Bullet and Shell Civil War Projectiles Forum
General Category => News => Topic started by: Tex27 on September 29, 2015, 09:53:27 AM
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http://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article36895671.html
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Very cool and glad to hear they are in such great condition. They should be some of the best examples of Selma cannon out there. In addition to not being in salt water they haven't been subjected to the acid rain and bird poop that those displayed outdoors have endured.
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Carl et al,
The guns were all in great shape except for the chase section of the 7" tube which had been sticking straight up in the mud with that part of the tube periodically exposed to air over the years. That part of the tube is badly eroded and looks much like the surface of the tube I believe to be S-74 and now located at the Citadel.
Otherwise the 6.4" (VI.4IN) Brooke and the 9" Dahlgren (Ft. Pitt # 513) are in fine shape.
More to follow.
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Trying again to post a pic of the 6.4".
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The 6.4 and the 9" Dahlgren (on the right)
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Here is the 7". Some erosion forward of the trunnions.
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have they checked to see if there are any shells in them ??
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They are now at the Hunley Lab in Charleston for Conservation/preservation.
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I was looking in my book on CS Naval vessels and originally this ship was supposed to have 6 guns (a later edition of the book reduced it to four). Here is one of many online showing it at 5-6 guns:
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/csn/classes.txt
This post may well get me in a lot of trouble with some folks who have a dog in this hunt that I do not, but are the three guns recovered just the one side of the 160' long ship with the others up under the bluff and logs in the river?
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Mike et al,
Please forgive my delayed response to your query about the guns on the CSS Pee Dee. Just got back home from a few days in the hospital.
The three guns were all fitted as deck pivots with the 7" Brooke (S-46) up front, the 9" Dahlgren (Ft. Pitt #513) in center, and the 6.4" Brooke (S-53) as the aft Pivot. There were also two 24lb bronze howitzers. These had been captured by Wirt Adams from a yankee gunboat on the Yazoo River. Location of the howitzers is unknown, but still tantalizing.