In the Field Civil War artillery shell found by construction crew in South Carolina

huskerblitz

Major
Joined
Jun 8, 2013
Location
Nebraska
Below is the link to the article. I've never seen a shell like this before. Granted, I'm not the most read on the subject, but it looks odd.

shell.jpg
 
Its either a 4.6 or 7 inch Brooke with a CS water cap fuse thats not screwed all the into the shell. Its hard to tell how big it is. Paging @redbob
 
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Its either a 4.6 or 7 inch Brooke with a CS water cap fuse thats not screwed all the into the shell.

Are you sure ? I looked in my copy of Jones for water cap fuses and none look like that. It also looks too long for a Brooke, at least the photos I've seen of them. I've looked in Ripley and on Melton's web site and it just doesn't look like a match.
 
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Are you sure ? I looked in my copy of Jones for water cap fuses and none look like that. It also looks too long for a Brooke, at least the photos I've seen of them.
I believe thats the shipping plug.
 
I believe thats the shipping plug.

OK, I can see that; doesn't look like the actual fuse. I've never seen a photo of the shipping plug. Still looks a little off from the Brooke photos I've seen but I don't claim to know all that much about coastal or naval artillery. Just wondered how you knew.
 
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With the long nose section I'm leaning 4.6 inch
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I agree, there is something not Civil War-ish about this thing. Of course, this comes from a man who walked right by a fused & live Soviet artillery round that was being used as a door stop at a Civil War sutler's for years without coming to the obvious conclusion. Somebody got carried away with their souvenir hunting during Desert Storm.
 
Oh ... come on Mr. @redbob We all want to know ! Help ! Help !
My gut feeling is that this round is post Civil War and though it has some characteristics of a Civil War Round, being as Charleston was a Naval Base for many years, it is no telling where it came from or how it got there. If it is any comfort to folks; this round has become a hot topic amongst collectors about what it is. We will probably never know as by now I would imagine that it is in a bunch of itty bitty pieces. Also, since this is in Charleston; if a thermo-neuclear device turned up there, they would say that it was Civil War. :banghead:
 
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My gut feeling is that this round is post Civil War and though it has some characteristics of a Civil War Round, being as Charleston was a Naval Base for many years, it is no telling where it came from or how it got there. If it is any comfort to folks; this round has become a hot topic amongst collectors about what it is. We will probably never know as by now I would imagine that it is in a bunch of itty bitty pieces. Also, since this is in Charleston, if a thermo-neuclear device turned up there, they would say that it was Civil War. :banghead:

Thank you sir. I feel better now as it didn't look right to me as being CW (but I'm far from knowledgeable about coastal or naval artillery). One thing's for sure ... we can all sleep better at night knowing they blew it up :whistling:
 
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