Aiming a Dahlgren: The Gunnery Artifacts of USS Monitor and USS Cumberland
Dahlgren Artifacts on display at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. The front sight and cover are at left. The breech site and cover are in the center of the photo. The hammer is at the top left, and a shell fuse is near the description.
The superlative USS Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia includes a small display case with items related to the operation of Monitor’s 11-Inch Dahlgren cannons. Even reading the label in the case I had a hard time visualizing how all of these components were used together. Even understanding which was meant to be the breech sight and which was the front sight was a bit unclear to me.
The Library of Congress photo showing a 9-Inch Dahlgren aboard the gunboat USS Hunchback helped make sense of the contents. Further photos include detail photos from the USS Monitor exhibit, views of the top of the 9-Inch Dahlgren of USS Southfield/CSS Peedee and the 11-Inch Dahlgren of USS Keokuk, the damage inflicted upon the 9-Inch Dahlgren of CSS Virginia, the rammer and bore brush from USS Monitor, and 9-Inch Dahlgren artifacts from USS Cumberland on display at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.
Finally, may I recommend two videos: Drachinifel’s video on USS Monitor is well worth watching. The video includes an close look at some of these same artifacts from Monitor’s other Dahlgren. For this segement of the video, begin watching at about 1:34.
Also well worth watching is a video on the operation of the Dahlgren boat howitzer posted by Historic Forrest: 1850’s Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Firing and Barrel Shift Exercise.
9-inch Dahlgren on the gunboat USS Hunchback (a converted ferry). Library of Congress Photo: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.80234/
Detail from the photo above. The front sight (with a small vertical blade that appears to be missing on Monitor’s front sight) can be seen mounted on the block above the trunnions. The rear sight can be seen mounted on the block in front of the elevating screw.
Front sight for USS Monitor’s 11-Inch Gun No. 27 at the USS Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum at Newport News, Virginia
Rear sight for USS Monitor’s 11-Inch Gun No. 27. Note the graduations on the sight - presumably to adjust the range in yards. The sight was mounted to a brass piece which fit over the mounting block. (This mounting piece from Monitor’s other Dahlgren may be seen in Drachinifel’s video on USS Monitor.) Also in this photo is the hammer - note how the hammer attaches in the USS Hunchback photo. The fuse would be for an 11-Inch shell.
9-Inch Dahlgren which belonged to USS Southfield and later CSS Peedee is displayed in Florence, South Carolina. Note the mounting point for the rear sight, the hammer, and the front sight. Two holes for the front sight to be screwed into the mounting block can be seen. More photos of the guns of CSS Peedee.
Similar view of USS Keokuk’s 11-Inch Dahlgren as displayed at White Point Garden in Charleston, South Carolina. This Dahlgren is likely very similar to the Dahlgrens of USS Monitor. Again note the two screw holes in the front mounting block. More photos of USS Keokuk’s 11-Inch Dahlgren.
The importance of the mounting blocks for the sights and hammer makes the damage inflicted upon this 9-Inch Dahlgren by the US Navy sailors attempting to render it unusable before they abandoned the Gosport Navy Yard in April of 1861. The cascabel was also broken off rendering the cannon unable to use the elevating screw and likely making using a breeching rope difficult. This Dahlgren was subsequently used as part of the armament of CSS Virginia and was further damaged when a shot from USS Cumberland struck its muzzle.
Returning to the USS Hunchback photo, you can see the roller handspike upon the deck near the forward wheel of the Marsilly carriage. The Marsilly carriage had only two trucks (wheels). The rear of the carriage had skids to absorb recoil through the friction of the skids. Running the gun out necessitated the use of the roller handspike. Also visible on the deck are the rammer, the sponge used to extinguish any remaining embers after the cannon discharged, and 9-Inch shot.
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, Virginia displays artifacts from USS Cumberland. Here you can see a gun truck (wheel) from one of Cumberland’s Marsilly carriages and the head of a roller handspike.
A 9-Inch Dahlgren sight cover, carriage bolt, and gun vent cover - all recovered from USS Cumberland and displayed at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.
9-Inch Shell and Sabot for a 9-Inch Shell from USS Cumberland on display at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.
Rammer head and bore brush and worm on display at the USS Monitor Center
Finally to round out the Dahlgren post - a Nine Inch Cannonball Ring Gauge on display at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum
