Andrew Pursey wrote:
>Yes, I acknowledge that usage of turret as well. I assume that the use
>of turret relative to roof relates to tanks and armoured cars in common
>usage and comes from castle design originally?
They had me fooled too! I believe a turret was originally a tall tower
with many ports to shoot thru, first with arrows, then guns. The modern
idea of a revolving turret originated with the Monitor class Ironclads
of the US Civil War (War of Northern Aggression to you Southerners). ;=)
Although the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac was technically
a draw, the strategic outcome was decisive. The Merrimac's mission was
to devastate the Union fleet. It was doing a pretty good job of it.
The Monitor's mission was to prevent this. After the battle, the
Merrimac never sailed again. The Monitor became the prototype for a
fleet of Ironclads that successfully enforced the Union blocakde against
the South. The Monitor itself sank off Cape Hatteras after the war.
One of its sister ships was recently salvaged from a river, the Alabama,
I think. That would make quite a museum piece sitting next to a
Duesenberg.
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