A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
| Ridgeway Civil War Research Center,
A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War |
| Civil War Artillery | |
| by Harry Ridgeway |
| Rifled artillery projectile, Parrott design, Federal manufacture, bursting shell, high band brass sabot, Parrott 300 pounder rifle, 10in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following development of Parrott's patent. The sabot, referred to as "type II", utilized a thin wide brass band which was softer and more flexible than wrought iron, secured to the base with rabbets. However performance was poor, the thin soft brass sabot either failed to take the rifling or had a tendency to separate on firing, resulting in shards of brass flying into the backs of the forward infantry. However for large caliber guns, fired from ships or forts, flying sabots was less of a problem and this pattern of sabot became the primary convention for siege guns. Bottom is plugged with a rivet protruding from the bottom. The shell was cast with an open hole in the base, through which a rod was placed to hold the core during casting. After casting the rod was removed, the rod was removed and replaced with a drive in plug, this while the casting was still hot. On cooling the hole would shrink thus securing the bottom plug. This is the largest Parrott shell made, 300 pounder Parrott. Fuze employed was Parrott large time fuze, (Jones pg. tbd). Shell measures: diameter 9.9in., length 22.5in., weight 250lbs. approx. with sabot. Research Center: Artillery4781-Parrott, Ref: Bell Heavy Ordnance, pg. 318.    Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery4781-Parrott.html. |
| A1278...Rifled artillery projectile, Parrott design, Federal manufacture, bursting shell, high band brass sabot, Parrott 300 pounder rifle, 10in.
Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following development of Parrott's patent. The sabot, referred to as "type II", utilized a thin wide brass band which was softer and more flexible than wrought iron, secured to the base with rabbets. However performance was poor, the thin soft brass sabot either failed to take the rifling or had a tendency to separate on firing, resulting in shards of brass flying into the backs of the forward infantry. However for large caliber guns, fired from ships or forts, flying sabots was less of a problem and this pattern of sabot became the primary convention for siege guns. Bottom is plugged with a rivet protruding from the bottom. The shell was cast with an open hole in the base, through which a rod was placed to hold the core during casting. After casting the rod was removed, the rod was removed and replaced with a drive in plug, this while the casting was still hot. On cooling the hole would shrink thus securing the bottom plug. This is the largest Parrott shell made, 300 pounder Parrott. Fuze employed was Parrott large time fuze, (Jones pg. tbd). Shell measures: diameter 9.9in., length 22.5in., weight 250lbs. approx. with sabot. High band sabot is not fired. Threaded fuze is missing. Metal is solid, crack on side is from freezing, projectile set outside in the north, filled with water, froze and cracked, it is stable. Projectile is disarmed, open fuze hole exposes the empty interior. Recovered: shell was used as a war trophy in a public building in Boston Massachusetts, until de-accessioned, however, these 10in. projectiles were used in the siege of Charleston South Carolina. Ref: Bell Heavy Ordnance, pg. 318. |
| Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War. Artillery Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html.     Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html. |
| Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway, Civil War artillery, Relicman sales catalog. Click here: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html.     Artillery for sale: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html. |