Cannon ball id?

[PyrateJim]

I'm looking for a little history on a cannon ball that was found in the Bay of Cienfuegos, Cuba nearly 25 years ago. It is approx. 4.25" in diameter and weighs in at 19.2 lbs.

What type of cannon might have this been fired from? Approx. age or time period we are talking of? Is it possible to tell if it is British, Spanish or French? Anything else that it can tell me?

Thanks for any and all the help.

Jim

[cuzcosquirrel]

Medio Culebrina maybe. Find out if the ball weighs close to 11 libras. It's saying 15 pounds doing it really quick. You would figure it would loose weight, not pick it up, so it might be a bigger size or with a different density.

"24 pound "Medio-Canon" probably make up the upper battery plus the two on the quarter-deck, although these might be 18 pound "Medio-Culebrina" with a practical range of 833 yards point blank."

Probably one of those. A denser ball would seem to suggest a newer cannon technology system and could go up to the 1860's.

[wwwtimmcp]

in a treatise of artillery by john muller he lists a british cannonball at 4.277" not sure about the weight.
they list french guns but none are close. no spanish guns are listed. the book was written in 1780.

[cuzcosquirrel]

That might be it. Did they broad arrow their cannon balls?

Looks like they did between about 1700 and 1820. Not all British cannon balls have the mark though.

Look for a mold line around the circumfrence of the ball, and then on one side perpendicular to that a sprue mold cut off like a 1" round circle that has been ground flat.

[CaribbeanDiver]

4" diameter and 19 lbs No way.