Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a 'barbette' is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection that eventually led to the pre-dreadnought. The name ultimately comes from fortification, originally meaning a raised platform or mound, seen in the French phrase en barbette, which refers to the practice of firing a cannon over a parapet rather than through an embrasure in the fortification. The former gives better angles of fire but less protection than the latter. The disappearing gun was a variation on the barbette gun; it consisted of a heavy gun on a carriage that would retract behind a parapet or into a gunpit for reloading. They were primar