US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle of USS Otsego in Manhattan, Kansas

Nov 9

US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 224 in Manhattan, Kansas

A US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle, Registry Number 224, is displayed in Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas. It was sent by the Navy Department in 1897 (as reported in the Manhattan Mercury on March 16th, 1898), and the Lew Gove Post of the Grand Army of the Republic along with the Women’s Relief Corps dedicated the monument in 1898 to the memory of the Defenders of the Union.

This 100-Pounder Parrott was manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1863. As manufactured it weighed 9,727 pounds. It was carried aboard USS Otsego, a Sassacus Class Gunboat. Newly commissioned, USS Otsego arrived in the Albemarle Sound in the summer of 1864. She was part of the squadron which attacked Plymouth, North Carolina after the destruction of CSS Albemarle. During that action, one of her pivot guns (she carried two 100-Pounders in that role) were put out of action by the breaking of the elevating screws.

On December 9th, 1864, Otsego and her sister ship USS Wyalusing steamed up the Roanoke River with the intention of attacking the fortifications at Rainbow Bluff. Despite having rigged spars holding a net in front of her bow to “catch” torpedoes, at 9:15pm on the 9th, Otsego hit two of the “infernal machines” in the Roanoke River near Jamesville, North Carolina. She quickly sank, fortunately without any fatalities or significant injuries. The tug USS Bazely moved to assist Otsego which remained partially above water in the shallow river, but Bazely also hit a mine and sank - sadly with the loss of two of her crew.

On December 10th, the crew of USS Wyalusing (assisted, presumably by sailors from the two sunken ships) took to boats and dragged the river for torpedoes and found a number of the devices. On or around the 11th, the guns were taken off Otsego and placed aboard Wyalusing as cargo - except for two 9-Inch Dahlgrens which Wyalusing’s captain reported adding to his battery. (See Official Records - Navies. Ser. 1. Vol.. 11. Pages 161-175).

The Type: The 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle is a cast iron rifled cannon with a wrought iron reinforcing band over its breech. It is 6.4-Inch caliber. As it’s name suggests, it could fire projectiles (solid shot or explosive shell) weighing as much as 100-Pounds. A 10 pound charge or propellant was the maximum used. The 100-Pounder Parrott had long range and good accuracy, but it also had a mixed record for reliability. A number of heavy (100-Pounder and 150/200-Pounder) Parrotts burst in action during the war. See the 1865 “Report on Rifled Guns”.

Aboard ships, the 100-Pounder could be found mounted both on broadside carriages and on pivot carriages.