The 32-Pounders of 51 Hundredweight of Lowell, Massachusetts
Four 32-Pounders of 51 Hundredweight in Lowell, Massachusetts
Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for venturing out into the snow taking and sharing these photos!
Four US Navy 32-Pounders of 51 Hundredweight surround a flagpole and a section of veteran’s graves at Lowell Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The cannons are 32-Pounders of 51 Hundredweight. Part of the system of ordnance adopted by the US Navy in 1845, this weight of 32-Pounder was intended to be a chase gun aboard the navy’s larger sailing frigates and ships of the line. It fired a 32-Pound solid shot with an (up to) 8 pound charge of powder as propellant.
One hundred two 32-Pounders of this type cast were for the Navy in 1846-1847 (all by Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia), but only thirteen are known to exist. Nine of those which exist may be found in Massachusetts: four in Weymouth, these four in Lowell Cemetery, and another in Highland Cemetery in Norwood. Together these form a consecutive set of registry numbers from 82 to 90. (Number 81 is in Waseca, Minnesota.)
The four cannons are:
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 82 cast at Tredegar Foundry in 1847. Weight as cast 51-2-05 Hundredweight (5,773 pounds)
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 83 cast at Tredegar Foundry in 1847, weight as cast 51-2-02 (5,770 pounds)
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 85 cast at Tredegar Foundry in 1847, weight as cast 51-2-09 (5,777 pounds)
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 86 cast at Tredegar Foundry in 1847, weight as cast 51-2-08 (5,776 pounds)
The registry published by Messers Olmstead, Stark, and Tucker does not list any known Civil War service for these four cannons.
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 82
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 82
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 83
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 83
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 85
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 85
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 86
US Navy 32-Pounder 51 Cwt Number 86 in the snow
