15' ball

[divedigger]

finally got this thing out of the bathtub

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Hey Digger, that is a beaut.  was it difficult to inert?
John

[joevann]

Fantastic!  I am very happy for you!  When will you be passing out the cigars?

[emike123]

Gorgeous 

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

that is awesome.

[CarlS]

Dave,

That's about as nice as they come.  Beautiful job on the cleaning.   And with an awesome provenance to boot.  I hope your floor is solid!

Picking that one up and putting it in the tank and carrying it into the house will keep you in good shape!

Is that a mold seam around the perimeter?  I haven't seen enough of them to know but I don't recall these big boys having much of a seam.  I did look in Harry's archive at the 15-inch cannon balls:
     http://www.relicman.com/artillery/zArchiveArt.aBall.P.15inch.htm
and do see one on the thin walled case shot shell.

[Garret]

Nice Dahlgren!

Was going to purchase one from Harry a few years back but shipping to my part of the world--$2,000. 

[divedigger]

John, it was easy to inert. After talking to Bigironman I was able to back the fuzes out and flush the powder with a water hose, it took a while. Joevann, everybody around here is sick of hearing about it, when they see me coming they go the other way! Yes Carl it does have a nice seam around it. I don't exactly pick it up and I hope the floor is solid too!! Thank you for looking and commenting guys. David

[alwion]

Very nice

[jonpatterson]

Definitely a great looker.

[pipedreamer65]

Superb!  They don't come much better than that.  Thanks for showing it.

[Dave the plumber]

     Dave,   isn't one of the fuzes the rare '62 long ' monitor' fuze ??      The shell looks real good, thanks for NOT calling me to help you get it in the house !!   What is the weight ??

[Garret]

Bell has it listed at 330 pounds.  Is it hard to move?  I see most people displaying it on the ground.  How hard do you think it would it be to lift and display on a sturdy shelf? 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

I have always been under the impression that the Naval Water Cap Fuse adapters used the standard Frankfort Arsenal paper time fuses which I believe are all the same size with different burn times.
    If this is true why are the fuse adapters used in the 15 inch shell different lengths?
Regards,
John

[Dave the plumber]

         John,     I'm pretty sure I have some of that answer.   The fuze body is longer because the wall of the shell is so thick. Maybe someone can post a picture of a frag of a 15 incher.  As far as if they had a special long length paper time fuze inside that adaptor, I do not know....... I've never burned a paper time fuze, but I hear they burn like a road flare. Maybe the long brass fuze body is there to direct the flame concentrated into the powder charge.
        Has anyone ever actually backed off the small inside watercap adaptor on a naval fuze and pulled out a standard paper time fuze ??  I always wondered if they were just packed with powder, or they had a paper time fuze....
   Maybe at Richmond this weekend we can get the boys together over a couple beers and light up a paper fuze - all in the name of research mind you !!