Jeanne Crawford
Established Users
Found in the waters off Ft Pulaski solid mortar shot of some kind
What is it besides heavy
What is it besides heavy
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mortar shot 13 in 120lbs?
- Thread starter Jeanne Crawford
- Start date
The size & weight measurements of the "solid" ball you mentioned do not seem to match up. A 13"-caliber mortarshell (which was a hollow iron ball) weighed approximately 210 pounds (empty weight).
Also, there was no such thing as a 13-inch Solid-Shot cannonball. If the ball does in fact measure 13 inches "across," it cannot be a Solid-Shot cannonball.
Since you say the ball is a solid one (not a hollow shell), and it weighs approximately 120 pounds, I checked the 1861 US (and CS) Ordnance Manual's "Shot Tables" Specifications for you, to find the nearest match-up for a solid ball which weighs "about" 120 pounds. Here is the data:
9" solid-shot = 88 pounds
10" solid-shot = 127.5 pounds
11" solid-shot = 165 pounds
So, the nearest match is a 10"-caliber Solid-Shot, at 127.5 pounds. More than a century of imersion is saltwater could have corroded away several pounds of iron from the ball.
Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]
Also, there was no such thing as a 13-inch Solid-Shot cannonball. If the ball does in fact measure 13 inches "across," it cannot be a Solid-Shot cannonball.
Since you say the ball is a solid one (not a hollow shell), and it weighs approximately 120 pounds, I checked the 1861 US (and CS) Ordnance Manual's "Shot Tables" Specifications for you, to find the nearest match-up for a solid ball which weighs "about" 120 pounds. Here is the data:
9" solid-shot = 88 pounds
10" solid-shot = 127.5 pounds
11" solid-shot = 165 pounds
So, the nearest match is a 10"-caliber Solid-Shot, at 127.5 pounds. More than a century of imersion is saltwater could have corroded away several pounds of iron from the ball.
Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]
Jeanne Crawford
Established Users
Thanks It may weigh more than 120 but the dia is 13.
Was there a 15 in mortar shot? Perhaps as you stated the water could have changed the size.
There was spec. that it was produced in Selma Al. is this feasible.
Was there a 15 in mortar shot? Perhaps as you stated the water could have changed the size.
There was spec. that it was produced in Selma Al. is this feasible.
Jeanne Crawford
Established Users
Hey I did some measuring on my own and you are correct it is a 10 in
solid mortar shot ( not 13 as I was told)
What was it shot from and for what purpose
Thanks again
Jeanne
solid mortar shot ( not 13 as I was told)
What was it shot from and for what purpose
Thanks again
Jeanne
First... since you're new to this forum... let me give you my qualifications for providing reliable answers to your questions. I co-wrote a 552-page photographic encyclopedia book titled "Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War." I've been researching (and digging) civil war artillery projectiles for 36 years.
Next... thank you for taking the time to get the ball's actual measurement. Inaccurate measuring and weighing are the major obstacle to obtaining the CORRECT identification of artillery projectiles.
You asked:
> What was it shot from [...]
You've been calling the ball a "mortar shot" (probably because somebody told you that's what it is) ...but in actual historical fact, Mortars never used Solid-Shot. As you probably already know, a Mortar is a very short-barreled tube which sent projectiles high into the air, to drop them down behind an enemy's protective wall. The only thing a Solid-Shot fired from a Mortar would do, after falling nearly vertically from the sky, is make a small hole in the ground.
Therefore, your 10"-caliber Solid-Shot would have been fired from a "long-gun" ...specifically, a 10" caliber Smoothbore cannon. Based on your ball being found "in the waters off Fort Pulaski," it was almost certainly fired by the Confederate, not the yankees. Therefore it was fired from a 10"-caliber Columbiad cannon (a particular type of heavy-caliber Smoothbore cannon). If it was a yankee Navy cannonball fired onto the LAND at Fort Pulaski, it would have been fired from one of the US Navy's 10"-caliber Dahlgren Smoothbore cannons.
> and for what purpose?
Cannons (meaning long-guns) used solid-shot mainly for two purposes.
1- For what is called "counterbattery fire" in artillery duels. Explosive shells could kill an enemy cannon-crew, but did almost nothing to harm the enemy's cannon. The battery commander would quickly replace the casualties, and the cannon would be back in action against you within minutes. But if you could hit the cannon itself (or its carriage/gun-mount) with a solid-shot, that would put the cannon out of action until it could be repaired (which took a significant amount of time, usually 24 hours or more).
2- As a "smasher" to batter down the walls of forts, or to penetrate the hull of an enemy ship. As I mentioned, your ball being found "in the waters off Fort Pulaski" strongly indicates it was fired for purpose #2, by the Confederates at a yankee Navy warship.
> There was spec[ulation] that it was produced in Selma AL. Is this feasible?
No. The great Confederate arsenal at Selma Alabama did not begin producing such projectiles until well after Fort Pulaski was captured (April 1862).
As you probably already know, Fort Pulaski was a well-supplied major US fort prior to the secession of Georgia from the Union. Therefore, because Fort Pulaski was captured so early in the war, there's at least a 50/50 chance that your ball is from the fort's pre-war stockpile of cannon ammunition.
Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]
Next... thank you for taking the time to get the ball's actual measurement. Inaccurate measuring and weighing are the major obstacle to obtaining the CORRECT identification of artillery projectiles.
You asked:
> What was it shot from [...]
You've been calling the ball a "mortar shot" (probably because somebody told you that's what it is) ...but in actual historical fact, Mortars never used Solid-Shot. As you probably already know, a Mortar is a very short-barreled tube which sent projectiles high into the air, to drop them down behind an enemy's protective wall. The only thing a Solid-Shot fired from a Mortar would do, after falling nearly vertically from the sky, is make a small hole in the ground.
Therefore, your 10"-caliber Solid-Shot would have been fired from a "long-gun" ...specifically, a 10" caliber Smoothbore cannon. Based on your ball being found "in the waters off Fort Pulaski," it was almost certainly fired by the Confederate, not the yankees. Therefore it was fired from a 10"-caliber Columbiad cannon (a particular type of heavy-caliber Smoothbore cannon). If it was a yankee Navy cannonball fired onto the LAND at Fort Pulaski, it would have been fired from one of the US Navy's 10"-caliber Dahlgren Smoothbore cannons.
> and for what purpose?
Cannons (meaning long-guns) used solid-shot mainly for two purposes.
1- For what is called "counterbattery fire" in artillery duels. Explosive shells could kill an enemy cannon-crew, but did almost nothing to harm the enemy's cannon. The battery commander would quickly replace the casualties, and the cannon would be back in action against you within minutes. But if you could hit the cannon itself (or its carriage/gun-mount) with a solid-shot, that would put the cannon out of action until it could be repaired (which took a significant amount of time, usually 24 hours or more).
2- As a "smasher" to batter down the walls of forts, or to penetrate the hull of an enemy ship. As I mentioned, your ball being found "in the waters off Fort Pulaski" strongly indicates it was fired for purpose #2, by the Confederates at a yankee Navy warship.
> There was spec[ulation] that it was produced in Selma AL. Is this feasible?
No. The great Confederate arsenal at Selma Alabama did not begin producing such projectiles until well after Fort Pulaski was captured (April 1862).
As you probably already know, Fort Pulaski was a well-supplied major US fort prior to the secession of Georgia from the Union. Therefore, because Fort Pulaski was captured so early in the war, there's at least a 50/50 chance that your ball is from the fort's pre-war stockpile of cannon ammunition.
Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]
Last edited:
Jeanne Crawford
Established Users
Thank you so much! A lot of people know "a little" and are ready to tell all they don't know!
Jeanne
Jeanne