Piv′ot-gun.
A gun mounted on a carriage which may be revolved so as to sweep all points of the compass. Usually employed on shipboard, but sometimes in fortifications. |
| Pivot-gun. |
Fig. 3776 shows a Parrott gun mounted on a pivot-carriage adapted to be shifted from side to side of a vessel, so that one battery may answer for both broadsides. The carriage is in use on the thirty gunboats built for the Spanish government in New York, about 1870, and has since been adapted for other vessels. It was invented by Ericsson.
The platform a runs on tracks b b across the deck of the vessel, and may be propelled by a cog-wheel gearing in the rack c on one of the tracks. The carriage proper is pivoted in the center of the platform, and rests on wheels d d. When in firing position the platform is fastened to the deck by pins, one of which is shown at e.
