HMS Scylla achieves record gunnery accuracy under Percy Scott
- When
- 1899
- Where
- Mediterranean Fleet prize firing
- Episodes
- 1
Captain Percy Scott commanded HMS Scylla during a period of significant gunnery improvement. After poor initial results, Scott implemented training innovations, including a device called the 'dotter' to help crews aim during ship roll. These efforts culminated in a highly successful prize firing in May 1899, where the ship achieved exceptional hit rates, particularly with its smaller guns, demonstrating the effectiveness of his methods.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Scott was appointed captain of HMS Scylla in May 1896. The ship initially struggled with gunnery, achieving poor results in 1897 and 1898 prize firings, significantly below the fleet average. In late 1898, the Commander-in-Chief granted Scott permission to implement changes to gunnery training to improve the ship's performance.
Training Innovations. Scott's crew initially tried using telescopic sights, which did not improve accuracy for sub-calibre firing. Scott then developed a training tool called the 'dotter' to teach gun teams to hit targets when the ship was rolling. This innovation addressed the challenge of aiming on rolling seas, a key factor in the subsequent success.
1899 Prize Firing. The Scylla's next prize firing took place on 26 May 1899. The ship achieved 45% hits with its 6-inch guns and 80% hits with its 4.7-inch guns. This performance was a dramatic improvement over previous years and demonstrated the effectiveness of Scott's training methods.
People involved
- Percy Scott · Captain of HMS Scylla
- Sir John Hopkins · Commander-in-Chief
Sources
- Percy Scott Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-07
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.