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12 Inch Navy projectile
- Thread starter jvollenberg
- Start date
Off the coast in New Jersey
Slick
Well-Known Member
Maybe it's one of these: 
Pic description IDs it as a Gordon Morgan 12" mortar of 1894 located at Sandy Hook Proving Grounds(later Fort Hancock)
And just found this pic:
May 27, 1937 - Fort Hancock, NJ
52nd Coast Artillery, Battery C - 12" Railway Mortar being loaded
And here's a link of interest: http://www.nps.gov/gate/historyculture/upload/Al Zwiazek 10-16-81 interview.pdf
Pic description IDs it as a Gordon Morgan 12" mortar of 1894 located at Sandy Hook Proving Grounds(later Fort Hancock)
And just found this pic:
May 27, 1937 - Fort Hancock, NJ52nd Coast Artillery, Battery C - 12" Railway Mortar being loaded
And here's a link of interest: http://www.nps.gov/gate/historyculture/upload/Al Zwiazek 10-16-81 interview.pdf
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The projos in the two photos are much longer than the one that Joe has posted. I have one that is approximately the same length as Joe's, but my copy doesn't have the hex shape on the base. It has a screw in baseplate with two small fuzes screwed into it. It was pulled out of San Francisco bay. The local Moffat Field EOD unit used a shape charge to punch a hole into the cavity which was empty.
The first Battleship Idaho BB-24 had 12 inch guns, and I assume the rest of their class had the same guns.
The manual for the 12 inch Seacoast guns and mortars has drawings of the projectiles, are all the longer ones, as they were fired at high angles to fall onto the decks of ships and penetrate. I believe that the shorter ones were more from the Naval Rifles for higher velocity broadside firing.
The first Battleship Idaho BB-24 had 12 inch guns, and I assume the rest of their class had the same guns.
The manual for the 12 inch Seacoast guns and mortars has drawings of the projectiles, are all the longer ones, as they were fired at high angles to fall onto the decks of ships and penetrate. I believe that the shorter ones were more from the Naval Rifles for higher velocity broadside firing.
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Looking at what information I could dig up ... the rotating band is the key ID feature. There are only a few 1.25 inch rotating bands with that diameter projo. Most of them are 4 inches wide.
Joe
Joe
Joe
While the more modern large diameter projectiles have wide rotating bands, early ones, such as those from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, had much narrower bands. If you can search around for photos of some of the old 12"/35 projectiles you'd probably see that a 1.5 inch band was more common than not. I'm talking about the really old "B" class ships (before the "BBs") and even before that with "M" class (Monitors).
That hex-head screw in the base probably indicated the projectile was blind loaded and plugged
Ray
While the more modern large diameter projectiles have wide rotating bands, early ones, such as those from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, had much narrower bands. If you can search around for photos of some of the old 12"/35 projectiles you'd probably see that a 1.5 inch band was more common than not. I'm talking about the really old "B" class ships (before the "BBs") and even before that with "M" class (Monitors).
That hex-head screw in the base probably indicated the projectile was blind loaded and plugged
Ray
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Joe
The 1903 Text Book of Ordnance and Gunnery contains fairly detailed drawings of 12" projectiles. The ones shown have rotating bands 1.75" wide. One of the hex plugs is also shown, except it is 2.5" across the flats.
Unfortunately, I have no way to give a link to the document and no way to save and send any of the drawings. The entire thing is 440 pages long. Part 2 is nearly 600 pages long (dated 1915) and contains drawings of many of the smaller projectiles.
I'll stand by my opinion (SWAG) that you have one of the early 12"/35 or 12"/40 projectiles, blind loaded.
Ray
The 1903 Text Book of Ordnance and Gunnery contains fairly detailed drawings of 12" projectiles. The ones shown have rotating bands 1.75" wide. One of the hex plugs is also shown, except it is 2.5" across the flats.
Unfortunately, I have no way to give a link to the document and no way to save and send any of the drawings. The entire thing is 440 pages long. Part 2 is nearly 600 pages long (dated 1915) and contains drawings of many of the smaller projectiles.
I'll stand by my opinion (SWAG) that you have one of the early 12"/35 or 12"/40 projectiles, blind loaded.
Ray
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Ray,
Thanks ...
Joe
Thanks ...
Joe