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Theodore Ruggles Timby (5 Apr 1819 - 9 Nov 1909) American inventor who first had the idea for the revolving turret that John Ericcson built on the ship Monitor which proved to be a decisive advance in naval armaments during its successful encounter with the ironside Merrimac (9 Mar 1862).

THEODORE R. TIMBY, M. A., LL. D.

INVENTOR OF THE REVOLVING GUN TURRET, THE INVINCIBLE ARMAMENT OF THE FAMOUS “MONITOR” DURING HER ENCOUNTER WITH THE IRONCLAD “MERRIMAC”

[p.42] No armament nor single invention, of which there is any record, has ever, at a moment of national peril, contributed such important service in defence, and which also occasioned such immediate world-wide change in naval architecture as did “the hitherto untried revolving gun turret” of the first Monitor, as a result of her first encounter with the iron-clad Merrimac, March 9, 1862—very properly designated by the historian “the battle upon which hinged the fate of the war.”

Undoubtedly, with many of its readers. THE SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN is well aware that the invention or origin of the revolving gun turret, to which we shall particularly refer in this article. stands accredited to the designer and builder of the Monitor, who, as a matter of fact and of record, simply adopted or made this turret a part of the first and of subsequent vessels of the “Monitor type” by permission: and under a written contract from the inventor of the turret which was engaged in the above “first encounter,” and without which, considering the builder’s purpose and plan of the Monitor, she never could have been completed. It is also clearly evident from information founded upon claims described, and rights officially acknowledged and conveyed, together with concurrent reference in correspondence between the then recognized inventor of the turret and well-known naval officers of the time of the first Monitor, that the revolving gun turret or “tower” of the ship was conceived, designed and first modeled by the subject of this sketch. Dr. Theodore R. Timbv, who was born in the State of New York, April 5, 1822, and is now a resident of his native State. Hence, it appears through the teachings and injustice of history for forty years that a great wrong has been done a really “successful American” inventor. And this, largely, through inexcusable omission, or a most persistent violation of the great precept: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”

A writer, some twelve years ago, referring to this subject as “an instance of conspicuous national ingratitude.” said: “When the world-renowned Monitor vanquished the Merrimac and rescued the Union cause in the most perilous crisis of the war, news went forth on wings of lightning, and with it went the gratuitous assumption that one of the contractors and builders of the Monitor was also the inventor and author of her entire armament, necessarily including ‘Timby’s revolving gun turret,’ which, in a single encounter, revolutionized the naval architecture of the world.”

In this may be seen the possible, if not the real, origin of results which have worked great injustice to an honored American citizen, and this running through four decades of authentic (?) American history. In corroboration of the real inventor’s claim, and his own statement of the origin of “the gun turret used in the Monitor, we beg to submit the following letter and affidavit over his own name. This letter is particularly interesting in its reference to an almost fatal error of the builders of the Monitor, in a single departure from the inventor’s plans and models of the turret, by placing the pilot-house or ‘lookout’ on the deck, forward of the turret, or in the way of her own guns”:

Referring to the passing or transition of the Monitor type of construction for turret armament, and the important place now occupied by the gun turret in the modern battleship, a well-known Admiral has said: “To question Mr. Timby’s claims as inventor of the revolving gun turret used in the Monitor would seem like wilful ignorance.”

Theodore R. Timby has been honorably distinguished by prominent institutions of learning, and the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of

Science conferred upon him in recognition of his scientific and literary genius; but it is as the persistent and untiring worker that he is which brought him to view by this invention. He has spared neither time, labor nor expense, but has given the strength of his manhood and life’s best energies to the perfection of an armament that is not only in advance of all that has gone before, but, as he himself says today, “It is in every sense American.” From the writer’s observation and personal knowledge of his distinguished service as an inventor and publicly recognized achievements, it certainly seems due from his own countrymen that Mr. Timby’s name, with reference to his invention and its relation to the construction of the first Monitor, be formally recognized by the Government at Washington; and with this, that the story of the revolving gun turret shall appear in future accounts of the famous Monitor as the conception and design of an American.

ALFRED KING.

New York City, Nov., 1901.

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