William Louis Winans prepared a detailed proposal to the Russian government for three gunboats, one of 500 tons displacement with two guns, one of 1000 tons displacement with three guns, and the last a 504-foot long, 3000-ton monster with six guns. The proposal, inked in fine Victorian script, includes many illustrations and descriptions of technical details, and contain William Louis Winans' penciled and initialed notes.   There is a memorandum⁵⁷, entitled "War Vessels on the Spindle Principle", that discusses the benefits of the special construction and how these are realized.   An annex⁵⁵ provides detailed estimates of dimensions, weight, etc.  Large plans^56,58 depict two of the gunboats. 

(Image courtesy of the Winans family)

     The superstructure could have been open on top, but I've covered it in the renderings of the proposed boats on this page.

     The large gunboat carried two small and four large guns, normally recessed within the superstructure but having a mechanism to raise them for firing⁵⁶.  This appears to be the mechanism described in William Louis Winans' 1865 Patent 46516.

(Click the image below for an interpretive drawing - 229 KB - PDF) 

(Image courtesy of the Winans family)

     The 500-ton boat was more modest, with four double boilers and two engines driving a single prop at the stern.  The plan shows two retractable guns and dimensions about half that of the larger boat⁵⁸.

(Image courtesy of the Winans family)

Click here to view an earlier 3D reconstruction of the 500-ton gunboat.

The Russian proposal material is dated July 1861.  In a somewhat rambling December 1861 letter to Cassius Marcellus Clay⁸⁰, the American Minister to Russia, William L. Winans proposes a fleet of gunboats, on the "spindle principle" to counter what he saw as the threat of imminent war between the United States and England.  Much of the technical detail in the letter is condensed from the Russian proposal but there is some information not obvious in or missing  from the earlier documents.  The letter states that the proposed construction does not use frames, but that the arched hull plates are joined together and hull stiffening is provided by the many watertight bulkheads, "28 to 35 ordinarily in large vessels".  A major benefit of the spindle shape is that when facing an enemy end-on or nearly so, shot would strike nearly everywhere at obtuse angles (although the text calls them acute) and deflect off with little or no damage.  Winans summarizes the results of shot tests against an inclined target that simulated the spindle hull plating.  He found that among other improvements, screwing plates together provided much better results than rivets, "the latter flying when hit".
     This proposal differs from the Russian one in that the gunboats have no gangway, and even the stacks "in some cases slide down even with the top of the vessel when in action".  The guns, like those in the Russian proposal, withdraw into the hull (per the "specification of my patent") so they can be reloaded without exposing the gun crew to enemy fire.  He proposes four classes of war vessels:

• One of 3500 tons register, with 1¼ to 1½ inch plating, "armed with six or eight heavy guns" to "cruise about the British Islands with perfect impunity" and "injure her commerce and sink as many ordinary vessels of war as might be sent against her".  The proposed vessel would have a two-bladed screw under each end.
• A few of 1500-2500 tons register, "with slightly thinner iron", and with four to six heavy guns would be "well suited for our coast defences". 
• Some of 400 to 800 tons resister, with two to four guns, "would be valuable for harbour defences".
• "Very much smaller ones with power merely for taking and keeping position, with a single large gun, would make good batteries for operating in shallow water, against shore works, and likewise be useful in harbour defence". 

     At this time I don't know how far this proposal went. Winans requested the reference material be forwarded to Washington.  He mentions sending a copy to "Mr. Adams" to send to "Mr. Lincoln".  I find it interesting that the patent referenced, 46516, for operating gunboat ordnance, was signed by William L. Winans in January 1862, but not granted until 1865.

      The reconstructions below, shown to scale, are based the descriptions and drawing in the letter, the Russian gunboat proposal drawings, and patent 46516.  They range in length from 530 to 146 feet.  I've shown completely retractable telescoping smokestacks for all but the smallest boat.  Its small size makes complete retraction difficult.  I've also placed a low armored helmsman's tower forward on each hull.  The two larger gunboats have props at each end, but I've used a pair of small props at each end for the coastal defense boat to minimize draft.  Similarly for the small shore battery boat.  The largest boat has four pairs of large guns, the next largest two pairs, and the next one pair.  The shore battery has a single small gun although there might be room enough for a large gun.  All are retractable per the patent.

Many, many thanks to Steve Walk and the Winans family whose generous access to the family archives provided the Russian proposal material presented on this page.

(Source references are in the bibliography on the main cigar ships page.)