CS Naval Carriage

[CarlS]

Hello,

Relicrunner had an image in his collection of a CS naval cannon on carriage and apparently on a ship.  He noticed a clamping device on the carriage which didn't have an apparent use.  Note in the full image below the device on the right side of the cannon below the rope.  I've also included a close-up.  Anyone have any idea what was the function of this clamp?

Full image:


Closeup of clamp:

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

yes, that is the compressor.the compressor were use to hold the carriage in place and to add friction between the carriage and slide during recoil. There would be two of these, one to each side.

[CarlS]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I can't tell from the image due to the pulley hook being in the way but what is it compressing the top beam onto?  The bottom part of the clamp looks empty.  Can you point me to an image that has a better view?

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

Glad i could help. The part that the compressor is on it part of the carriage. now look at the close up picture on you will see that a portion of the compressor hooks under the slide. so when the compressor is tightened it is pulling down on the carriage and up on the slide.

[Dave the plumber]

          I have one of the compressor screws almost exactly identical to the one pictured.
If anyone needs one for their carriage..........  let me know !!

       I wonder what sighting device that is sitting on the breech and cascabel of the cannon.  I also have not seen that type of vent cover over the vent before.

[CarlS]

Selma Brooke Gunner:  Thanks. I guess I'm missing the obvious as I don't see what might be called he slide.  But at least I now understand it's function.

Anyone know what size gun this is? I am guessing it to be a rifled and banded 8-inch but am not sure. I looked in Ripely's book but didn't see an exact match.  The shell next to it is most likely to be a Read.

Dave: I think the vent cover is similar to some they have on display in the Cairo museum.  It covers one of the hammer primers.  I am guessing the sight attached to the breach slides up to be sighted onto the blade sight midway up the barrel and is kept in position with the thumb screw.

[Selma Hunter]

Gentlemen -

Selma Brooke Gunner is on top of this one.

To help Carl & Dave better visualize how the friction brake works I've included a photo of the one on S-111 at the museum in Columbus.

Also, by design most of the carriages were built with an incline in the rails of the carriage to incorporate gravity in the braking process.

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

Thanks Bill.
   The slide is what the carriage rides on. In the case of the picture of S-111 it is a pivot. The set up that Bill has pictured there is what the corner pivots of the CSS Jackson were like. A slide was simular to a pivot except that it was fixed and did not move except to to allow training of the gun, which is small movements of the piece to the left or right (broadside mounted guns are examples) to aim the piece on the target.

[CarlS]

Excellent info!  Thanks.  Amazing the knowledge spread amongst the people here.

Anyone know or can guess on the size?

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Carl,
My guess is if that carriage is made of  6 inch stock then that shell should be a 6.4 inch caliber.
Regards,
John

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

with the flared muzzle and the band that are on it I will have to say that is a rifled and banded 32pdr. It most likely started life as a naval smoothbore and was rifled and banded during the war. Now that being said, there is no way to be 100% sure with just this picture to go on but I do believe that it is a rifle and banded 32pdr.

[CarlS]

Thanks.  That had been my initial guess I gave to Relicrunner but I kept looking at the shell and he thought it looked bigger as well so I wasn't sure.  It just looks too big to me to be a 6.4-inch but perhaps it is.  Or maybe it's to a gun  we can't see in the image.

[CarlS]

While dissecting the picture I noticed the multifunction cascabel.  In addition to it being a protrusion for a rope to lift with, it also has a notch for a recoil rope (there is probably a more correct term that I don't know).  It is made with a notched body that has a fill piece held in place with a pin.  Does anyone know if it's made this way or was the original 32-lber smoothbore's cascabel modified when the rifled and banded it?

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

The area that holds the rope is called a breeching block and it holds the breeching rope. As for it they were modified or not I am not sure, yet, but I will do some digging on that for you.

[Dave the plumber]

        Gordon,     since you seem to be the ' go to man' on naval guns and carriages, I have a question.          Do you think the line or rope coiled on the breech goes to a cannon lock ??  Do you know where they were mounted on the gun ??  I looked closely, and I see the rope end without a typical pull handle for firing the lock. Maybe they did not have a wood pull handle. I have a few cannon locks, but none of them have a rope or handle....
          Also, anybody know how that breech sight operates or have ever seen one before ??