Editing Turret ship (section)

===British developments===
[[File:HMS captainWilliam Frederick Mitchell.jpg|thumb|left|{{HMS|Captain|1869|6}} was one of the first ocean-going turret ships.]]

During the [[Crimean War]], Captain [[Cowper Phipps Coles]] of the British [[Royal Navy]] constructed a [[raft]] with guns protected by a 'cupola' and used the raft, named ''Lady Nancy'', to [[Siege of Taganrog|shell]] the Russian town of [[Taganrog]] in the [[Black Sea]]. ''Lady Nancy'' "proved a great success",<ref name="captain1p21">{{cite book|author=Preston, Antony|title=The World's Worst Warships|publisher=London: Conway Maritime Press|year=2002|isbn=0-85177-754-6|page=21}}</ref> and Coles patented his rotating turret after the war. Following Coles' patenting, the [[British Admiralty]] ordered a [[prototype]] of Coles' design in 1859, which was installed in the floating battery vessel, {{HMS|Trusty|1855|6}}, for trials in 1861, becoming the first vessel to be fitted with a revolving gun turret. Coles' design aim was to create a ship with the greatest possible all round [[arc of fire]], as low in the water as possible to minimise the target.<ref name="Barnaby">{{cite book |title=Some ship disasters and their causes |author=K. C. Barnaby |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |year=1968|pages=20–30}}</ref>

The British Admiralty accepted the principle of the gun turret as a useful innovation, and incorporated it into other new designs. Coles submitted a design for a ship having ten domed turrets each housing two large guns. The design was rejected as impractical, although the Admiralty remained interested in turret ships and instructed its own designers to create better designs.

Coles enlisted the support of [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], who wrote to the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], the [[Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset|Duke of Somerset]], supporting the construction of a turret ship. In January 1862, the Admiralty agreed to construct a ship, {{HMS|Prince Albert|1864|6}}, which had four turrets and a low freeboard, intended only for coastal defence. Coles  was allowed to design the turrets, but the ship was the responsibility of the chief Constructor [[Isaac Watts (naval architect)|Isaac Watts]].<ref name="Barnaby"/>

Another of Coles's designs, {{HMS|Royal Sovereign|1857|6}}, was completed in August 1864. Its existing broadside guns were replaced with four turrets on a flat deck and the ship was fitted with {{convert|5.5|in|mm}} of armour in a [[Belt armor|belt]] around the [[waterline]].<ref name="Barnaby"/> Early ships like {{USS|Monitor}} and ''Royal Sovereign'' had little [[sea-keeping]] qualities being limited to coastal waters. Coles, in collaboration with Sir [[Edward James Reed]], went on to design and build {{HMS|Monarch|1868|6}}, the first seagoing warship to carry her guns in turrets. [[Keel laying|Laid down]] in 1866 and completed in June 1869, it carried two turrets, although the inclusion of a [[forecastle]] and [[poop deck]] prevented the guns firing fore and aft.<ref name="Barnaby"/>