USS Hunchback's 12 pounder rope wheel wrappings.

[Story]

Question came up on this thread.

Men of the U.S.S. Hunchback | Period Photos & Examinations

Converted from a pre war ferryboat, this image shows us some officers and sailors of the gunboat U.S.S. Hunchback while deployed on the James River.

civilwartalk.com

Has anyone come across definitive primary source on *why* the wheels were so wrapped?
Logical conclusions are logical, anti-slip macrame in action but... primary source(s)?

Hunchback - Gunboat

Gunners loading a 12-pounder Dahlgren smooth-bore howitzer, which is mounted on a field carriage
Photographed by Matthew Brady in the James River, Virginia, 1864-65. The original photograph has Brady negative number B-6193
Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 59431

 

[UCVRelics]

I'm going traction and stability as the metal bands on the wheel would slide on the deck way to much.

 

[Story]

I'm going traction and stability as the metal bands on the wheel would slide on the deck way to much.

Yeah but primary sources is what I'm asking for -

 

[Pollaco]

I would imagine if that gun slid even a little bit to the right or left it would no longer be aimed. Imagine if that boat rocked in a .title storm wave?That gun may have slid right off the deck.

 

[Zack]

The answer might be in here:

Form of exercise and manoeuvre for the boat-howitzers of the U. S. Navy : Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard, 1809-1870 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

16 p. : 23 cm

archive.org

 

[Story]

The answer might be in here:

Form of exercise and manoeuvre for the boat-howitzers of the U. S. Navy : Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard, 1809-1870 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

16 p. : 23 cm

archive.org

1) That's a LOT of squinting.
2) Good find, Rubiks' Cube combination of search terms yielded nothing tho.
3) Looks like the wheel ropes were the drag ropes repurposed
4) Pre-war publication date, I'm beginning to suspect this is a wartime lessons-learned thing

 

[redbob]

For some unknown (at least to me), sailors have an attraction to wrapping rope around objects and painting everything grey.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Most folks don't know that NPS black powder artillery instructor training is conducted with live ammunition. On a notable, one might say now legendary incident, a 12 pound mountain howitzer was positioned on a paved road due to the rain soaked ground. The little howitzer, very similar to the one in the photo, was fired & recoiled like a jack rabbit. It rolled across the pavement at an improbable speed & bounded down a 30' bank toward a roaring rain swollen creek. Almost as quickly albeit a lot louder, the period footwear sent the pursuing cannon crew hurdling down the slick as *#+* creek bank at the same lively velocity as the gun. Fortunately, the howitzer became entangled in vines & bushes before it plunked into the roaring creek. The flailing cannoneers made their own arrangements utilizing various plants to halt their slide... saw briar was found to be especially effective. Anyone familiar with the absence of traction provided by Jefferson Davis brogans does not have to imagine the Three Stooges rescue a cannon routine that ensued.

I have noticed that firing blanks from a paved location causes a noticeable increase in recoil. Never tried it with a live round. It is very common to see a howitzer mounted on an iron carriage as a deck gun on a variety of vessels. I took a look, but did not see another example with rope winding on the wheels. It strikes me as a very practical thing to do. Obviously they fired 12 pounders on decks all the time. It is not obvious what they dd to keep them from leaping overboard.

 

[Western Reserve Volunteer]

This photo shows another view of the same gun. The Hunchback was originally a NY ferry boat... it appears that this boat howitzer was on the roof of the cabins, which have a pronounced curve to help rain run off of. That would explain why the crew wrapped the wheels with rope: instead of a flatter deck like seen on Monitors or other converted steamboats that had these guns, they are trying to move the carriage around a surface that is sloping quite considerably. I think that makes it more of an idiosyncratic development of the Hunchback, morsel than anything you'd find in a manual. Good thing pictures are also primary sources!

 

[Western Reserve Volunteer]

These views show that the Hunchback also had a rifled version of the Dalghren boat howitzer, and it's wheels aren't wrapped! But the 12 lb smoothbore is! So it's either the product of different recoil dynamics, and the ideas of a particular gun crew, or plan boredom as a surplus of rope. It seems the Navy considerably altered (cut down) Hunchback compared to her pre-war life, where she'd had cabins on her upper deck and a vehicle deck below non her main deck. Given her job an blockader in the Carolina sounds and later the James River, it seems like her crew might have had plenty of moments of monotony to fill... either way it's a fascinating view of shipboard life. I imagine those boat howitzers would be useful on the rivers, protecting her from small arms fire in a way her big guns could not.

Edit: Just noticed that Gun No 2's rammer is also extensively rope wrapped, in contrast to the other crews! I think we have our culprit: a midshipman given busywork!

 

[CowCavalry]

Amazing photographs here, thanks.

 

[mdk220]

the pictures are awesome - the detail is so cool

 

[Package4]

View attachment 463920View attachment 463921View attachment 463922

These views show that the Hunchback also had a rifled version of the Dalghren boat howitzer, and it's wheels aren't wrapped! But the 12 lb smoothbore is! So it's either the product of different recoil dynamics, and the ideas of a particular gun crew, or plan boredom as a surplus of rope. It seems the Navy considerably altered (cut down) Hunchback compared to her pre-war life, where she'd had cabins on her upper deck and a vehicle deck below non her main deck. Given her job an blockader in the Carolina sounds and later the James River, it seems like her crew might have had plenty of moments of monotony to fill... either way it's a fascinating view of shipboard life. I imagine those boat howitzers would be useful on the rivers, protecting her from small arms fire in a way her big guns could not.

Edit: Just noticed that Gun No 2's rammer is also extensively rope wrapped, in contrast to the other crews! I think we have our culprit: a midshipman given busywork!

The rammer is not wrapped, that is the rope railing; look at the other side and you can see the rope dropping down. The rammer just happens to be perfectly placed behind the rope drop. Good eyes though!

 

[Western Reserve Volunteer]

You are quite right sir. It's interesting that it seems to be the only one like that and on the same side of the ship as the rope wrapped gun, so I guess we can assume that it was the idiosyncrasy of that particular sides watch, then?

 

[Rhea Cole]

An old salt has an interesting observation. He says that dolling the gun & accoutrements up like that looks like a signal gun for firing salutes. That makes sense to me.

 

[Package4]

I think more likely it is a smooth bore, if you blow it up and look at the difference between the two deck guns the other has a smaller bore with rifling. The larger smooth bore would take a larger charge and the crew may be tired of continuously holly stoning the deck after practice firing recoil.

 

[reading48]

I noticed one thing that came to mind ---Undress blues haven't changed at all, But the Dixie cup hat is now in style. White trousers for gunners, what a nightmare to keep clean.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I noticed one thing that came to mind ---Undress blues haven't changed at all, But the Dixie cup hat is now in style. White trousers for gunners, what a nightmare to keep clean.

Especially when you consider how foul it was on a coal powered ship. Coaling involved all ranks passing bags or loose coal into improbable nooks & crannies while creating a cloud of coal dust. The entire crew looked like the Peanuts character surrounding in a halo of dirt.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

White trousers for gunners, what a nightmare to keep clean.

In the 60s when I had trouble getting my white bell bottoms looking like new again, my dad, who was on a ship in the Pacific in WW2, gave me this recipe- get a bucket, fill it with water, add 1/4 cup bleach, soak pants for an hour, rinse well (don't go on shore leave and forget about them or they will fall apart when you get back and take them out).

It occurs to me that he may have been soaking them in salt water as, according to him, fresh water was a precious commodity- but I will leave that detail to those who know.

 

[Larryh86GT]

Those Navy guys wrapped many things with rope: