Early canister shells

[Tmine35]

Does anyone have an idea when the earliest artillery canister shells filled with about 10-20mm lead balls were used in Europe?

 

[glevum]

Do you have a picture of the shell?

Canister has been in use since at least the mid 18th Century in muzzle loading cannon

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

1866 the British Boxer Shraphnel shell
John

 

[Tmine35]

No, I don't have any picture of shell but local diggers have found from 18th century battle fields a lot of 10-20mm lead balls with cast "tails" and as far as I understand they haven't been fired from muskets. I'm trying to imagine why those cast tails have been left on balls.
Any pictures, drawings or other details of mid 18th century canisters available?

 

[exat808]

Canister was also known as "case" and "langridge" shot I believe. This article describes 18th Century case/cannister shot. http://www.militaryheritage.com/caseshot.htm
This record shows an exchange of naval gunfire in May 1812 in Europe where "langridge" shot was used. http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0101

This reference - [h=3]Case Shot[/h]
The ancient forerunner to case was 'langridge', a quantity of junk such as bits of scrap metal, old nails etc, even gravel, loaded loose into the gun and used against troops in the open. Then Gunners put the junk into containers and called it 'canister' or 'case'. Further improvement followed; the container or case of sheet iron or tin in cylindrical form was filled with cast iron balls each varying in weight from 2 ounces (57 grams) to 8 ounces (227 grams) for the smaller guns, and from 8 ounces to a pound for the heavier. Case was fired from all natures of ordnance against troops in the open, at ships' rigging and boats, effective range being about 350 yards (320 m). On being fired the metal canister burst open at the muzzle, the contents producing a shotgun effect. Case proper was first used at the siege of Constantinople in 1453 and was still being used in World War 2, eg in the American QF 37-mm anti-tank gun. In the latter projectile the canister was filled with lead balls of about 12-mm diameter set in rosin and was said to be effective against troops in the jungle warfare of the Pacific Islands.

- is from - http://riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/smooth4.htm

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Sir;
There is a difference in what us Yanks call our projectiles. What we call case shot you call shrapnel. What we call cannister is a tin can filled withvarious size lead or iron balls that when fired resembles a giant shotgun.
John

 

[highlandotter]

Since sniper accuracy wasn't needed in a cannister round, the labor cost to de tail the balls was a waste.Probably the tails were an asset in that the off balance ball made nastier wounds. The machine gun kind of made cannister obsolete and the longer range of the guns made their saftey greater as they farther away from the charging infantry and horse. Still was useful for flank defense in fortifications, but the Mg soon replaced it there. Cannister rounds do make nice collection pieces though.

 

[HAZORD]

Actually canister rounds have made a come-back. The U.S. used the 37mm canister mentioned above and 105 Howitzer canister rounds in the Pacific against Japanese mass attacks. Two types of cannister projectiles were designed for the 90mm tank gun, a can of flechettes, and a can of small steel cylinders. Most recently, canister rounds using tungsten balls have been issued for 120mm and 105mm tank guns.

 

[paul the grenade]

a few years ago i visited the Mary rose museum in Portsmouth and in the cannon display saw small wooden cylinders constructed like barrels and packed with broken shards of flint. you can imagine the terrible carnage these would have inflicted if fired at a group of men on a ships deck.
http://www.syler.com/SiegeWarfare/basicconcepts/digdowncannonshot.html
paul.

 

[Gspragge]

I think the British were the first to put musket balls into spherical shell and use it against the French in the Napoleonic wars with the fuzing set to go off above the troops just like in WW1 Named after the officer Shrapnel who introduced it, This is different than canister as described which is an older idea.

 

[Tmine35]

One of the battlefields I mentioned is from 1713 between Sweden and Russia. Some of the "clean" lead balls match with handgun calibers of that era and obviously have been fired from muskets. Some of the tailed ones are of same caliber but some smaller - perhaps especially made for shooting from a cannon?
As a summary I anyway assume that the tailed balls were fired from cannons.

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Sir;
Below was scanned from Treatise on Ammunition, 1870, page 91:
Regards,
John