US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzers at Manassas National Battlefield
Two US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzers, Heavy, are displayed at Manassas National Battlefield Park. The two howitzers are:
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 45 manufactured by the Washington Navy Yard in 1856. Weight as manufactured was 757 pounds. Served aboard USS Lancaster.
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy. Unknown. Nearly all markings have been polished off this howitzer, so nothing can be known of its place of manufacture, weight, or service.
US Navy 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun Number 26 at NSWC Dahlgren
A US Navy 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun of 6,500 Pounds is displayed near Gate A at NSWC Dahlgren Division. These photos were taken by Haze Grey History in 2023. Many thanks for the permission to post them! The shell gun was cast by Fort Pitt Foundry in 1864. It is registry number 26 and weighed at manufacture 6,455 pounds. Bureau of Ordnance records show that it was one of ten guns of this type mounted aboard the cruiser USS Madawaska in July of 1866 (registry Numbers 26-35).
The cut down Dahlgrens of Lee Hall
Two US Navy Dahlgren guns which were both eventually transferred to “Yards and Docks” are seen at Lee Hall in Newport News, Virginia. Photographs are by Haze Grey History - many thanks for the permission to use them! As is visible in the photos, a large portion of the chase of both guns has been removed. They are displayed beside a portable navy boiler.
The two guns are an 9-Inch Dahlgren cast in 1859 and a 8-Inch Bureau of Ordnance Shell Gun cast in 1867.
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer at the Mariners’ Museum
A US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, is displayed at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. It is mounted on a reproduction boat carriage. It may be registry number 386 which served upon USS Clematis in the Civil War and the monitor USS Manhattan in the 1870s and 1880s.
12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, of USS Monongahela in New Haven, Connecticut
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 128 is one of four of the type displayed around a monument in New Haven, Connecticut.
Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for taking and sharing these photos!
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 128 was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1862. As manufactured it weighed 750 pounds.
12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, at the National Museum of the Marine Corps
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. It was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1864. It is registry number 19, and as manufactured it weighs 305 pounds.
Number 19 is displayed on a landing carriage, and is part of an exhibit on Marine landing parties in the 19th Century.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 451 of USS Wabash and USS Worcester
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 451 is seen at the National Civil War Naval Museum. Number 451 was manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862. In July of 1862 USS Wabash exchanged her spar deck battery of fourteen 8-Inch shell guns of 63cwt for a like number of 9-Inch Dahlgrens (Numbers 444 to 453 and 602-605). This brought her total battery to a total of forty-two 9-Inch Dahglrens and two 10-Inch Dahglrens (one of which would later be replaced by a 150-Pounder Parrott). Following the war, Number 451 was removed from Wabash. In December of 1871 it was mounted on USS Worcester upon which it served until 1877 when it was removed at Norfolk following Worcester's decommissioning.
11-Inch Dahlgren in Miraflores, Peru
Many thanks to Rob from the YouTube Channel Firearms Addict for sharing these photos!
An 11-Inch Dahlgren may be seen in Miraflores, Peru. It was one of several Dahlgrens bought by Peru in the years after the American Civil War. The Dahlgren’s chase was intentionally burst by the Chilean Army after they captured the piece during the War of the Pacific in 1881. In 2009, the long forgotten Dahlgren was rediscovered during the construction of a building. The Peruvian Navy restored the Dahlgren and replaced destroyed portion o the chase.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 887 of USS Enterprise
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 887 is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was cast at Cyrus Alger and Company in 1864. As manufactured it weighed 9,329 pounds. It served aboard USS Tennessee and USS Enterprise.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 852 of USS Minnesota
One of five US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgrens on display at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia is Number 852. Records show that it served aboard the frigate USS Minnesota from at least 1875.
The Rifled Boat Howitzers of Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Two US Navy 12-Pounder (3.4-Inch) Rifled Dahlgren Boat Howitzers are displayed near the 4th Street Entrance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard: Numbers 314 and 403. Two other rifled boat howitzers are nearby: Numbers 249 and 298.
White Point Garden on New Years Day
White Point Garden (a.k.a. “The Battery”) in Charleston, South Carolina has a remarkable collection of heavy Civil War artillery. The city recently completed a multi-year construction project - giving an unfettered view of the guns for the first time in two years. I photographed the park on the morning of New Years Day, 2026.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 34 of USS Wabash
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 34 is one of five 9-Inch Dahlgrens displayed at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia. It was cast at Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia in 1855. Records indicate that it served aboard USS Wabash.
9-Inch Dahlgren Number 45 of USS Wabash at the National Civil War Naval Museum
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 45 was cast at Tredegar Foundry in 1855. Among the earliest surviving Dahlgrens, it has two closely placed hammer mounting blocks which are oriented to a single vent. The research of Olmstead, Stark, and Tucker show that it was carried aboard the steam frigate USS Wabash.
8-Inch Rifle Number 50 of USS Lancaster
US Navy 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle Number 50 of USS Lancaster at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is one of four 8-Inch Rifles which were carried aboard USS Lancaster in the 1880s which are displayed at the stadium. Previously these 8-Inch MLR were displayed beside the aircraft carrier Yorktown. Before that they were at the Charleston Navy Yard.
8-Inch Number 48 of USS Lancaster
US Navy 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle Number 45 of USS Lancaster at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is one of four 8-Inch Rifles which were carried aboard USS Lancaster in the 1880s which are displayed at the stadium. Previously these 8-Inch MLR were displayed beside the aircraft carrier Yorktown. Before that they were at the Charleston Navy Yard.
Rifled 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer (Steel) at Trophy Park
While most of Dahlgren's Boat Howitzers were made of bronze, twelve of his rifled 12-Pounder Boat Howitzers were made of steel. Three of these survive, with one, Number 298, being displayed on an original carriage at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
The Wreck of USS Huron and 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 1178
Displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard is US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 1178. Number 1178 was cast in 1864 at Fort Pitt Foundry. It is one of the last of the type to have been manufactured. (The series of registry numbers ran to 1185.) According to the research of Wayne Stark. Number 1178 was recovered from the wreck of USS Huron.
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 36
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer (Heavy), Registry Number 36, is displayed in Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was cast in 1854 at the Washington Navy Yard. It served aboard USS Constellation from 1854 to 1866.
US Navy 24-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer at Shiloh
US Navy 24-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 656 is displayed at Shiloh National Military Park. (Many thanks to James Murray for sharing these photos with us!) It was cast in 1864 by Ames. As manufactured it weighed 1305 pounds. This boat howitzer has a portion of its hammer still in place - and a something (a projectile?) lodged in the tube.