Note the Quoin used to elevate or depress the tube.
And 30 feet down the deck, you come to this much more modern, elevation screw. Is this authentic??
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You'd really have to get into the history of the ship to be sure,
but both cannon types were probably used on her, maybe even at the same time.
The Constitution was the first warship built by the new US govt., and saw action through & well after the Civil War.
She even did some coastal defense/patrol missions during WWI.
After the war; she needed re-fit & repair, and was not really fit for sea duty.
Then: When 'Steel Hulls' became the new fad,,,,,,, she was found to be obsolete,,, and mothballed.
During the Great Depression-
There was a 'Penny Drive' to collect pennies from school kids all over the country that paid for her new sails.
(Which even then, were about $300,000 dollars.)
At the same time- she was (otherwise) semi-restored, at govt. expense:
Scheduled to be put be put on active retirement, as a display, only to leave the dock for ceremonies.
All the crew was active duty US Navy sailors until not too many years ago when she was given over to the National Park Service****.
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When The USS Constitution does leave port for cermonies-
Her Crew is still all USN personel, mostly drawn from the Cadets at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Who, even today-
(as Mid-shipmen) are trained how to drive, and 'man', the Academy's own,,, but smaller, 3 masted, "Tall Ship".
They all take thier turn, 'On Watch', navigateing with only a Chart, a Sextant & a Compass-
as they run it up & down the East coast a few trimes every year.
*****
Over the centuries:
The USS Constitution was re-fitted, rebuilt, repaired, modified, and 'modernized' a few times.
The newer screw type elevated guns were probably swapped out as they became available from other damaged,
or even captured warships. They might have been added a few here and there, every few years, as budgets allowed.
Along the same lines:
I was digging around for Civil War era photos to use for ideas on my bowling ball mortar, and found pictures of 1841
mortars in a salvage yard that had and used the Quoin. But most of the newer 1860's war production mortars
have the rack (& pinion) gear looking thing on the back end, or a mid-under barrel screw type elevator.
The govt. more than likely had all 3 types in use at the same time, and possibly in the same units back then.
Back in her day, the military used stuff until it wore out, just like everybody else did back then.
There wasn't 'deficit spending', or even much credit like we have now.
Newer equipment came in when it did, but the old stuff didn't get discarded unless it was beyond repair,
or just hopelessly obsolete....... like what happened to flintlock small arms when the percussion cap came along.