load for a 32 pounder

[whiskeyjoe]

I have a 32lb. ball that a friend of mine found while scuba diving in the Niagara river just off shore from Fort Erie a number of years ago. I'm assuming it would be from the war of 1812 era. My question is, what amount of powder would a cannon of that caliber require? What was the standard load say in the British navy at that time for their 18,24 and 32 pounders?

 

[Bountyhunter]

According to Spencer Tucker in his book Arming the Fleet, a 32 pounder would have been a cannon eleven feet long and weighed 6100 pounds.

From Ordinance Instructions for the US Navy, maximum charges for heavy cannon 19-20 calibers was one half the weight of the ball, or 16 pounds. One source I have listed 18 pounds of cannon powder as the maximum for the 32 pound cannon. However the US Navy Department Bureau of Ordinance evolved cannon loads --in order to conserve powder--into three basic loads: distant, full, and reduced. For the 32 pdr: Charge distant was 10#-8oz, Full Charge for single shot was 8-0#, and Reduction for single shot was 6-0#.

32 pdr ball should be 5.5 inch.

18pdr-6#, 5#, 4#
24pdr-8#, 6#, 5#

Hope this gets ya started.

B

 

[sequoia]

This could be from a carronade. They were a short range weapon that fired a slow heavy ball that was devastating when it hit a wooden ship. Most of the damage was inflcted on crewmembers by flying wood splinters. They were also fearsome when loaded with grapeshot.

 

[sequoia]

Powder charges for carronades:

32 Pdr. Carronade 2.625 Lbs.
24 Pdr. Carronade 2 Lbs.
18 Pdr. Carronade 1.5 Lbs.

 

Powder charges for carronades:

32 Pdr. Carronade 2.625 Lbs.
24 Pdr. Carronade 2 Lbs.
18 Pdr. Carronade 1.5 Lbs.

Could you please provide us with the reference source for these loads?

CP

 

[HarborMaster]

Those seem to be awful light loads for a carronade. Carronades from the Carron Company were built heavy in the breech and could take quite a lot more than that as I recall

 

[Bountyhunter]

Tucker quotes National Archives, Record Group 45 E464, as 32pdr Carronade full charge at 2#-8oz, and second charge at 2-0#. Other series carronades are not mentioned in this section.

In a section on Range with Carronades,
32pdr--2#-10oz had range from 330-1087yds dep on elevation
24pdr--2-0#, 300-1050 yds
18pdr--1#-8oz, 270-1000 yds
12pdr--1-0#, 230-870 yds
first number being point blank and last number being 5 degrees of barrel elevation from level.

Charge is calculated to be one-twelfth the weight of the shot with one shell and one wad. The line of fire is from six to nine feet above the level of the water.

So the other post is reasonable.

 

[sequoia]

Here is a link to the page where I got the information. Carronades were a close range weapon fired almost "from pistol shot" to quote Lucky Jack.
The heavy slow moving ball tended to shatter whatever part of the ship it hit rather than making a neat hole like a long gun. Plus they needed only half the guncrew because they were only pointed rather than aimed due to the relartivly short range.
There is a passage in "The Letter of Marque" describing how a broadside of carronades firing grapeshot pretty much shreds a ships crew and rigging with something like 4,000 iron balls.

Link:http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/gen1.htm Link

 

[sequoia]

Here is another link on Carronades. Check out the picture of a 68pdr. that fires a KEG of 500 balls!

Carronades link

I know, I know I'm getting carried away, but I'm half way the Lucky Jack Aubrey series by Patrick O'Brian. I listen to them on tape while I'm commuting to and from work.