US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 36
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer Number 36 at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer (Heavy), Registry Number 36, is displayed in Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was cast in 1854 at the Washington Navy Yard. According to the research of Wayne E. Stark, it was “shipped to Norfolk for the ship USS Constellation on which it served until April 1866. It was placed on board the steam tug Pinta for less than a month in April 1876. An ordnance survey of June 20, 1888 noted its vent was badly worn. It was declared obsolete and designated "for yard use" at Norfolk by order of September 17, 1890.”
As manufactured it weighed 754 pounds. It is displayed on an original iron landing carriage. John Dahlgren designed his boat howitzers to be used to support landing parties ashore on this type of carriage. The howitzer could also be mounted on a slide in the bows of a boat to provide fire support for a landing party ashore, and the howitzer could be transferred quickly between the boat mounting and the landing carriage. During the American Civil War, many boat howitzers were mounted on their slides aboard ship to provide rapidly firing light artillery - especially aboard ships serving close to shore or in confined waters.
Photos of my 2024 tour of Constellation at Baltimore may be seen here: https://www.santee1821.net/preserved-artillery/uss-constellation
USS Constellation, built in 1854 at Gosport Shipyard (as Norfolk Naval Shipyard was then called) is preserved at Baltimore, Maryland
A boat howitzer mounted in a ship’s boat in the bows with the landing carriage stored at the stern. From Lieutenant J.A. Dahlgren. Form of Exercise and Maneuver for the Boat-Howitzers of the U.S. Navy (Philadelphia, PA): Printed by A. Hart, 1852).
