Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v4p2.djvu/483

 On the 23d Nov. 1831, Captain Taylor forwarded to the Marquis of Lansdowne a Plan for the Registry of Seamen. The following are extracts of his correspondence with the Admiralty on the subject of his various inventions:–

“Parliament Square, Feb. 11th, 1815.

“My Lord,– I beg leave to offer for your inspection an improvement on sights for ships’ guns and carronades, considering the elevation and line of sight in one focus, by two sights, one at the muzzle astragel, and the other at the second reinforce ring; giving, with the object fired at, three marks in one, founded on practical experiments, proved on board H.M. sloop Sparrow, under my command, on the north coast of Spain, and more particularly at the defence of Castro, during which shells were thrown from the Sparrow’s carronades with great precision, and the practical effect of the firing from the breaching battery at St. Sebastian’s, over the heads of the storming party, by the seamen from the squadron, prove the utility of this invention. My wounds, received at the above siege, prevented an earlier introduction, as I considered it necessary that the experiments should take place in my presence, former plans having been submitted to the opinion and trial of persons who were not interested in he introduction thereof, and certainly not so capable of giving the necessary explanations.

“I have been urged by several scientific officers, who have witnessed the precision with which the Sparrow’s crew fired by these sights, to bring this invention forward, convinced of its great importance to naval gunnery, if adopted in the service.

“During many experiments on board the Sparrow and other ships, I have observed expert gunners in the old system unable to strike a boat’s sail, when the ship was under weigh, notwithstanding they rigidly adhered to the principles now adopted in the service; whereas, by the plan of three objects in one, as produced by my sights, four shots passed through an aperture made by the first shot, in the centre of a boat’s sail, without enlarging the hole more than the diameter of a 24-pound shot: these shots were driven home in canvas, to reduce the windage. In firing from carronades, quoins were used: indeed carronades should invariably be fired with quoins, screwing the gun tight down on the quoin, to prevent the piece from rising when fired.

“With the present elevating sights, it is morally impossible to elevate and point a gun when under weigh, from not having the line of sight and elevation in one focus. At point-blank, with my sights, not one shot will be fired in vain, as the rolling or veering of a vessel will not affect the aim, when the objects are in one with the sights. The sights have