IN WHICH we trace the evolution of the turret ship in its first decades, from armored battery to oceangoing battleship.
Double-turreted monitor USS Onondaga at sea. She was built for the U.S. Civil War, but was sold to France. She served as a harbor defense ship at Brest through 1903.
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The Ericsson and Coles Turret Systems |
USS Onondaga - Double Turret Monitor (1864) |
IJN Kotetsu - Ex-Confederate Imperial Japanese Flagship (1865) |
Peruvian/Chilean Ironclad Huáscar - Lairds Ironclad Export (1865) |
Dutch Coast-Defense Ironclad Schorpioen - French-Built Turret Ram (1868) |
HMVS Cerberus - Pioneer Breastwork Ironclad (1868) |
HMS Devastation - The Shape of Things to Come (1871) |
Russian Battleship Peter the Great (1876) |
Italian Turret Ship Caio Duilio (1878) |
Above, breastwork monitor HMVS Cerberus: Pioneering 1868 turret ship was the first to raise a superstructure amidships, and the first seagoing turret ship with no sail rig -- innovations incorporated into the more famous HMS Devastation 3 years later. Photo below shows the remains of Cerberus in Half Moon Bay, near Victoria, Australia today; courtesy Glen Agnew. Ship had two twin Coles turrets mounting 10" muzzle loading rifles. For a free downloadable cardstock model of the Cerberus from Paper Shipwright, click here.
