Cannonballs

[Xtramad]

I've got two cannonballs which I'd like some information on.
One is two inches in diameter and has a 0.81 hole straight through it. What was the purpose of the hole? Isn't two inches a bit small for a cannon?
I have another one that has the number 12 cast into its side, it too has a hole through it, though this hole is tapered. I presume it is for a 12 pound cannon as its weight would be about twelve pounds if it wasn't for the hole.

Two inch cannonball.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Welllll, the obvious answer might be that it is a regulator ball for a steam engine or some type of weight/counterweight and not a cannon ball at all. If the hole didn't go all the way through I would say it was the for the explosive charge and fuse.

Contact David Keith at
http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com/

He is THE EXPERT on metallic objects related to the Civil War.

 

[Rancocas]

I agree, they don't really sound like cannon balls to me, not with those holes in them. An exploding shell would generally be hollow, with a small fuse hole.
Anyway, as for the 2 incher: a one pounder swivel gun has a bore of about 1.9 inch. A one and a half pounder swivel gun has a bore of about 2.2 inch. A 12 pounder has a bore of about 4.6 inch. (this info is from the 2002 Dixie Gun Works catalog)

 

[musketman]

Xtramad:
I posted some pictures of various sizes of Civil War cannon balls showing holes in them...

As you can see, the holes for the fuses are crude at best, your picture of the ball with the hole is precise and symmetrical...

I suspect that it is not a form of artillery shell...

12 Pound Confederate Wood Plug

6 Pound solid shot dug on private land with owner's permission near Fort Blakely, Alabama. The fuse either blew or it was never activated.

Nice example of 24 pound Confederate wood plug ball.

 

[Xtramad]

quote:Originally posted by Stumpkiller:
Welllll, the obvious answer might be that it is a regulator ball for a steam engine or some type of weight/counterweight and not a cannon ball at all. If the hole didn't go all the way through I would say it was the for the explosive charge and fuse.

Contact David Keith at
http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com/

He is THE EXPERT on metallic objects related to the Civil War. The small ball might very well be a regulator ball, I never thought of that. But the big ball weighs over 4kg's. I've heard that some balls were chained together and shot in pairs to cut rigging and masts on sailships. By the way, these are found in Norway and are therefor either Norwegian, swedish or danish.
Another possibility is that it has been a weight for a fishing trawl (the net is dragged along the bottom) but that does not explain the number twelve on the ball.

 

[musketman]

The "12" could have been a lot of things, we may never find out...

Lot Number, no, too modern way of thinking?

ISO 12 (8'991 revisions ago)

That's just silly...

The ball could have been lotted for the #12 cannon in a battery of guns...

The 12th. Artillery Division perhaps...

It could be a stage prop number for a movie about pirates...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Believe me. A 600 ton steam ship with two 16 foot screws would use governor weights on the regulator that would weigh much more than 12 pounds. The Titanic, after all, was running on steam engines. The tapered hole would also prevent centrifigal force from sliding them down the shafts.

Here's a representation, but they only describe the balls as "heavy."

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/steam/governor.html

 

[Zonie]

Speaking of balls, I was told the expression
"Going Balls Out" came directly from the position of the governer balls on a steam tractor when the farmer had it set wide open for maximum speed.

Could be true.