"Loading Position”

The Officer of the Turret gives the order, the Captain of Turret repeats it, and trains to the loading position; 3 of the right gun attends to the inside bolt; when locked, by the inside bolt the 2nd Captain of Turret places the outside bolt and then reports ‘Turret Locked’.

1 meanwhile places the gun in the loading position - fully run in and elevated to maximum angle (13 degrees).

(drill assumes the left gun is being loaded)

‘Open the breech’

1 opens the breech (this will be illustrated more fully later), and 2 sees the bore clear and reports it.

“Place the Loading Tray”

1 and 3 place the loading tray

‘Load”

When the telltale shows ‘Load’, 4 raises the hoist and rams the projectile home, withdraws the rammer and lowers the hoist.

5 puts back the slide in the trough, 5, 6 and 7 remove the lids of from the powder case and place the powder case in the loading trough.

4 raises the hoist, rams the charge till the indicator shows ‘Charge Home’, withdraws the rammer, reports ‘Left gun loaded’ and lowers the hoist.

5, 6, 7 remove the powder case

5 replaces the slide in the trough and all the outside numbers reload the hoist with a projectile.

“Out Loading Tray”

1 and 3 remove the loading tray inside the turret

“Close the Breech”

1 closes the breech, and shifts the telltale to ‘Breech Closed’

“Free the Turret”

When both telltales show ‘Breech Closed’ the 2nd Captain of Turret raises the outside bolt.

No 3 of the right gun then raises the inside bolt and reports ‘Turret Free’.

“Run Out”

1 runs the gun out and lays it roughly horizontally

“Simultaneous Firing – x Knots right (or left) deflection yyyy yards”

Captain of Turret and 3 of the left gun adjust their sights

“Insert the Tube”

2 inserts a tube (which contains an electrically fired composition that ignites the main charge)

“Train and lay both Guns”

The Captain of Turret trains the turret and aligns the sights of the right gun with the object.

3 of the left gun keeps the opposite gun to correspond for elevation by his sights

“Bring both Guns to the Ready”

2 puts switch to ‘On’

1 reports ‘- Gun Ready’

The Captain of Turret after both guns are reported ‘Ready’ places his hand on the pistol grip and reports ‘Ready’

“Fire both Guns”

The Captain of Turret fires at his own discretion, and removes his hand from the pistol grip.

2 then puts the switch to ‘Off’