5.3-Inch Parrott Breechloaders in Laconia, New Hampshire

Aug 27

Two US Navy 5.3-Inch Parrott Rifles which were converted to breechloaders after the war are displayed in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Two US Navy 5.3-Inch (or 60-Pounder) Parrott Rifles are displayed at Veterans Park in Laconia, New Hampshire. Both of these Parrott Rifles were converted to breechloaders in the 1870s.

Registry Number 41 was first manufactured in 1864 at West Point Foundry. It is marked as weighing 5,424 pounds. Registry Number 42 was first manufactured in 1865 at West Point Foundry. It weighs 5,410 pounds. The US Navy anchor may be seen on the barrel near the trunnions. Unlike the example at Trophy Park in Portsmouth, Virginia, both of the Laconia pieces retain their breech blocks.

They are both mounted on original iron Directing Bar Pivot Carriages. The Directing Bar carriage combined a Marsilly-style upper carriage with a single-rail pivot mounting. It was frequently used on the forecastle of US Navy sloops in the 1870s-1880s.

Registry Number 41 was carried aboard USS Juniata in the 1880s. (See her 1883 Logbook.) Prior to its conversion, Number 41 served on board USS Macedonian (according to a 2000 edition of the Registry. The weight of Number 41 matches a 60-Pounder Parrott in an 1869 Logbook of Macedonian.)

Illustration of a US Navy Directing Bar Carriage and 60-Pounder Parrott Rifle appearing in page 376 of the 1880 edition of Augustus Paul Cooke's *A Text-book of Naval Ordnance and Gunnery, Volume 2.*

Warren Ripley in Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War describes the conversion process: “The conversion was accomplished by cutting off the breech immediately in rear of the reinforcing band, reaming out the bore to a point a little past the trunnion and cutting rough threats into the rear part. Into this was inserted a steel sleeve threaded at the base to receive the breech block which, in modern terminology, would be described as the interrupted-screw type” (Ripley, pg 117).

Below is a photo of a Parrott Rifle (I believe a 6.4-Inch model) breechloader conversion aboard USS Pensacola in the 1880s. A user on Civil War Talk also shared a photo from a museum display of what appear to be 5.3-Inch Parrott breechloaders aboard USS Michigan in this forum thread.