Artillery altered projectile oddity.

[Frederick14Va]

Interesting Artillery projectile oddity.

The projectile on the Left's specs align correctly with that of a 12Lb cannon ball. The leaden "plug" diameter size is the same as that of a Bormann time fuse (1.6"), used on explosive shells. However the plug is flat and solid. Both US and CS made and used the Bormann fuse. Yet is known that the CS made ones tended to be of less quality and commonly was hit or miss if they would work correctly or not. Some of the CS ones were reworked and used adapters to use the common paper time fuse instead.

A 12lb (cast iron) solid shot weighs 12.25lbs. The 12lb common shell (hollow with powder charge) weighs 8.34 lbs. This puppy weighs nearly 14 pounds. Hence it gives evidence and impression that this 12lb shell made for use with a Bormann fuse was simply filled entirely with (heavier than iron) lead and made use out of in role as a solid shot instead. This reportedly had been recovered in Chesterfield Co. Va.

The image on the Right is a 12lb Shell with a proper Bormann Fuse for comparison.

 

[Old Soldier]

What do you do if you only have shells left, but no ball or fuzes?

 

[redbob]

What do you do if you only have shells left, but no ball or fuzes?

It has been reported that they fired "Rotten" Shot which just meant that they removed the fuse plug and fired the round without a fuse and with an open fuse hole. The result of this was that the round tended to explode shortly after it left the tube. A last ditch effort to say the least.

 

[redbob]

Interesting Artillery projectile oddity.

The projectile on the Left's specs align correctly with that of a 12Lb cannon ball. The leaden "plug" diameter size is the same as that of a Bormann time fuse (1.6"), used on explosive shells. However the plug is flat and solid. Both US and CS made and used the Bormann fuse. Yet is known that the CS made ones tended to be of less quality and commonly was hit or miss if they would work correctly or not. Some of the CS ones were reworked and used adapters to use the common paper time fuse instead.

A 12lb (cast iron) solid shot weighs 12.25lbs. The 12lb common shell (hollow with powder charge) weighs 8.34 lbs. This puppy weighs nearly 14 pounds. Hence it gives evidence and impression that this 12lb shell made for use with a Bormann fuse was simply filled entirely with (heavier than iron) lead and made use out of in role as a solid shot instead. This reportedly had been recovered in Chesterfield Co. Va.

The image on the Right is a 12lb Shell with a proper Bormann Fuse for comparison.

View attachment 514730

I have a 4.5 Dyer that has the fuse hole plugged with lead that appears to have been fire as a bolt instead of a shell.

 

[Frederick14Va]

It has been reported that they fired "Rotten" Shot which just meant that they removed the fuse plug and fired the round without a fuse and with an open fuse hole. The result of this was that the round tended to explode shortly after it left the tube. A last ditch effort to say the least.

Those, and the ones with faulty fuses frequently would detonate immediately inside before leaving the gun tube. Others immediately on exit. Either would be extremely hazardous if not deadly to the cannoneers. Normally something one would try to avoid occurring at all cost.

 

[RetiredCanuck]

Am I correct in assuming that with a round shell, the loader has the added responsibility of ensuring the fuse end faces the muzzle of the cannon? Thus the wooden sabot that was often part of the shell to ensure that happened?

 

[redbob]

Am I correct in assuming that with a round shell, the loader has the added responsibility of ensuring the fuse end faces the muzzle of the cannon? Thus the wooden sabot that was often part of the shell to ensure that happened?

The spherical round sat on a wooden sabot and was held in place by thin metal straps with the fuse area facing outward. There was a cloth powder bag attached to the other end of the sabot

 

[redbob]

 

[Ed Zeppelin]

What do you do if you only have shells left, but no ball or fuzes?

Pray real hard?



Sent from my Commodore 64 running Windows 95

 

[Lampasas Bill]

Interesting Artillery projectile oddity.

View attachment 514730

I also encountered a led-filled spherical shell while working at the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City. My office was on the second floor of a Civil War-era building. A lady wanted to show me a Civil War artifact, so I said "send her up." "Clunk, clunk, clunk"--she was dragging a 12 lb shot in a bag up the wooden stairs. She lived on the ridge road which Sterling Price's men used in 1864 in their attempt to enter the city. Her husband had dug the shot up in their flowerbed and wanted to know more about it. My heart gave a little jump when I discovered what looked like a fuse, but it turned out that it was plugged with lead. It was a mystery to me then, but I guessed that it might be an improvised solid shot, so I'm delighted to see something very similar. After a little cleaning, it looked exactly like the shell on the left.

 

[Rhea Cole]

At Fort Donelson the river battery only had hollow shells, not solid shot. Needless to say, even loaded shells filed with powder would not have damaged the ironclads.

The shells were filled with lead from melted down bullets.

A solid lead ball 8" in diameter weighs 110 pounds. Compare that to the 55.57 pounds of a solid iron sphere. Kenetic energy = 1/2 Mass X Velocity Squared.

The lead filled shells struck the armor of the gunboats with magnitudes greater force than if they had been proper iron shot. The low temperature on the day also played a part in the damage inflicted on the gunboats.

Iron has a crystalline structure. At low temperature the plate armor of the gunboats could have shattered like glass. A metallurgist explained this phenomenon to me in terms any child could comprehend.., don't bother asking me to explain it

The Confederate River Batteries - Fort Donelson National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

 

[Rhea Cole]

I also encountered a led-filled spherical shell while working at the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City. My office was on the second floor of a Civil War-era building. A lady wanted to show me a Civil War artifact, so I said "send her up." "Clunk, clunk, clunk"--she was dragging a 12 lb shot in a bag up the wooden stairs. She lived on the ridge road which Sterling Price's men used in 1864 in their attempt to enter the city. Her husband had dug the shot up in their flowerbed and wanted to know more about it. My heart gave a little jump when I discovered what looked like a fuse, but it turned out that it was plugged with lead. It was a mystery to me then, but I guessed that it might be an improvised solid shot, so I'm delighted to see something very similar. After a little cleaning, it looked exactly like the shell on the left.

A solid lead sphere would weigh 18 pounds.

 

[67th Tigers]

At Fort Donelson the river battery only had hollow shells, not solid shot. Needless to say, even loaded shells filed with powder would not have damaged the ironclads.

The shells were filled with lead from melted down bullets.

A solid lead ball 8" in diameter weighs 110 pounds. Compare that to the 55.57 pounds of a solid iron sphere. Kenetic energy = 1/2 Mass X Velocity Squared.

The lead filled shells struck the armor of the gunboats with magnitudes greater force than if they had been proper iron shot. The low temperature on the day also played a part in the damage inflicted on the gunboats.

Iron has a crystalline structure. At low temperature the plate armor of the gunboats could have shattered like glass. A metallurgist explained this phenomenon to me in terms any child could comprehend.., don't bother asking me to explain it

The Confederate River Batteries - Fort Donelson National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

The physics of this is wrong.

If you take the same gun, and use a heavier projectile, the kinetic energy will be the same. The energy comes from the propellant, and firing a heavier projectile results in a lower velocity.

Wrought iron, used in armour, does not shatter like cast iron. The reason cast iron can shatter is not its' crystal structure but rather flaws in its' crystal structure. Cast iron has randomly oriented crystallites and many flaws, and the breaks occur between the crystallites. Wrought iron is worked reducing the impurities and allowing the crystallites to anneal into a much more continuous structure.

Whilst cast iron can shatter, wrought iron instead deforms. With projectiles, cast iron balls tend to shatter on striking a hard target, whereas wrought iron balls are "set up," deforming rather than shattering and hence delivering more energy. Chilled iron and steel deform less but don't shatter, making them far more effective penetrators.

Lead is a terrible penetrator. It just "splats" when striking iron, because it is much softer than iron. The work of the impact is expended on deforming the projectile rather than the armour.

 

[Old Soldier]

One of the reason explosive shells/balls were used against armored vessels was that when they exploded on the target, the shockwave caused wrought iron to 'shed its skin' send splinters off the inside of thin plate - spalling - without penetrating the plate. The effect on the crew inside was rather - upsetting! Flat roofs and armored decks were an obvious target, hence the slope on so much armour - it wasn't just to deflect shot. Having said that, it rarely happened, as the round shot tended to keep on rolling. Once rifled guns started firing higher velocity shells there was little need for roundshot.