, in its central part, of an I-bar, in the rear of which oscillate the two jointed circular arms which serve as bedrings for obtaining the required elevation, in the manner already described for preceding types. On the right arm is a winch for training the tube, with a crank, which allows the displacing of the system, by acting on a flexible cable rolied round a series of rollers, and on a toothed wheel ; the two ends of this cable are fixed to the deck. At each angle of the frame are the rollers, the rear ones being provided with elutehes made to clasp the edge of the rear racer fixed to the deck. In front, the tube rests on the frame, with the interposition of a horizontal joint, which allows the required vertical displacements for obtaining the desired elevation. Moreover, the front end of the frame is made with a lug, which may be connected, through a jointed bar, to a vertical pivot fitted to the bulwark of the ship. A suitable opening is cut in the bulwark, to give free space to the spoon- a jointed stay. The system contains two tension rollers, placed at one end of the rear racer ; a vertical grooved pulley in the rear of the frame, with guide-rollers ; a flexible cable, that surrounds the rollers and pulley, and enables the mounting to be drawn to one side or the other, according to the way the grooved pulley is made to turn. The pulley is worked by a transmission, comprising a hélicoïdal wheel and an endless screw on the axle of a toothed wheel. This wbeel is set in motion by a plate chain, worked by a similar wheel, the centre of which is on the right-hand circular arm. A hand-crank complétés the system. The other manœuvres are executed, as is the case for tbe preceding pattern. Tubes for the Armament of Cruisers, with Elevating and Training Mechanism (Figs. 774 and 775, Plate CXXXIII.).—Tubes of this type have been built in large numbers, and, among other ships, for the Brazilian eruiser “ Almirante Tamandare.” The tube proper contains the arrangements previously described ; it is provided with a spoon-shaped guide, fixed with a bayonet-joint, but witliout a hinge. The mounting is muzzle - pivoting, and consists of a horizontal frame, shaped extension in the varions positions it is made to take. Special Elevating Mechanism (Fig. 783, Plate CXXXV.).—In certain cases the Schneider-Canet tubes rest at the rear, on an elevating screw similar to that used with some types of field gun earriages. This does away with the two oscillating arms which form part of the tube mountings already described. The whole of the system is thus mueh simplified. The cross-piece which forms the body of the rear support, and which rests at its two ends on the rollers, is provided at its centre with a nut that can turn in its socket under the action of a handwheel. In the nut fils the elevating screw, the head of which is jointed in a lug provided at the lower part of the tube ; the screw is raised or lowered by acting on the handwheel. During firing, the mounting is held firm by means of tackle fixed to eye- bolts fitted in the bulwarks. The rollers serve to set the tube in the required direction ; they can be turned in such a manner as to draw the tube on deck when not required for service. The desired training is obtained by moving the tube itself.