Probable French 24 pounder Ballshell cut

[Bellifortis]

As an attachment I post a picture of a probable french 24-pounder (Stoneweight system) ballshell dud that is cut parallel to the wooden time fuse. I couldn't post it in the Album as the description is too long. This shell was found in 1996 in the fields north of the village Gueldengossa and was probably fired on the first day of the "Voelkerschlacht" on the 16th of Okt. 1813 during the German war of independence. The unusual feature of this picture is the lower end of the wooden time fuse. The artillerist that cut and fired it really was an expert. When cutting time fuses at that time for the longest possuble delay the problem was, that the bottom of the fuse could touch the bottom of the shell and if there was no powder in between, the shell would go blind. This french artillerist made 2 slanting cuts, one long one from one side towards the middle-end of the fuse, the second from the other side a little shorter. This exposed a much larger surface area of the powder core of the fuse and the fuse could spit sideaways. I have never read about this cutting technique in any of the 19th century artillery manuals.

 

[DICKAREN]

Thanks for showing. Very interesting.
Richard

 

[pointblank0]

Fascinating stuff. Great explanation and pics.

 

[Bellifortis]

Wooden Fuse fuzed black powder shells inert themselfes ! Always ???
Modern EOD people are not interested in these 200 -400 year old artefacts. Standard EOD procedure, when these are found is, to soak them in water for some weeks and then to drill out the wooden fuse, also from a collectors point of view, this is the more precious item. Publications are very rare and the few scientific examinations ( nearly all from the US of civil war eara ordnance) that I know of, all state that the items were inert. When lying in the ground for 100 years and more, water seeps in through the wooden fuse into the shell and dissolves some Potassium Nitrate salt. In the summer, when the earth with the shell in it heats up the process reverts and water soaks out through the wood carrying some dissolved Salpeter with it. This process is named "Osmosis" / "osmotic pressure". The smaller shell part on the right in the picture has been left in its original state, like it was found. The agglomerations inside are what is left of black powder after the Salpeter has been solved out through natural Osmosis. Examination of this residue revealed a stonehard mixture of Carbon and Sulphur that does not even burn. I read one report many years ago of an archeaological expedition on the coast of Israel that dived in the sea to examine Napoleonic ships wrecked during Napeleons invasion of Egypt. The report stated that one of the Archeologists brought up a shell from the wreck and ignited it on the beach (it was not stated how he did it) and the shell exploded with a big bang, that brought the authorities to the beach and caused trouble. I do not really believe in this report, as all my scientific knowledge is opposed to it. I wonder if anybody here knows of any published scientific examinations of such old ordnance ?
Greetings,
Martin.

 

[Alpini]

I think a cannon ball recovered from the sea can break (not really explode) when brought to the surface because of pressure differences inside the ball and outside. Same happens sometime when cartridges brought to top - the projectiles then pop out of the cases itself. Cast iron remains it's shape in water or wet ground but converts to a coal like substance which breaks easily. I also read from cannon balls from the deep sea which started to glow when brought on air. The iron of these balls converted into pyrophoric iron which reacts with humidity of the air. The same pyrophoric effect I once saw on a inert shell which was filled with cast iron chips 150 years ago - they started to glow and burn itself.