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Author Topic: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;  (Read 33476 times)

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« on: October 17, 2012, 12:32:45 PM »
To All Interested,
      In view of the recent topic reporting the use of this time honored time fuse adapter I would like to present a medley of the U.s. Naval water Cap time fuse adapter. Said to be invented by Cyrus Alger, although no patent has turned up, it was also copied by the C. S.  without head stamps like the U.S. version.
     The letter R  indicates the fuse has been reworked  with fresh time fuse and the cap filled with fresh pistol powder with the top amount moistened with spirits to form a paste which sets firm.  This outer layer of powder provides a wider area to catch the ignition flame from the propellant charge.    Enjoy.
All the Best,
John

« Last Edit: October 17, 2012, 01:14:39 PM by John D. Bartleson Jr. »

Dave the plumber

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2012, 05:54:46 PM »
      nice job John !!      Thanks !!

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2012, 08:08:09 PM »
Thanks David, my pleasure.
John

mccaul

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2012, 07:17:15 AM »
Excellent drawings!

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2012, 07:47:43 AM »
Thank you Ed, you are most kind.
Best Regards,
John

Selma Hunter

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2012, 07:49:09 AM »
Bart -

Great work!

Thanks for your contribution to our knowledge.

Bill

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2012, 09:57:09 AM »
Thanks Cuz, but its nothing new to us, might help the younger members. It is just a different approach to illustrating the shells and fuzes from the normal line drawings found in our pubs.
Regards,
John

Lowcountry83

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2012, 01:48:03 PM »
John,
As a younger member, and as a relatively new collector of just over 2 years, I can say your drawings absolutely help me out. You really bring these shells and fuses to life and give me a better understanding and appreciation of them. Thanks for taking the time to do all of these and sharing them with everyone else.

Stephen

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2012, 05:12:02 PM »
Dear Stephen,
    Your kind comments make it worthwhile,  besides I enjoy it.  My thanks really go to members like eMike, Selma Hunter  and Dave the Plumber and many others  for kindly taking photos of the real item  and sharing them with me.
      It is difficult at times to obtain the exact real life colors and shades but am working at it.
Best Regards,
John

Dave the plumber

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2012, 08:28:21 PM »
         John and all;         it has always been assumed that naval fuzes with no markings are CS manufactured. Or they might have been captured from a U.S. naval yard  and had not been inspected and stamped yet. Then CS used.
   But, last year I dug a 10 inch round ball in an impact area of US shells shot at a CS land battery with an unmarked naval fuze in it. It was definately a US shell fired into this swamp, and there were no CS 10inch smoothbores for 10 miles from this point, nor any CS shells in the swamp. This shell and fuze are definately US, but unmarked.
     Now with that said, there are definately crude looking unmarked CS made naval watercap fuzes out there. One way to tell is  the flange on the top is much thinner than the US manufactured ones, and the diameter is typically a little bigger of the top flange. They might have made a more refined and better finished fuze exactly copied from the US ones and left them unmarked too, maybe someone has an example.             David

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2012, 08:33:22 AM »
Dear DEavid,
     One such fuse is shown on pages 19 and 20 of Jones book.  If you have one why not post us a photo?
Perhaps another unsolved mystery of the ACW.
    I have noted that it is a general practicet of collectors and authors to continue to state that if it isn't Federal or Britisn then it has to be C.S.  Who really knows for sure?
John

Dave the plumber

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2012, 07:22:31 AM »
               John,          the CS fuzes on page 19 and 20 are the long pattern type which supposedly come from the river at Selma.  They are like the US ones in flange thickness and diameter.
      I went through my fuzes in my display, and I do not have one of the crude ones I spoke about that is loose.  I have a few in balls, but I dare not try to back them out as I would be leary of snapping off the top flange and destroying it..
     There are some around, maybe someone else has one and can post a picture. Sorry I can't oblige .

Jim J.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2012, 05:54:37 PM »
John B., and others,
   First off, I would like to thank all of you for a very information forum.  I am a long time lurker, and have used the forum to glean information on numerous shell and fuses.  It is now time to return the favor, and add to the general knowledge.
   John B., your drawings really do help for explaning the inner workings of shells and fuses to new EOD personnel.  You have a number of very good renderings of the US Naval Water Cap Fuse, but none of them show the lead sealing cap with the time stamp.  May I ask why?

This is one of many that were recovered from the wreck of the USS Westfield, a Union Gunboat that ran aground in Galveston Bay.  The Captain and some twelve other men lost their lives, when the vessel blew up prematurely.  The intent had been to destroy the ship, to prevent capture by the Confederates.  We have the lead seals for 5, 10 & 15 seconds.  If I remember correctly, a 15 seconds flight time for a IX Dahlgren shell was about 3,300 yards.
   Another detail that I noticed, was that you marked all of your Water Cap Fuses with the letters "ORD D".  I understand the ORD, but why the second "D".  We have some 80 of these fuses from the USS Westfield, with ~ 25% having the second "D".  Our date range is from 1859 through 1862 (the ship sank 1/1/63).  We have a small number of fuses marked with the second "R", for reloaded - meaning the paper time fuse.
I look forward to reading your comments.
Jim J.

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2012, 07:23:45 PM »
Hello Jim,
    Many thanks for your comments, questions and post of such a beautiful specimen.
Of all the water cap fuses I have collected (images only) only one had the lead protective seal over the water cap and it is shown at left in the middle three fuses.
Every Naval Water Cap fuse I have received or seen are stamped "ORD  D"  presumably meaning Ordnance Department (anchor meaning navy).
I would love to have some digital images of some of your fuses/fuzes posed as you see some of my samples.
   The "R"  reworked fuse adapters had not only a fresh paper time fuse installed but also had the pistol powder inside the water cap proper removed and replaced with fresh powder and resealed. The images I have were taken of fuses found during the clean up of a Navy Yard in California.  Large quanities of the R and double R water caps and the small Schenkl fuzes were discoveredd furing the base clean up at water's edge.
Regards,
John

John D. Bartleson Jr.

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Re: The U. S. Naval Water Cap Fuse;
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2012, 07:40:59 PM »
Dear Jim,
      After reading your comments about the lack of the second "D" on some of your water cap fuses I looked at all my images again and I do have two that I overlooked.  Now I do have a C.S. with the lead seal and stamp but this post was about the U.S. Water Cap fuses.
      I believe separate stamp dies were used to mark the fuse heads.  "ORD"   "D"   and the anchor.  I say this because if you look at several fuses the stamps are not always in the same place.  Look at the anchor on the 1859 fuse in the last image. Normally it is stamped near the wrench slot at right.
       Perhaps the person appplying the stamps just left the "D" off.
Thanks for bringing the absence of the "D" on some.
Regards,
John
« Last Edit: October 22, 2012, 07:49:17 PM by John D. Bartleson Jr. »