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Author Topic: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA  (Read 732 times)

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Offline Double D

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Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« on: December 25, 2010, 07:47:38 AM »
I was going through some old photo's and came across these pictures of the cannons in the town square at Punxsutawney, PA.

Anybody know what they are?



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Offline Ex 49'er

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2010, 07:59:56 AM »
These cannons must be 'no-see-ums'. Thanks, DD.    ;D
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Offline Double D

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #2 on: December 25, 2010, 08:17:55 AM »
Quote from: Ex 49'er on December 25, 2010, 07:59:56 AM
These cannons must be 'no-see-ums'. Thanks, DD.    ;D

Sorry wife called lunch.....
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Offline Max Caliber

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #3 on: December 25, 2010, 08:48:06 AM »
The top one appears to be an Austrian, 24.5cm muzzle-loading heavy trench mortar from WW1. The second one is apparently a 4.5-inch U. S. iron siege rifle, pattern of 1861, mounted on a light field carriage, which appears to be losing the battle with the weight of the barrel.

The mortar could be the German 17cm "Minenwerfer" mortar which closely resembled the Austrian mortar. Maybe someone in the area could check it out.
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Offline seacoastartillery

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2010, 08:55:51 AM »
    If you live near Portland, Maine, you can see two of these 1861 siege rifles at Ethan Allen Park, on a large, grassy knoll overlooking Casco Bay and Fort Gorges.  These tubes are really impressive close up; their length is surprising, but we have read that artillerymen back in the day preferred the 4.2" Parrott because of superior ammunition.

   The Trench Mortar is interesting because of the munitions it fired.  A fairly low velocity launch allowed thinner walls and more explosive. Unfortunately for some WWI Germans, this combo was carried to extremes and some catastrophic failures of these shells happened upon firing.  :o
I saved a picture of one of these a while back with some interesting photo credit info.

Tracy and Mike


This photo is attributed to Ande Lucas of Croydon, Surrey, UK whose great-grandfather, a Saxon Feldartillerie gunner, is shown (on the right in glasses).  This pic was posted on the Great War Forum in March of 2008.



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Offline BoomLover

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2010, 10:22:23 AM »
I do like the sleek, smooth lines of the 1861 siege rifle! Steens makes one pretty similar...BoomLover
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Offline Artilleryman

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Re: Cannon spotting-Punxsutawney, PA
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2010, 10:38:42 AM »
The 4.5 inch Siege Rifle does look like the 3 inch Ordnance Rifle, but is made of cast iron instead of wrought iron.  It had a problem with vent erosion.  This gun saw little use in the Civil War, probably due to being too heavy to readily move in the field with the army, and not as effective as the heavier siege guns against fortifications.
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