Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

kronckew · 31st December 2007, 06:57 AM

i'm more inclined to the prisoner theory, the chain looks a bit light for a 6" projectile, and a naval projectile would not be hollow & chained, an exploding projectile would not have a chain. what is the weight? a prisoners ball would be heavy enough to be a burden, a grenade would be light enough to throw far enough away to keep from killing the thrower, 6in. seems a bit big for a grenade. cannon projectiles would be heavier, especially the chains,

mortar projectiles of the age had loops for securing lifting gear, but round shot, even the large ones did not. hollow cannon shot intended to be filled with gunpowder and fused were generally provided with a softer metal plug hammered into the hole without threads, like a cork. note the chain & bar shot, the ball sections are cast in halves that interlock & fly apart after firing, those along with the others were particularly useful for cutting rigging and masts/spars, a tactic the french preferred, while the brits preferred slugging it out with roundshot to the hull.

i have found references to the use of grenades being essentially abandoned after 1750 and not back in general use until 1904 as the tactics of the period did not favor their use. it also stated the grenade max weight of the time was about 2 lbs, or just under a kilo...also found some early ww1 french grenades where the fuse was in a wooden plug pushed into the grenade, and ref. to an early attempt at a 'safety' fuse where the friction fuse was ignited by pulling a string out of the fuse, the string was attached to the throwers wrist so that it was pulled when the bomblette was thrown. a note said this was 'unpopular'

generals complained about the added cost when it was decided to thread the fuse into the shell body as many would pull loose when thrown, resulting in no BOOM at the terminal end. i'da been more concerned if it did not pull out but ignited and remained dangling from the cord from my wrist. even if i did pull out, a dangling lit fuse hanging from your appendages is not healthy. another note stated that casualties amongst grenadiers appeareed to be higher. . i wonder why.

31st December 2007, 06:57 AM	#5
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	i'm more inclined to the prisoner theory, the chain looks a bit light for a 6" projectile, and a naval projectile would not be hollow & chained, an exploding projectile would not have a chain. what is the weight? a prisoners ball would be heavy enough to be a burden, a grenade would be light enough to throw far enough away to keep from killing the thrower, 6in. seems a bit big for a grenade. cannon projectiles would be heavier, especially the chains, mortar projectiles of the age had loops for securing lifting gear, but round shot, even the large ones did not. hollow cannon shot intended to be filled with gunpowder and fused were generally provided with a softer metal plug hammered into the hole without threads, like a cork. note the chain & bar shot, the ball sections are cast in halves that interlock & fly apart after firing, those along with the others were particularly useful for cutting rigging and masts/spars, a tactic the french preferred, while the brits preferred slugging it out with roundshot to the hull. i have found references to the use of grenades being essentially abandoned after 1750 and not back in general use until 1904 as the tactics of the period did not favor their use. it also stated the grenade max weight of the time was about 2 lbs, or just under a kilo...also found some early ww1 french grenades where the fuse was in a wooden plug pushed into the grenade, and ref. to an early attempt at a 'safety' fuse where the friction fuse was ignited by pulling a string out of the fuse, the string was attached to the throwers wrist so that it was pulled when the bomblette was thrown. a note said this was 'unpopular' generals complained about the added cost when it was decided to thread the fuse into the shell body as many would pull loose when thrown, resulting in no BOOM at the terminal end. i'da been more concerned if it did not pull out but ignited and remained dangling from the cord from my wrist. even if i did pull out, a dangling lit fuse hanging from your appendages is not healthy. another note stated that casualties amongst grenadiers appeareed to be higher. . i wonder why. Last edited by kronckew; 31st December 2007 at 07:54 AM.