Cannon balls

M ELEY · 14th September 2013, 06:59 AM

I must have missed this one from awhile back. Fascinating information on the construction of those early naval cannon balls. Who would have thought? Archeaology is so important to the world of weapons collecting, as it sheds light on many of the unknown lost facts. I'm currently reading a spectacular book on shipwrecks off the Scottish coast and the underwater archeaological work being done on them. Among other interesting tidbits- many of the Spanish and Portuguese guns of the 16th century had extremely crooked bores, resulting in them being prone to explode in battle. The problems had been hinted at in old texts, but it took one of these wrecks to supply direct proof. Another interesting find was an English war ship whose bow was wrapped in tarred horse hide; an experimental method to deter the dreaded terido marine worm (It didn't stop the little buggers!). Anyway, thanks to Andi for posting this great link.

14th September 2013, 06:59 AM	#10
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,184	I must have missed this one from awhile back. Fascinating information on the construction of those early naval cannon balls. Who would have thought? Archeaology is so important to the world of weapons collecting, as it sheds light on many of the unknown lost facts. I'm currently reading a spectacular book on shipwrecks off the Scottish coast and the underwater archeaological work being done on them. Among other interesting tidbits- many of the Spanish and Portuguese guns of the 16th century had extremely crooked bores, resulting in them being prone to explode in battle. The problems had been hinted at in old texts, but it took one of these wrecks to supply direct proof. Another interesting find was an English war ship whose bow was wrapped in tarred horse hide; an experimental method to deter the dreaded terido marine worm (It didn't stop the little buggers!). Anyway, thanks to Andi for posting this great link.