What is "turret ship"

Turret \Tur"ret\, n. [OE. touret, OF. tourette, dim. of tour a tower, L. turris. See Tower.]

1. (Arch.) A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the angles of a larger structure.

2. (Anc. Mil.) A movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.

3. (Mil.) A revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates, within which cannon are mounted. Turrets are used on vessels of war and on land.

4. (Railroads) The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car. Its sides are pierced for light and ventilation.

   Turret clock, a large clock adapted for an elevated position, as in the tower of a church.

   Turret head (Mach.), a vertical cylindrical revolving tool holder for bringing different tools into action successively in a machine, as in a lathe.

   Turret lathe, a turning lathe having a turret head.

   Turret ship, an ironclad war vessel, with low sides, on which heavy guns are mounted within one or more iron turrets, which may be rotated, so that the guns may be made to bear in any required direction.

n. A warship of the 19th century, having the guns mounted in a revolving turret, instead of a broadside arrangement.

Turret ships were a 19th-century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement.