Hunchback photo questions

[Mike Serpa]

View on deck of sidewheeler "Hunchback" - National Archives photo #525047

What is the name of the big piece of equipment and what does it do? Is that a nozzle for a fire hose right above the gun? What type gun? Thanks.

 

[AndyHall]

This is the "walking beam" structure that transfers the vertical stroke of the (ginormous) one-cylinder steam engine to the crank on the paddlewheel shaft. This type of engine arrangement was very common, although not preferred for warships, as it was vulnerable to enemy fire. (Hunchback was originally built as a civilian ferryboat.) What's visible here is only the very top part of a large assembly. This is a diagram of a larger example, but the basic elements are the same:

Here's another view, also reportedly of Hunchback:

The crew of boat got in on the action, too:

 

[Mike Serpa]

Thanks, Andy. The diagram helps me understand the complexity. The man helps me appreciate the size.

 

[georgew]

View on deck of sidewheeler "Hunchback" - National Archives photo #525047
View attachment 45543
What is the name of the big piece of equipment and what does it do? Is that a nozzle for a fire hose right above the gun? What type gun? Thanks.

I don't know the manufacturer, but look at the end of the bore on the gun tube. This was a rifled piece.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Perhaps a Dahlgren boat howitzer? The mount looks like it.

 

[Mike Serpa]

Perhaps a Dahlgren boat howitzer? The mount looks like it.

Thanks, Mark.

 

[Brendan]

Thanks, Andy. The diagram helps me understand the complexity. The man helps me appreciate the size.

If I had dollar for every time I've used that line...

 

[Drew]

The gun in the OP is definitely rifled. The one behind the gents in Andy's pic looks like a Dahlgren 12 lb. smooth bore. The thing on the walking beam that looks like a fire hose nozzle has really got me stumped. My first reaction was part of a grease gun, maybe?

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I can't pick out the "fire hose nozzle." What are you referring to?

 

[major bill]

I love the views of the naval uniforms. Now I will have to buy the book Bluejackets so I can lean more about Civil War naval uniforms.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

It's a good'un, though on the pricey side. Only annoyance is the lack of an index.

 

[28thNewYork]

Purportedly the USS Hunchback:

 

[Drew]

I can't pick out the "fire hose nozzle." What are you referring to?

It's hanging off the walking beam structure directly behind and above the gun in Mike's picture. He guessed fire hose nozzle, I guessed grease gun, I'll guess again we're both wrong. Thoughts?

 

[AndyHall]

Drew, I also thought maybe a grease cup and piping -- there are grease cups all over that assembly. But a fire nozzle may be correct. See this piece -- much smaller, but similar in design.

 

[Brendan]

The Hunchback seems to have been a pretty extensively photographed vessel. This one is one of my favorite Civil War views period:
Expired Image Removed
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...hback"_on_James_River,_Va_-_NARA_-_526207.jpg

 

[Drew]

But a fire nozzle may be correct.

I'll be danged - the end of it looked too small to me to be effective in fighting a fire. But then again, scared sailors working the buckets would no doubt be a big help.

 

[28thNewYork]

Seems like an appropriate place for a fire hose. The boiler that created the steam that drove the cylinders that moved the "walking beam" would have been directly below the right hand side of the diagram that AndyHall posted (imagine a steam locomotive standing on end).

 

[AndyHall]

There are narrow openings in the deck there for clearance of the connecting rods at each end of the diamond-shaped walking beam. These openings give a clear means of access all the way to the engine space at the bottom of the vessel. So arguably, yes, this is where you'd want a nozzle producing a high pressure stream, as opposed to pouring buckets of water or sticking a burble-gurgle hose.

 

[Mike Serpa]

Purportedly the USS Hunchback:

The Library of Congress identifies this as "Gunboat COMMODORE PERRY and monitor on James River." So who knows?

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003004987/pp/

 

[AndyHall]

We've discussed those gunboat images before. There are images of clearly different vessels that are captioned with the same name. Not sure if anyone can sort it all out now.