The Captain Blakely Guy

[Starr 2011]

Hi All

I am the guy that manages the captainblakely.org website, all about Blakely and his cannon. Let me know what you think about the site and feel free to ask questions about the Blakely story and his guns. If you've got pictures of Blakely's guns surviving in the US I'd love to see them.

Great site, great guns!

Starr

[Double D]

I think you may have already seen these

[rampa room artillery]

Hey welcome.,
   I think we have already talked but maybe not,  i am still resurching info about the type 10 blakely.  me and a friend plan to  build a full scale shooting replica to shoot in N-SSA.  the carriage that was sent to the csa during the war is the biggest question that we have. i have looked at the one in peru and one in sweden but i guess i didnt know how much more info was out there.

 rick bryan

[Cat Whisperer]

Starr -  WELCOME to the board!  We look forward to tapping your expertise!

[seacoastartillery]

     Starr,   What can you tell us about these large projectiles found at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina?

Tracy and Mike



from LOC.gov

[Starr 2011]

Tracy & Mike

They are 600 pound solid shot or bolts supplied with the 13 inch Blakely guns that defended Charleston. They also appear in the background of a well-known photograph taken in April 1865 at the CS Arsenal grounds in Charleston, along with other large projectiles and torpedos, as well as pieces of the two 13 inch guns.

But where are they now???

Best Wishes

Starr

[seacoastartillery]

     Thank you very much, Starr.  That's what we heavily suspected, but weren't quite sure of.  Mike and I thoroughly searched that campus and talked to lots of people there, but none knew what happened to them.  We were told that the Washington Navy Yard has one bolt and one shell in the "back room", but no one was there to give us access on the Saturday in Nov. of 2006 when we visited.

     Do you know if a photo or engineering drawing of that 60,000 pound rifle exists?

Tracy and Mike

[Starr 2011]

Tracy & Mike

Sadly neither. The only pictorial references are Chapmans 1863 sketches and Holley's 1866 diagram, which are featured in the Blakely website. I would give a lot for a contemporary picture of the 13 inch gun on its Vavasseur carriage!

Starr

[Starr 2011]

Rick

Blakely Gun Carriages

Blakely didn't supply carriages for the "three-fifties", the common 3.5inch Confederate field guns. I have seen the invoices for those delivered in 1862 and only tubes and elevating gear were charged for. I suspect that he didn't supply them for the smaller 9 pounder guns either. If carriages were provided from England, then Huse, the CS agent, would have bought common British Army field carriages from private contractors - the same pattern was used for both 9 pounder and 12 pounder service guns. These are (obviously) different from the field carriages used by the US and CS Armies.

Diagrams for the British field carriages of the 1840s to 1860s can be found on-line.

Good luck with the build!

Starr

[Cannoneer]

Hi Starr,
I’ve got a question about the armament of the CSS Alabama; even though some sources refer to four of the Fawcett, Preston Co. made broadside 32-pounders as Blakely guns, is it definite that the only real Blakely patent cannon on the ship was the 7-inch rifle that served as the forward center-line mounted pivot gun?

[Starr 2011]

Hi Cannoneer

Yes, the ONLY Blakely patent gun on the "Alabama" was the 7 inch rifled pivot gun. The 68 pounder after smooth-bore pivot gun and four of the six 32 pounder smooth-bore broadsides guns were ordered by Blakely for Captain Bulloch CSN but were in cast-iron (no steel hoops) and in appearance were like Dahlgren guns. The other two 32 pounder smooth-bore broadside guns were similar to British Royal Navy "old fashioned" cast-iron cannon of the same nature.

This information is based on the underwater survey of the site of the sinking of the "Alabama" and from the guns recovered from the sea afterwards.

Andrew Bocock's book "CSS Alabama - Anatomy of a Confederate Raider" published by Chatham Press in England gives precise measurements and drawings of all of these guns (and of the "Alabama's" engines and fittings!).

Starr

[Cannoneer]

Thanks for the information, Starr.

Do you know how many, and which of the Alabama’s eight guns have been recovered to date?
From information that I’ve been able to gather (and as usual, some contradictory)  three of the guns are now in the U.S.; one of the 32-pdr older British naval pattern guns is on long-term loan to the Museum of Mobile in Alabama, one of the Fawcett, Preston Co. 1862 contemporary design 32-pounders remains at the Charleston, SC lab where it was conserved, with hopes of eventually displaying it at the planned CSS Hunley Museum, and another of the newer model 32-pdrs is being stored in the Naval History and Heritage Command laboratory warehouse at the Washington Navy Yard.
I know that the Blakely 7-inch rifled gun was the first gun raised in June of 1994; do you know if France still has possession of this gun?
According to the following photo and caption, the 68-pounder smoothbore aft pivot gun was raised in July of 2005; do you know the present location of this gun?
I realize that these questions don't directly relate to your research on Blakely, but I figured that you might have garnered some current information on these guns while on your journey.


A cannon from the Confederate sea raider CSS Alabama rests on a dock in France after being recovered from the bottom of the English Channel off the coast of France in this July 2005 photo provided by Gordon Watts. The 7,000-pound main battery pivot gun is the largest artifact ever retrieved from the site where the Alabama was sunk by a Union warship June 19, 1864. (AP/Press-Register)

[Starr 2011]

Cannoneer

I don’t know where the guns off the ‘Alabama’ are now. I have been surprised how they have been dispersed though, and how difficult it is to trace them. They are heritage.

Thanks for the picture of the 68 pounder; it looks in good condition barring a few barnacles. The cast-iron seems to have survived salt water surprisingly well.

Starr

[Cannoneer]

Well, I suspected as much, that is definitely the Blakely 7-inch rifled pivot gun from the CSS Alabama on display at the Maritime Museum Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg, France.
Through an agreement reached between the Republic of France represented by the French Ministry of Culture, and the U.S.A. represented by the U.S. Navy (Naval Historical Center), the wreck of the CSS Alabama and all its artifacts are considered to be the property of the U.S. Navy; all that being said, you can see that the gun is now on show at a French museum, because the 'Naval Historical Center' has made a long-term loan of the gun to that French museum.

[Cannoneer]

Starr,

There are usually a number of differing reasons cited by historians to explain why many Brit's held sympathetic feelings for the Southern cause during our Civil War, and in your website you seem to hold the opinion that Blakely shared some of those feelings, but does any hard evidence exist where he actually expressed his loyalty to the Confederacy? Is there any possibility that his dealings with the CSA were only motivated by profit?

[Starr 2011]

Cannoneer

The nature of Blakely’s commitment to the Confederate cause is an important question that I have often asked myself. As there are no personal documents of Blakely’s remaining we have to look at circumstantial evidence. Blakely worked over and above his status as “supplier” – particularly in rescuing the Austrian brass guns at Hamburg; he was one of the party on board when the ‘Alabama’ escaped from Liverpool; he was a member of the Southern Independence Association – a strong pressure group lobbying on Richmond’s behalf (and possibly also of other clubs of likeminded people); he also supported through donations southern charities in England that worked for prisoners-of-war in the north; he attended many public events, soirees and fund-raisers, for southern causes; and lastly, he gave employment to former southern officers post-1865.

None of this is conclusive. His charitable activities may just have been a cynical public relations exercise to keep in with the southern purchasing agents; but there is a consistency in his relations with the south. On a purely business level his prices for field cannon were fair; comparable to other rifled pieces in Europe, he didn’t gouge the south for them. I suspect that Richmond believed they just didn’t need his latest large guns as Brooke was having similar ordnance made more economically at Tredegar and Selma.

However one has to note that even in 1864 Whitworth and Armstrong were still donating small numbers of sophisticated cannon (without cost) to the southern cause, but Blakely didn't.

I would be interested to hear your opinion and those of others.

Starr

[Cannoneer]

Starr,
I was just curious if you had any really strong opinions on the subject, but I’m not favoring either side of the coin on this toss. It seems to me that unless some primary evidence comes to light, that those that think he genuinely supported the CSA war effort because of personal feelings, and those that believe his actions were directed by the mind of a pragmatic businessman, are both groups relying on conjecture to reach their conclusions. It’s also very possible that the truth lies somewhere in between these two opposing camps.

[Cannoneer]

Starr 2011,

It's about time the question you asked in your first post was answered: I think you did a very fine job putting together your "Captain Alexander Blakely RA" site.

This question is about the two 13-inch Blakely rifles that managed (peacefully) to keep the Charleston harbor clear of Federal warships till 65.

"Unfortunately there was no manual of instruction with these great guns and the principal of an air space to allow gradual expansion of the propulsive gas was not then understood. In initial, experimental firing at Charleston the powder charge was forced into the air chamber of one gun with the consequence that the bronze breech-plug and the cast-iron inner tube were damaged when it was first fired on September 11, 1863. 
It took only a short time for a commission of ordnance officers under General G T Rains, in consultation with Blakely’s associate Commander Brooke CSN in Richmond, to determine the cause of this damage; the report was published on September 24. Captain Blakely’s explanation of the air chamber, which differed slightly from Brooke’s, only arrived in Richmond during February 1864.
Observing these loading rules the other 13 inch gun was fired successfully on October 2 and was mounted at the White Point Battery by November 1863. The damaged gun was successfully repaired by local engineers, J M Eason & Brother, with works at Columbus and Nassau Streets, Charleston, and was set up early in 1864 at Fraser’s Battery, Charleston."

Do you know if it's a fact that Blakely (or his people) simply forgot to provide any detailed instructions with these two massive guns when they were shipped; or is it possible that he thought the CSA artillery officers would figure out how to correctly load them on their own?
Is there any evidence that might suggest he was under the impression that Commander John M. Brooke would be supervising the first firing of the guns, so didn't bother with a manual?

[Starr 2011]

Cannoneer

Thanks for your kind words on the Blakely website. If there’s anything there you feel is wrong, especially about his guns in America let me know!

Regarding the 13 inch guns at Charleston: the two guns were ordered to a unique model by Captain Caleb Huse in England for the CS Army, there is no reason to believe that Commander Brooke of the CS Navy in Richmond was party to the deal.

Commander Brooke addressed a letter about the Charleston guns to Blakely in the spring of 1864 through formal Navy channels by way of Matthew Maury in London, only after being consulted by his peers in the Army. From Blakely’s detailed answer it is obvious that Brooke was not involved in the specification for these two mammoth pieces. Blakely's letter seems to be the only explanation of the guns sent to Richmond.

Interestingly, it is clear from the surviving Official Records that General Josiah Gorgas, the Chief of the CS Army Ordnance Bureau, wasn’t involved in the contract either. One suspects that, if consulted, that both Brooke and Gorgas would not have accepted the design of these cast-iron great guns. No others were made to the same specification.

I can’t answer your first question about a “training manual”. There is no reference to any accompanying documentation with the guns. It would seem sensible, with our hindsight, to have provided an explanation of the construction of the guns, of their novel loading cranes and of the very complex carriages to the “buyer”. Neither Blakely nor the CS Army commission of investigation mention such obvious guide lines.

Starr

[dominick]

Starr 2011,  I am enjoying your facinating website very much!  I was told some years ago that Armstrong highjacked Blakely's ideas for the built-up gun design.  Your research on his patents seems to confirm this.  Thanks,  Dom

[The Jeff]

What happened to captainblakely.org? I first noticed it was down about a month ago but thought maybe it was temporary. I really enjoyed reading through the list of the various guns and where they were used.

[Soot]

Starr 2011's last post here wasn't that long ago, send him a pm.

[Cannoneer]

Starr,

O brother, where art thou?

[shooter2]

Had cause to go to the captian blakely page and found no problems.  Whatever was wrong is now right.
 
Shooter2

[Cannoneer]

Shooter2,

Would you post a link to the site you opened, because I can't access the old site, nor find a new one on the internet.

[cannonmn]

I'd like the link too, it sure isn't at the original URL anymore.  Someone may have to email Stephen Roberts, the site author, and see what's going on.

[Starr 2011]

Thanks for your enquiries about the Blakely website. Unfortunately Microsoft who were hosting it stopped their support in May. Combined with that I haven't been too well AND I'm moving house soon. So I haven't been able to find a new home on the web for Captain Blakely and his story yet.
In the mean time if anyone would like a PDF copy of the Blakely text (73 big pages, no pictures unfortunately) to read at their leisure send me a PM and you can have it for free.
Despite everything, still enjoying the Smoke and Fire!
Starr

[Cannoneer]

It's great to hear that you're okay even though feeling poorly, and I'm hoping for your quick return to good health. 

[cannonmn]

Starr, get well soon please!  Meanwhile, the site "Wordpress.com" will host material like yours for free, I'm pretty sure yours is under their space limit for their "free" service.  I've been putting all kinds of things on my part of their site for a few years now and am not even close to running low.
 
Microsoft is extremely liberal, tree-hugging, etc.  They probably woke up one morning and when the p_t smoke cleared, said "Oh my gooness gwashus we're hosting something about GUNS on our site, turn it off, TURN IT OFF!!"
 
Have had no such problems with Wordpress.

[flagman1776]

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