US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer displayed in Westborough, Massachusetts

Aug 11

US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer Number 331 / 25 at St. Luke’s Cemetery in Westborough, Massachusetts - Photo by George Morgan

US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 331 / 25 was manufactured as a 12-Pounder (3.4-Inch) Rifled Boat Howitzer in 1864. Original weight was 870 pounds. It served aboard USS Moccasin, a tugboat taken into Navy service. Its rifling eventually wore out (a problem with bronze rifles generally), and at some point it was bored out to a 12-Pounder smoothbore (4.62-Inch bore) and marked with its new weight of 752 pounds. Bureau of Ordnance records state that in 1882 it was designated "for Nantucket." I presume this means for the Passaic-class Monitor Nantucket which saw service in the 1880s. It is marked as being transferred to the Washington Navy Yard in 1891. USS Nantucket was refitted around this time at New York and was sent in 1893 to become the training ship at Wilmington for the North Carolina Naval Militia. Photographic evidence from Nantucket's North Carolina service in the 1890s shows 3-Inch BLR Howitzers aboard.

(The original registry number as a Rifle was 331. It was changed to 331/25 after conversion to a smoothbore. It may be the 25th rifle so converted.)

The projection on the left side of the tube is the forward sight. The bracket for the rear sight can be seen to the left of the hammer mounting point.

These photos were taken by George Morgan and initially posted in the Facebook Group “Big Cannon Project.” They are used with his permission.