7th Mississippi Infantry
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Location
- Southwest Mississippi
A period illustration of loading one of these babies:
That's like firing a Volkswagen.
The 8" armstrong gun s weren't chambered at this time
I was under the impression that the csa had two 20 inch rodmans and that one was improperly loaded and burst. I could very much be wrong thoughPerhaps I'm confusing them with another pair of guns? I'll need to look.
I was mistaken it was the 12.75 inch Blakely I was thinking of. Both of them had been used in Charleston and one was improperly loaded and exploded on its first test shot.
I was going to suggest the 12.75" Blekely, but have been beaten to it. John M Brooke, who did understand the purpose of the air space, or chamber was incensed, and blamed General Ripley. We will never know if that was unfair or not ,because we don't know if the gun manuals were sent with the weapons. Everyone seems to have assumed they were.Perhaps I'm confusing them with another pair of guns? I'll need to look.
The 8" armstrong gun s weren't chambered at this time, That came towards the end of the muzzle loading era in the RN.
They were good weapons in the hands of a properly trained crew , but the 9" 250pdr was even better. HMS Bellerophon was recorded as having fired two aimed broadsides in two minutes Effective gun range at sea was reckoned at the time to be 800 to 1,000 yards. On the proving range at Woolwich the 8" indeed reached 5 miles, and the 9" just over 6. But it must be remembered this is trial firing with everything measured carefully.
It has been asked how these Armstrong guns got out of England, it should be noted that neither example is marked with the Government cypher, and at the time of purchase Armstrong were not the suppliers of ordnance to the RN, they could therefore sell guns to whoever wanted them and had the money. The two 8 " guns were a "gift" to the Confederacy through Fraser Trenholm. I have attempted to trace the journey of these gun, but unfortunately the Armstrong foundry records were lost in the blitz on Newcastle which all but destroyed Armstrong Whitworths works.