Naval ordnance

En el Museo Naval de la Torre del Oro de Sevilla se ha localizado una pieza de artillería naval de retrocarga, similar a un cañón, que está erróneamente identificada y sin estudiar. Es un esmeril de braga o moschetto da braga probablemente de origen veneciano del siglo XVI, del cual no conocemos ningún otro ejemplar en los museos españoles. Ha estado sumergida en el mar mucho tiempo. Se realiza un estudio histórico de la artillería de la época, así como la descripción y análisis pormenorizado de este objeto único en España. Ante la falta de bibliografía específica, se ofrecen un método de medición y otro de pesado, basados en textos de la época. El análisis de la documentación histórica permite conocer cómo era el sistema para fundir las pelotas de esmeril, hechas de plomo y hierro, hasta ahora inédito, y establecer su densidad.

Grenades (typically hand thrown fragmentation bombs) can be found in the shipwreck archaeological assemblages of both VOC (the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or Dutch East India Company) ships and non-VOC ships from the age of sail during the 17th & 18th century. Grenade construction during this period of study is examined utilising various contemporary Seaman's Dictionary definitions. The range of hand thrown grenades is identified from historical sources/references and experimental archaeological research, with this range significantly increased through use of a grenade launcher. Grenade launchers from the 17th and 18th century are identified and discussed, completing with a comparative analysis between these grenade launchers and more modern 20th century versions. Experimental archaeological research examining the physical effects and potential wounding effects of a period appropriate grenade is discussed, as is the possibility of concussive effects (mTBI - Minor Traumatic Brain Injury) and psychological effects (Combat Stress and PTSD). Grenades can been found in the shipwreck archaeological assemblages of the VOC ships of the Batavia (1629), the Avondster (1659), the Hollandia (1743) and the Princess Maria (1686) and in the non-VOC naval shipwreck archaeological assemblages of ships such as the British Royal Navy's HMS Association (1707) and the French Navy's Machault (1760) as well as North American Atlantic coast shipwrecks of the Spanish Cabin (1715), San Jose (1733) and San Rafael (1733). A comparative analysis was performed using characteristics such as size (type) and weight between the VOC shipwreck grenades and the non-VOC shipwreck grenades, period comparable museum replica grenades and contemporary Seaman's Dictionary grenade details where appropriate. This study enabled six conclusions to be discerned regarding VOC shipwreck grenades. Firstly, they cannot really be attributed to cargo being atypical of VOC cargo and so can be attributed to the grenade complement issued to a VOC ship, that recovered 17th century VOC naval/navy grenades match the grenade types (dimensions and weight) seen in other nationality later navies and shipwrecks (supporting the assertion (Gilkerson 1993) that little changed in the physical form of the cast iron naval grenade during the golden age of sail in the 17th & 18th centuries, that there is a high degree of VOC naval grenade dimensional standardisation throughout the 17th century (e.g. the very near match between the 83.5 mm Batavia (1629) grenades and the 82mm Princess Maria (1686) grenades) which extends into the 18th century (e.g. the exact match between the 71 mm Princess Maria (1686) grenade and the 71 mm Hollandia (1743) grenade), that VOC naval grenades for the 3 inch (76.2 mm) diameter type have a real-world diametric range of 71mm-83.5mm, that 18th century VOC naval grenades (from the 1743 shipwrecked Hollandia) match a contemporary sea gunner's companion grenade size guide (Mountaine 1747), that there is a positive correlation in the VOC navy between the size of a ship and its number of guns with the grenade complement issued (the 18-gun 260-ton Vergulde Draeck (1656) being issued with 20 grenades and the 30-gun 600-ton Batavia (1629) being issued with 130 grenades) and the caveat that VOC naval/navy grenades recovered from VOC shipwrecks could be part of the combat equipment of the 33% of VOC army soldiers aboard a VOC ship on its outward bound voyage who were destined for overseas service. This study also contains critical evaluative elements regarding the grenade chapter within Gilkerson's seminal firearms and combustibles in the age of fighting sail book 'Boarders Away! Volume II'.

Since the 1970s, the Caribbean has been a hub for nautical archaeology, often focusing on European naval ordnance as evidence of early modern maritime occupation. The mid-nineteenth century ushered in a new military context with rapid American expansion, introducing contemporary innovations in American naval artillery. This study delves into the  significance of American naval ordnance in the late nineteenth-century Caribbean, with a focus on its potential for revealing new imperialism and evolving regional dynamics in the archaeological record. It analyses the late nineteenth-century naval operational context in the Caribbean, concentrating on USS Kearsarge and its guns’ history from 1862–94 and its loss on Roncador Cay. Primary sources provide insight into their evolution associated with the wreck site, with emphasis placed on Dahlgren shell guns as a potential identifying feature.

There are similarities in the basic design between da Vinci’s shipboard Hailshot cannon and the Mary Rose Hailshot ordnance: the rectangular nature of da Vinci’s shipboard Hailshot gun mirrors the rectangular nature of the Mary Rose Hailshot pieces. We can thus see Leonardo da Vinci’s concept of cannon fired Hailshot from a ship came to practical fruition within decades of his folio illustration in the form of the Mary Rose Hailshot ordnance.

This reviews Men of Iron, M.W. Flinn's 1962 analysis of Swalwell Ironworks and the Crowley organisation of which it formed part, in the light of new information and a different approach. Ambrose Crowley III (1658-1713) developed a major mercantile iron business, supplied by his factories on Tyneside. The fi rst major works, at Winlaton Mill, was started in the 1690s. Swalwell was set up by a separate company, but acquired by Crowley in 1707; he added a forge, Grand Warehouse, and workshops to the pre-existing slitting mill, and his son John (1689-1728) added steel furnaces and a foundry. Further workshop ranges were added until the mid-18th century. The works declined from the later 18th century under the Millington family; an increased emphasis on steel-making from the 1810s heralded conversion into a steelworks and specialist engineering works after buy-out by the fi nal manager for the Millingtons. This works in turn was rebuilt in the 1880s, using gas furnaces and producing alloy steels. The processes of growth and decline were longer and more complex than believed by Flinn, and less completely centred on the achievements of Sir Ambrose Crowley.

In the early years of WWII, the magnetic influenc-contact exploder Torpedo Mark 14 was found to be woefully deficient, such that the Chief of Naval Operations ordered the magnetic-influence component turned of by the end of 1943  Beginning in 1944, Dr. Ralph A. Alpher, consulting with Albert Einstein periodically, developed a new magnetic influence-contact torpedo that was used in late 1944 and early 1945 in air-to-surface torpedoes dropped by TBM Avenger bombers in the Pacific Theatre. They were highly effective in destruction of the the enemy's fleet.

This paper attempts to explore the type, maker and manufacturing time of an Armstrong gun in the collection of Shanghai History Museum. The paper finds that a very similar gun is on display in Taipei, and according to the markings on the Taipei gun and related archives the Shanghai History Museum gun can be determined as a BL (Breech Loading) gun but not a QF (Quick Firing) gun, possibly manufactured in 1886 and a product of Elswick Ordnance Company in England instead of Kiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai. As for its origin the possibility has been raised that it was from a Nanyang Fleet warship. The paper concludes by emphasizing its importance as an evidence of Shanghai history and the industrial and military history of late 19th century.

This monograph examines two late-17th to early-18th century cannon that originally came from the wreck of the British Postal Packet "Hanover", which was wrecked off Cornwall in December, 1763.  The cannons' journey to New Zealand and the final voyage of the Hanover are retraced, along with the contemporary and subsequent salvage of the wreck in 1997, and the author's study of the cannon from 2013-2014.

The Raby family were involved in the iron trade in the West Midlands by the late-17th century but it was in London, and latterly in the Weald of south-east England that the family become prominent. Edward Raby, ironmonger, became a gun-founder during the Seven Years' War providing the background for his son, Alexander, to pursue his career in iron working and coal mining.

This is the second paperby the author published in the book La Belle:  L'Épédition de 1684, by Jean Boudriot, published in Paris in 2000. Collection Archaeologique Navale Française, ISBN 2-903178-28-3. The book is a monograph of the ship excavated by the Texas Historical Commission in Matagorda Bay, Texas, in 1996-1997. This paper deals with the three bronze cannon discovered and excavated on la Belle, Robert Cavelier de La Salle's ship.

This thesis describes the construction of two models of La Belle, a light frigate constructed in France during the late seventeenth century. The archaeological remains of La Belle are important as a unique example of a little understood vessel type and as an informative example of several construction techniques that were in use in the French shipyards at the end of the seventeenth century.


Using data recorded during the excavation and conservation of the original ship's timbers, historical documents, and contemporary drawings and models as guides, various configurations of La Belle's structure were created to determine her probable appearance. Whenever possible, the original materials and construction techniques were closely approximated to determine their effect on the overall appearance of the ship. Many of the artifacts excavated from the original vessel were reproduced in scale and incorporated into the model to determine their influence on the layout of the ship's structure.


The resulting model provides not only a picture of a specific ship type, but also, a glimpse into the technologies that existed at the time La Belle was constructed. The vessel may have been small in comparison to other naval vessels of the 17th century, but her contributions to our knowledge of shipbuilding and ship design are immense.

Le prima sei fasi di scavo e documentazione del sito di San Paolo hanno messo in luce otto pezzi di artiglieria in bronzo. Sette sono petriere da braga a retrocarica, mentre uno è uno smeriglio in bronzo ad avancarica. Due petriere quasi identiche hanno un grosso calibro mentre le altre hanno un calibro più piccolo e appartengono alla tipologia del moschetto. Tutte e sette le petriere sono state fabbricate con due metalli. La volata in bronzo fuso e la braga di contenimento del mascolo in ferro battuto. Sfortunatamente, la maggior parte delle braghe era in avanzato stato di corrosione, e per questo motivo non sono state recuperate dal fondale. Solo il moschetto N. 08/2009, recuperato dal mare durante lo scavo del 2009, aveva la braga completa ancora collegata così come parte della forcella usata per fissare il pezzo sulla fiancata della nave.

Tijekom prvih šest faza istraživanja lokaliteta kod Pličine Sv. Pavao pronađeno je osam brončanih topova. Sedam ih ima sistem punjenja odostraga od kojih dva najveća topa pripadaju kategoriji pedrijera, a pet manjih kategoriji moschetto. Jedini top s punjenjem sprijeda pripada kategoriji smirilja. Svih sedam topova s punjenjem odostraga izrađeno je kombinacijom dvaju metala. Cijev je lijevana od bronce dok je zatvarač od željeza. Nažalost, svi zatvarači su pronađeni u uznapredovanom stupnju korozije te nisu izvađeni iz mora. Samo je moschetto 08/2009, izvađen tijekom istraživanja u 2009. godini, imao pričvršćen željezni zatvarač kao i vilicu pomoću koje je usađen u ogradu broda.