Archival Discoveries

The following are documents from Record Group 74, US National Archives, Washington DC, which contain information about the Dahlgren gun recently salvaged in the Pee Dee River in South Carolina.. The documents show that this gun, manufactured at Fort Pitt Foundry, PA in 1862, was shipped to Washington, DC, then to Fort Monroe, VA. It then became part of the battery of the SOUTHFIELD, a US Navy sidewheel steam gunboat.. That ship was sunk in action with the Confederate ram ALBERMARLE in 1864, after which the Confederates recovered the valuable gun for use in the CS Navy.

This is the US Navy’s record of manufacture for IX-inch Shell Guns. Important test results for the cannon’s metal are recorded here, namely tensile strength and density.

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Below are the pages from the Navy’s gun record book, which were maintained for the life of the weapon. They show that No. 513’s weight and other data the Navy considered important, including the fact that it had fired 66 rounds as of 1863. The remarks show that it was once located at Fort Monroe, VA, and also in SOUTHFIELD. Under remarks is the information “sunk on SOUTHFIELD April 1864.” We have added lines, arrows, and “513” in the margins of these documents to highlight the information.

Below is the “Ordnance Circular” dated April 1863, in which SOUTHFIELD’s Captain reported to the Bureau the details of ordnance onboard, including gun no. 513.

For more information about the recovery, videos, and photos: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article36910053.html

Also http://www.southstrandnews.com/article/20150929/GTT06/150929892/

Archival Discoveries

Army Museum, Warsaw, Poland

Malik-e-Maidan, 55-Ton Bronze Monster Cannon of India

Documents Re: IX Inch Dahlgren Shell Gun Registry No. 513

US Navy Ordnance and Ordnance Stores Inventory, 1822