We've all been saved again.

[emike123]

No comment other than this shell would fit perfectly in his ignorant, fat mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KPQFdrWsiM

[pipedreamer65]

Besides the stupidity of having the shell destroyed, he said those shells were not fired toward land?  What else besides a Confederate sand fort would it be fired at?  No others have been found? 

[swest47]

I don't agree with breaking the law to relic hunt because that just taints relic hunting and relic hunters as a whole.

I also don't agree with the policy of not digging relics. According to archeologist relics are to be left in the ground so that only they can dig them and understand their relevance. Well, by the time archeologist get around to digging the relics there won't be any left. This last DIV I found what I'm guessing was an eagle button only 30% of the face was left and what face their was, was indistinguishable.

I am reminded of this from the dedication to Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War by Thomas S. Dickey and Peter C. George the Revised and Supplemented 1993 edition,

Peter C. George
In 1992, State Archaeologist held a "public review meeting" for a new Va. State Regulation which would curtail the use of metal detectors even on private property. In 1993 author attended that hearing with some powerful evidence against approval of the regulation. He brought a 3-foot high stack of Civil War relic reference books, such as this one. Only a single volume in that stack of publicly available books was produced by Professional Archaeologists. He asked: If private citizens anywhere in this country became interested in the stories told by buried relics of the war, where can they turn for the desired information? The answer: To the rest of the books in the stack; all written, funded, and printed by relic hunters and collectors. This book and those others fill in for what State's paid Professionals are NOT DOING with the 1860's artifact that they claim need legal protection from "looters". To this very day, almost no construction is halted because 1860's relics would be destroyed, but good people who take metal detectors into Wood and Field get called "thieves and looters" in the Press. Yet those slandered people have provided the greater portion of Civil War relic knowledge. Thus they have earned a place in this book's Dedication. At the hearing's end Professionals said they "got the message". The regulation was not approved.

[emike123]

I agree -- I do not advocate breaking the law and cannot imagine anyone on this forum does. 

Somebody dumped this Parrott shell off at the park.  That person may or may not have dug it, much less there but the point was to give it a good home obviously, otherwise he would've thrown it off a bridge.  I don't know how projectiles come out of the ground at Fort McAllister and maybe the soil is so forgiving they look like that but fresh dug ones I have seen sure don't.

Apparently the Ranger that was befuddled by Yogi Bear for years wasn't available so even less thoughtful ones decided this thing was unstable and had to be destroyed.  I love this quote,

This is a neat piece of our history.  I don't know of another one that has been found.

So why not blow it up!  Hopefully they don't blow up that Mac Mason marked Parrott shell shown next to it.

In short, if anyone researching these things from outside our small community ever stumbles upon this post or views the video of the museum basement I just posted, please give serious consideration before donating relics to a museum.  This holds especially true if they are historical ordnance.  Certainly take the time to consider your options -- if it was stable for 150 years it isn't going to jump up on its own and explode of its own volition today.  Talk to some folks who really know a thing or two about this stuff.

On this forum before it was re-launched, we were reached out to by an EOD tech who thought before he acted and he saved a nice warlog as a result that only had a Hotchkiss basecup embedded in it, not the explosive part.  I know Col. Biemick, Jack, Bart and Pete have saved some very historical pieces from being destroyed and perhaps others have too.  It would be great if this forum could play a part in saving future historical pieces from destruction by well-intentioned, yet ultimately ignorant, persons who would destroy the very history they are supposed to preserve.

[Lowcountry83]

Maybe I missed something, but I don't think they destroyed this shell. It shows them running electrolysis on it at the very end and talking about how shiny it will come out. I think the reporter just used a poor choice of words when he said "detonated" the shell as opposed to "disarmed" it.

Stephen

[pipedreamer65]

Looks like a water shell that has been out for a while.  Appears to still have mussel shells stuck to it.   

After doing a little searching, the video was lacking some details about who found it and what happened to it.  It has been preserved.



http://savannahnow.com/bryan-county-now/2011-01-20/unexploded-union-naval-shell-found-fort-mcallister

[emike123]

Yay.

I take back everything nasty I said about the ranger and re-direct it at the reporter.

[Garret]

Great story---glad there was a happy ending!

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To this end I invited an ATF friend of mine to join so when they are called in on an ordnance find they can get a quick I.D. to determine if it is even explosive loaded or not.  During my tenure I have seen evidence of a military team shaped charging a artillery bolt. Duh! experts?  I have asked Federal Park Rangers why they don't actively search their parks of responsibility to recover relics.  Their answer "Oh we have plenty"! Yikes.
John

[relicrunner]

I visited Ft McAllister last fall.....well worth the time. The visitor's center has a good display of artillery including several 15" balls. The fort suvived some 7 Union attacks from the water and only surrended when Sherman attacked from the land side in Dec 1864.