Would not have wanted to be around this one....
- Thread starter Bojangles
- Start date
What a ''boom'' to produce this result. It way have been plan though... not sure if it was an accident during live firing. I think it is more a planed destruction. There is so many cannons like this one in Quebec City. If you don't mind, I'll steal the pictures for my own data base!
Martin
Martin
When retreating, deny the enemy your equipment you have to leave behind.
Quebec City is a great place to visit to see things like that. The citadel there is pretty cool too.
infideleggwelder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
British cast iron guns had a habit of blowing up. cast iron was cheaper than bronze and gun crews were cheaper than cast iron. i have never seen a gun blown up by accident, nor a spiked one. it could be either. would`t have wanted to be anywhere near it. have to go to the citadel myself one day.
That is a very large British Naval Gun by the looks of things (the arrow is a government property stamp not the direction.{hopes you were kidding})
Spiking the touch hole is how a gun was rendered inoperable if there was a threat of it being taken, and gun crews were a valuable commodity that weren't thrown away like chaff.
I would bet the gun was damaged in another fashion than firing it. The left side of the cannon is broken at a right angle on the outer extreme of the cast (fracture?). The right side is chamfered. Someone more knowledgeable in casted metallurgy can chime in, but it looks more like a torsional force that took the muzzle off...and these were smooth bored so rifling is out of potential.
GR=George Rex (King George)...of which are 3 possibilities, the first (1714-1727), George II (1727-1760) and King George the III (1760-1820).
Spiking the touch hole is how a gun was rendered inoperable if there was a threat of it being taken, and gun crews were a valuable commodity that weren't thrown away like chaff.
I would bet the gun was damaged in another fashion than firing it. The left side of the cannon is broken at a right angle on the outer extreme of the cast (fracture?). The right side is chamfered. Someone more knowledgeable in casted metallurgy can chime in, but it looks more like a torsional force that took the muzzle off...and these were smooth bored so rifling is out of potential.
GR=George Rex (King George)...of which are 3 possibilities, the first (1714-1727), George II (1727-1760) and King George the III (1760-1820).
infideleggwelder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Didn`t know about the spiking thing, makes sense. as to how the british forces have treated their fighting men throughout history, how many died the first day of the Battle of the Somme? i`ll concede that gun crews were valuable, however, not as valuable as bronze guns.
infideleggwelder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Elevation gauge/ guide used for aiming. i`m sure there is a technical term.
For range/elevation adjustment of the gun. There was a corresponding marker/indicator on the gun carriage.
gotta love the arrow so that they knew which way to point it
Board of Ordnance Broad Arrow, later found on just about all British military and government stores and equipment.
Antigua: nice place! Shirley Heights fort.
ht tp://www.shirleyheightslookout.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=71
Its either a 24 Pounder or a 32. I'm guessing 24. George III cypher, probably a failure due to casting flaws as the rest of the guns there don’t seem to be damaged. Doubtful if the British would have left a damaged gun lying around unless they thought it was instructive, so it might be some locals fooling around after the British left who over-charged it or blocked the barrel.
Not sure what the 505 on the end of the trunnion would be as I don’t believe British guns were serial numbered until late in the 1800s. Too high a number to be the weight of the gun in hundredweights (1 cwt. = 112 lbs)
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fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Could also be from poor/nonexistent thumb stall. Quite common for cast guns in that era to come apart at that location when the ball was rammed without someone/something tightly covering the vent. the whoosh of air fans any remaining sparkes and blows new powder onto them causing an AD with the ball part way down the tube.
The gun is salvageable, the touch hole can be drilled out and the muzzle trimmed back so it can be used as a carronade.
To properly disable a muzzle loading cannon one or both of the trunnions would need to be heavily damaged or knocked off the tube.
To properly disable a muzzle loading cannon one or both of the trunnions would need to be heavily damaged or knocked off the tube.
- Location
- Northern ON
If my remembrances of Hornblower and Ramage books are correct, spiking a gun was a fairly temporary measure, the spike could be drilled out, or the touch-hole bung could be knocked into the barrel and a new one inserted. This was basically a truncated cone-shaped piece of metal with a hole in the middle that was driven in from inside the barrel and forced into place by a charge. They were designed to be replaced as the touch-hole expanded through erosion during normal firing.
I believe the standard method of permanently destroying a cannon was by knocking off the trunions (as previously mentioned) or by double or triple charging the gun, then wedging a ball into the barrel and setting it off. It would have been a pretty impressive bang!
I believe the standard method of permanently destroying a cannon was by knocking off the trunions (as previously mentioned) or by double or triple charging the gun, then wedging a ball into the barrel and setting it off. It would have been a pretty impressive bang!
OP- which island was this? When I was in Jamaica our taxi driver asked if we wanted to see and old fort. We said "of course!"
Place was littered with old cannons, really cool to see. Especially since it was not at all a "tourist trap"
Place was littered with old cannons, really cool to see. Especially since it was not at all a "tourist trap"
Well RRCo you are observant and guessed the exact location where I took the photos!
Yes it was the Shirley Heights fort in Antigua.
Cheers!
B
Iron at the break looks spongy.
505 could be the weight, though: 5 c'wt, 0 quarters, 5 pounds: 565 pounds total.
Generally weight of gun will be marked on the breech.
Nice pictures. Thank you.
I want one!!!
505 could be the weight, though: 5 c'wt, 0 quarters, 5 pounds: 565 pounds total.
Generally weight of gun will be marked on the breech.
Nice pictures. Thank you.
I want one!!!
