Classic Fond 5/ClassicFond05_nopass.iso/STRATEGI/CIVILWAR.RAR/DBDATA/NAVWEAP.ENG

Text File | 1995-07-04 | 6KB | 142 lines

~sNAVAL WEAPONS~

The Union and Confederate navies used an enormous variety of
guns.

~sSome Useful Technical Terms~
"Caliber" refers to the distance across the inside of the
barrel (the "bore"), and so the size of the bullet or shell.
Caliber size might range from .58 (i.e. 0.58 of an inch) for
a Minie ball, up to 15 (i.e. 15") for a large naval gun.~#

"Pounder" (pdr) denotes the weight of ammunition fired by
a gun. A 6 pdr was a small artillery piece, while a 12 pdr was
the most common. 18, 24 and 36 pdrs were all big guns. Even
so, they were dwarfed by the really big guns of the forts and
ships. These could fire 70, 100, 136 and (in the case of 15" guns)
330 pounds of shot and shell.~#

"Smoothbore" barrels are smooth inside.~#
"Rifled" barrels have spiral grooves inside. When fired, the
projectile is caught in the grooves so that it comes out of the
barrel spinning. This makes it go further and straighter.

~sGuns and Their Uses~
The largest was the huge 15" gun, mounted on some of the
monitors. It was the same caliber as those used on many
World War II battleships. Much smaller was the old 12 pdr
howitzer. This was portable enough to mount on the front
of a rowing boat, or to put on wheels and take ashore.

Like army guns, naval guns were either smoothbore or rifled.
The smoothbores were the 15", 11", 10", 9" and 8", together
with the 32 pdr, 24 pdr and 12 pdr howitzers. The 9" Dahlgren
was the most common. The rifles were the 150 pdr, 100 pdr,
60 pdr and 30 pdr Parrott guns. The South also used similar rifles,
made by Brooke.

Ranges varied; 1,000 yds might be reckoned for the smaller guns
and up to 1,700 yds for the larger, with rifles achieving about
10 per cent more for maximum ranges. In practice, however, most naval
battles were fought at very close quarters, within a few
hundred yards, and often at point-blank range.

~sRamming Aids~
Strange as it may seem now, a principal object of naval
tactics was to ram and hole enemy vessels. Thus, ships were
still being built with specially strengthened "ramming" bows,
some even having metal spikes fixed to them.

~sGuns against Armor~
The 1850s and 1860s saw the advent of the armored warship,
partly in response to urgent requests from sailors and their
captains for some way to "keep out the shell". At the 1853
Battle of Sinope, in the Crimean War, shells from the Russian
fleet had completely destroyed the Turkish fleet. The world's
navies, with their wooden warships, began to panic.~#

France led the way, building long gun barges covered with
four inches of protective iron plate. These long gun-platforms,
or "armored ships", proved instantly successful in the action at
Kinburn in 1855. So, in 1858, the French launched the formidable
"Gloire". This, the first ironclad, was a wooden-framed frigate
covered with plates of armor.~#

In 1860 the British went further, launching the "Warrior", made
entirely of steel. The "Warrior" (which still may be visited at
Portsmouth, England), inaugurated a new era. By 1862 there were
over 100 iron or ironclad warships in service or being built.~#

The 1862 battle in the Hampton Roads between the CSS "Merrimac /
Virginia" and the USS "Monitor" was a test of technologies. The "Merrimac"
was a standard wooden warship, stripped down and covered
with four inches of iron. The vessel had one gun in the bow,
one in the stern and four on each broadside. The "Monitor", by
contrast, marked a genuine advance. Covered with iron plates
eight inches thick, the Union warship lacked mast and sail, and
was short, flat and very maneuverable. Moreover, two 11"
smoothbores were mounted in a revolving armored turret.
Hampton Roads was the first battle between ironclad vessels,
and it also provided an interesting competition between
guns in fixed broadsides, and those set in a revolving turret.~#

Across the Atlantic, the British were testing a revolving turret,
and had already approved plans for the building of a multi-
turret ship. Now all other navies also had to think "turrets"
when planning new ships.

~sSome Ships and their Guns~
USS HARTFORD . . . Wooden steam sloop~#
16 x 9" Dahlgren smoothbore guns. Later, six more were
added, making 18 Dahlgrens. Also 2 x 30 pdr rifles.~#

USS SACASSUS (Class, numbering 27) . . . Wooden paddle-
steamer, shallow-draft~#
4 x 9" Dahlgrens and 2 x 100 pdr rifles. Usually 12 and 24
pdr howitzers were also carried, and some had 20 pdr rifles.~#

USS MONITOR . . . Single turret ironclad~#
2 x 11" smoothbores.~#

USS ONONDAGA . . . Double turret ocean-going ironclad~#
2 x 15" smoothbores. 2 x 150 pdr Parrott rifles.~#

USS KEOKUK . . . Double turret ironclad~#
2 x 11" smoothbores.~#

USS CONESTOGA . . . River gunboat~#
4 x 32 pdr.  1 x 12 pdr.~#

USS LEXINGTON . . . River gunboat~#
2 x 32 pdr.  4 x 8".~#

USS TYLER . . . River gunboat~#
1 x 32 pdr.  6 x 8".~#

USS CRICKET . . . River gunboat~#
6 x 12 pdr.~#

USS BENTON . . . River gunboat~#
2 x 9" Dahlgrens.  7 x 42 pdr rifles.  7 x 32 pdrs.~#

USS NEW IRONSIDES . . . Broadside ironclad~#
7 x 11" smoothbores and 1 x 8" rifle on each broadside.~#

CSS MANASSAS . . . Ironclad ram, privately built~#
Ram bow.  1 x 32 pdr.~#

CSS VIRGINIA / MERRIMAC  Ironclad ram~#
2-foot long, cast-iron wedge ram.
2 x 7" Brooke rifles, one each in bow and stern.
1 x 6.4" and 3 x 9" smoothbores on each broadside.~#

CSS ATLANTA . . . Ironclad ram~#
The ram comprised a percussion torpedo attached to
the end of a long wooden pole.~#
2 x 7" and 2 x 6.4" Brooke rifles.~#

CSS GENERAL PRICE . . . River ram~#
Fast paddle-steamer with strengthened bows and hull.
No guns.
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