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Home > Bryan County Now > Unexploded Union Naval shell found at Fort McAllister
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Unexploded Union Naval shell found at Fort McAllister
By Jamie Parker
Created 2011-01-20 00:20
Live ordnance could made 'a hole big enough to bury a pony'
Summary:
In March of 1863 the Union ironclad monitor Patapsco lay approximately 1,600 yards off Fort McAllister in the Ogeechee River launching shells at the earthen fort.
Jamie Parker
In March of 1863 the Union ironclad monitor Patapsco lay approximately 1,600 yards off Fort McAllister in the Ogeechee River launching shells at the earthen fort.
Last year one of those shells turned up. Exactly where and how it was found is something of a mystery but the fact that it was still a live piece of ordnance is not.
"A gentleman dug it up, he was metal detecting, we're not 100 percent certain where. He said he found it up the river toward the marina behind a house, about a mile away from the fort," Interpretive Ranger Talley Kirkland said. "Anyway, he gave it to one of our campground hosts who brought it down here and gave it to us. We knew right away that is was probably still live because there were no holes in it, the fuse was intact. The whole thing was in pretty dad-gum good shape."
The shell, a 200 pound Parrott rifled shot, was deactivated by drilling two holes in it, flushing the black powder out with water and removing the fuse.
"I think this shell had about two pounds of powder in it. If I figured it out right, it would have probably made a hole big enough to bury a pony," Kirkland said.
But how did it end up almost a mile from its intended target? If Union marksmen were that poor shots the Confederacy might have won the war.
Kirkland doesn't think it was poor marksmanship that put the shell where it was. His theory is they were trying to get rid of excess ammunition.
"If they were firing it at the fort it probably would have just buried in the ground near the fort. I think they were just trying get rid of it," he said.
It is also possible someone found it somewhere else years ago and moved it to the location where it was recently found.
"I doubt that," Kirkland said. "What's more likely is that the fellow who brought it to us found it somewhere other than where he told us. I think that is more probable. Plus I don't think he gave it to the host the same day he found it."
Park Manager Daniel Brown supports a third hypothesis as to why the shell may have ended up so far from the fort.
"These particular shells had a couple of flaws," he said. "One, often when they were fired the base would fracture, which happened to this one. That would cause it to go erratically. The other problem associated with these is that when the shell was fired the fuse would twist and when it impacted it would not ignite the power, which also happened here."
How the shell got where it did may remain a mystery but where it will go next is not. Once Kirkland, a self proclaimed cannonball repairman, finishes restoring it, it will become part of the park's museum.
However that restoration wasn't as simple as taking a wire brush to it.
"When you find stuff around here you have to do something to preserve it or it will eventually disintegrate," he said. "If you don't put it through electrolysis first, the salts that have seeped into the pores will act like a cancer and just keep eating it away until there is nothing left. Even sand blasting doesn't get the salts out."
Electrolysis also removes rust Kirkland added.
The final step of restoration is covering it with a clear protective coating to prevent rust returning.
And while Brown said he appreciates any relics the public donates to the park, he cautions about handling any found munitions.
"If ordnance such as this is found the person finding it should leave it alone," he said. "If it is near the park they should notify our staff and we will come out and retrieve it. They can be dangerous; this projectile was live, still armed. Now it will be going in with our new exhibits. If anyone has projectiles or any artifacts they have found in the general area, donations will be appreciated and we will put them on display."
After two holes were drilled in the shell, water was injected to flush out approximatley two pounds of black powder (in plastic bag at front left). The broken fuse is behind the bag of powder. Note the broken base which could have made the projectile fly far from its intended target.Jamie Parker/Bryan County Now [1].Fort McAllister Interpretive Ranger Talley Kirkland said the unexploded 145-pound Parrott shell could have made a hole big enough to bury a pony.Jamie Parker/Bryan County Now [2].The Parrott shell before restoration.Courtesy of Daniel Brown [3].
The Patapsco and Parrott shells
-- The USS Patapsco was a 1335-ton Passaic class Union Navy monitor built at Wilmington, Del. After being commissioned in January 1863 it became part of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and took part in a bombardment of Fort McAllister on 3 March.
In April of the same year the Patapsco survived 47 hits from Confederate fire while attacking Fort Sumter, S.C. But in January of 1865 it struck a mine in Charleston harbor and sunk in less than one minute taking 62 crew members to the bottom with her.
-- Monitors like the Patapsco, firing 145 pound Parrott shells, had a maximum range of three to five miles.
-- Parrott shells, made of cast iron, were manufactured in the West Point Foundry in Cold Springs, N.Y.
-- The shell found at the fort although called a 200 lb Parrott shell, weighed 145 pounds because it is a shell not a bolt or solid shot.
-- The shell is the fourth unexploded Parrott shell found at Fort McAllister, but the first found in more than 30 years.
-- Monitors were not intended for shooting at shore batteries, they were designed to fight naval battles.
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Posted on: January 20, 2011, 08:23:08 PM
Sue thats one heck of a shell , I bet he had a heck of a time getting it out.
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