The 9-Inch Dahlgren of USS Colorado on Staten Island
9-Inch Dahlgren Number 120 is displayed at Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island, New York
Note: The photos of the Staten Island Dahlgren in this post are by Andrey Goodman and are used with his permission. His original posts in the “Big Cannon Project” may be seen here and here.
A US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren is displayed on the grounds of Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island in New York. The cannon was cast at Tredegar in 1857. It’s US Navy Registry Number is 120. It’s original weight was 9,146 pounds. According to the “Registry” in The Big Guns, this Dahlgren served on USS Colorado (pg. 243).
The deterioration due to corrosion - particularly around the breech - resembles cannons which were previously bollards. Even with the corrosion, this is a nice example of a pre-war, Tredegar manufactured Dahlgren.
USS Colorado, a large steam frigate similar to USS Minnesota and USS Wabash, was originally armed with a battery of two 10-Inch Dahlgrens mounted fore and aft as pivot guns on the spar deck, twenty-eight 9-Inch Dahlgrens mounted on broadsides mounts on the gun deck, and fourteen 8-Inch shell guns of 63cwt on the spar deck. By the end of the war, Colorado carried fourty-six 9-Inch guns along with a single 11-inch Dahlgren and 150-Pounder Parrott Rifle in the two pivot positions.
USS Colorado participated in the bombardment and capture of Fort Fisher in 1865. During this action, one of her officers was George Dewey, future Admiral of the Navy and victor of the Battle of Manilla Bay aboard USS Olympia. Following the American Civil War USS Colorado continued to serve the US Navy as flagship of the European Squadron and the Asiatic Squadron. She was decommissioned at New York in 1876.
The corrosion around the cascabel and breech on this Dahlgren is similar to cannons formerly used as bollards.
“T.F. No. 120” indicates that this cannon was manufactured at Tredegar Foundry in Richmond and it’s US Navy Registry Number for the 9-Inch Dahlgren series is 120.
The original weight of 9,146 pounds as manufactured and the mounting point for the firing hammer can be seen in this photo.
The Dahlgren is displayed with other artifacts at Historic Richmond Town on a site marked as the location of the Second County Courthouse.
Another view of the Dahlgren
Entry for USS Colorado in the Official Records: https://archive.org/details/cu31924080777489/page/61/mode/1up
USS Colorado at Port Mahon, Minorca, circa 1866. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-55000/NH-55259.html
In service, the Dahlgren displayed on Staten Island would have been mounted on a two-wheeled “Marsilly” carriage similar to this one. Library of Congress Photo: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.80234/
Originally the Staten Island Dahlgren may have been mounted on USS Colorado’s gun deck in a manner similar to these reproduction 8-Inch guns of 63cwt found aboard USS Constellation.
A different 9-Inch Dahlgren still in use as a bollard at the old Boston Navy Yard. Bollards are used to tie up ships in dock. The destroyer Cassin Young and frigate USS Constitution may be seen in the background.
