Naval Canister Shot
This picture just shows some of the different sizes of Naval canister shot that was used during the war. From left to right, the approx. weight of each is 6lb, 4lb, and 2lb. Canister shot was much more devastating than a solid steel cannonball. The size of the cannon determined which size and how much canister shot would be used.
Naval Cannon Gimlet
I picked up this Naval Gimlet from a collection that came out of NY state. It measures 16 inches long. Gimlets were used to clean out fuse holes, and to punch a hole in the powder bag so the fuse could ignite the gun powder to shoot the artillery round. Naval gimlets were bigger than other cannon gimlets because of the size of the cannons that were on the war ships.
3 inch Britton Shell
I picked up this shell from a friend of mine who had it in his collection for years. The story he told me about this shell was, that it was recovered from the sunken Confederate ship the CSS Georgiana. The Georgiana was sunk in the Charleston Harbor in South Carolina in 1863. It has a lot of deterioration from being in the salt water for all of those years. Not for sure when this shell was recovered. The lead sabot is still attached to it. Another nice piece to add to my collection.
Naval Canister Shot
What appears to be a small cannonball, is actually a 3 inch Confederate Naval canister shot. These are about the same as the canister field artillery cannons shoot, except these are a lot larger in size. I have attached ID labels on this one to show what it is, and where it was found. This shot was discovered by the same gentleman who found the 132 lb mortar round in Nashville.
Naval Boarding Axe
I picked up the Naval boarding axe from a collector in Louisville KY. This one is stamped Merryweather and son. It also has the original leather frog with it. Not only were these used as a boarding axe, but were also used in hand to hand combat.
