Written by the treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com
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| Source: VintageNews.com (See link below.) |
17th century hand grenades and cannons from the wreck of a pirate ship have been found along the coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom...
The wreck was rediscovered about two years ago. Local historian and author Robert Felce told Fox News that he found one hand grenade in November 2018 at Dollar Cove on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula. Felce found a similar grenade at the site in May 2017.
“I don’t use a metal detector – I use sight,” he explained. “I have become accustomed to what a lot of these things look like.”...
Both objects were heavily encrusted after lying on the seafloor for more than 300 years, and “Felce said he at first thought the latest grenade was an ordinary rock until he slipped and dropped it, and it broke open, revealing the two halves of the metal weapon and the explosive powder inside.”...
Here is the link for more finds and photos from that wreck.
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Part 1.
Introduction to Firearms of the Spanish Conquest and Treasure Fleets.
The first small firearm was the hand cannon. It was little more than a small cannon. It was fired by touching a match directly to the powder. Imagine trying to hold a firearm and aiming while applying a match to the touch hole. Having a second person ignite the powder while another held and aimed the hand cannon made the process more manageable and accurate.
The hand cannon was used centuries before it was brought to the New World. Christopher Columbus brought crossbows on his first voyage, along with one hand cannon, but brought a hundred hand cannons on his second voyage.
After the indigenous populations overcame their fear of the noise, the hand cannon lost much of its effectiveness in battle.
The hand cannon was eventually replaced by the matchlock arquebus, which was the first firearm to have a trigger.
The matchlock arquebus was invented in Spain in the 15th century. It held a burning fuse in a clamp at the end of a lever. When fired, the clamp dropped down, lowering the smoldering match into the flash pan and igniting the priming powder. The flash from the primer travelled through the touch hole igniting the main charge of propellant in the gun barrel. (Wikipedia).
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Source of illustration: Firearmshistory.blogspot.com.
Complete link immediately below.
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In his book Small Arms of the Spanish Treasure Fleets, Noel Wells says that matchlocks have been found on the wreck sites of the 1622, 1715 and 1733 treasure fleets. Things were repaired and used over long periods of time in those days.
In the same book, Noel Wells also writes that in 1596 Ponce de Leon requested 500 arquebuses and one hundred muskets.
It seems to me that some of the terms are confusing and different sources don't always use them the same.
On quora.com ( https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-physical-and-operational-differences-between-the-matchlock-musket-and-the-arquebus ) I found the following explanation.
The arquebus was the main firearm during the 16th century and was used into the 17th century (Gush, 1975). In the early 16th century the term arquebus covered quite a range of weapons but the most common type was a weapon about 3′ 6″ long (~108cm), weighing about 10 pounds (4.5 kg), and firing a ball of 1 1/2 ounces (~10 to the pound). From the 1540s the heavier muskets became a separate class of firearm and arquebus (called Caliver in England) standardized around 4′ (~123cm), weighing 12 pounds (~5.5 kg), and firing a ball somewhere in the range 10-16 to the pound.
The next step in the evolution of firearms was the development of the wheellock, sometimes called the Spanish lock. The wheellock mechanism was used on pistols as well as long guns.
Here is how Wikipedia describes the wheellock.
The following simple illustration shows the main differences between a matchlock and a wheellock.
And here is another illustration of a wheellock.
In his book on Spanish firearms Wells says, An interesting note about Spanish guns is there has never been found on any of the Spanish shipwreck sites in or around Florida waters, a wheel lock pistol, a long gun, or a wheellock mechanism.
I don't have time to complete this topic today. This was a challenging topic for me because of what seems to me to be some inconsistency in the terminology, the difficulty of finding the best illustrations, and my general ignorance about early firearms.
I hope to be able to post part II tomorrow, which will focus more on firearms and firearm parts that have been found on treasure fleet wrecks, including the 1715 Fleet.
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Here is how Wikipedia describes the wheellock.
The wheellock works by spinning a spring-loaded steel wheel against a piece of pyrite to generate intense sparks, which ignite gunpowder in a pan, which flashes through a small touchhole to ignite the main charge in the firearm's barrel. The pyrite is clamped in vise jaws on a spring-loaded arm (or 'dog'), which rests on the pan cover. When the trigger is pulled, the pan cover is opened, and the wheel is rotated, with the pyrite pressed into contact.
A close modern analogy of the wheellock mechanism is the operation of a Zippo lighter, where a toothed steel wheel is spun in contact with a piece of sparking material to ignite the liquid or gaseous fuel.
A wheellock firearm had the advantage that it can be instantly readied and fired even with one hand, in contrast to the then-common matchlock firearms, which must have a burning cord of slow match ready if the gun might be needed and demanded the operator's full attention and two hands to operate. On the other hand, wheellock mechanisms were complex to make, making them relatively costly.
The following simple illustration shows the main differences between a matchlock and a wheellock.
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| Source: Pinterest. |
And here is another illustration of a wheellock.
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| Source: Pinterest. |
In his book on Spanish firearms Wells says, An interesting note about Spanish guns is there has never been found on any of the Spanish shipwreck sites in or around Florida waters, a wheel lock pistol, a long gun, or a wheellock mechanism.
I don't have time to complete this topic today. This was a challenging topic for me because of what seems to me to be some inconsistency in the terminology, the difficulty of finding the best illustrations, and my general ignorance about early firearms.
I hope to be able to post part II tomorrow, which will focus more on firearms and firearm parts that have been found on treasure fleet wrecks, including the 1715 Fleet.
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With the recent cold front moving through, we'll have offshore winds and a calm surf for a few days.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
