The Last Smoothbores; the Development of John A. Dahlgren's
Washington Navy Yard, circa 1850. U.S. Naval Institute photo. TEE NAVAL PRACTICE BATTGRP AT TEE DRITED MATES NAVY YIIHD. WaSEIRf3'FON. 5. 0.--UIlil the smin there?.?.% rinpiu)-r%l Ilir Clr $1 War. it in ginmlral-lr Lt'i: nane Lovh r mnrr Cmlrpc~8 AT I'silht,u8; lrxi?sli!i 81 i) ~.nehcci:.~~I~~~b~lffff~~l~~ Lb* 0l1li. 14 ..-., ~8; r I ri rill $,.,I (liln, Li.r(lech olpuntm~t.P,~L,D~o$II+.~ ai~isi,,redur% tarla. Itl.~ruonlibs ~~~,ix,,,r~,,.,~~rIOraiir, nr,>ni.'r,,ril i,..:i.bL . .,, .. irl ..,I (i,,.iilrlliuircoa *r ~b*na- ,Iv,-. ~unboa~ airti, ilore urvn p Irii:uxu&ol lit. PNL~S(~C Is+~I SL ili~NYIY Yard st L-a&ustmn dluulai gudnerr ior tltk sermlr. d en1 our lupn tr Naval practice battery at the Washington Navy Yard. National Archives photo. Reprinted from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin 57:12-36 Additional articles available at http://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/resources/articles/ The Last Smoothbores The Development of John A. Dahlgren's Heavy Cast-Iron Ordnance For the United States Navy in an Era of Transition, 1848-1865 Robert J. Schneller, Jr. On his fortieth birthday, November 13, 1849, Lieu- tenant John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren barely escaped death. He was working with a 32-pounder gun when, suddenly, it blew up. He wrote in his journal: I said, "Fire." An unusual explosion took place instantly. The battery was filled with smoke, and a great crash of timber was heard. Behind me I heard the ground ploughed up, and of the things that fell, something grazed my heels, which afterwards proved to be a part of the breeching, a piece weighing two thousand pounds.
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