US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer of USS Constitution in Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Jun 24

US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 39 is displayed in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Photo by James Murray

US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 39 is displayed in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for taking these photos!

Number 39 was cast in 1855 at the Washington Navy Yard. As originally cast it weighed 761 pounds.

The “Armament of Naval Vessels: 1841-1863” shows that Number 39 was initially mounted on the sailing frigate USS St. Lawrence. (National Archives RG 74 Entry 111 Volume 1. Page 60.) Number 39 may therefore be a witness to the Battle of Hampton Roads when USS St. Lawrence fired on the ironclad CSS Virginia at range. St. Lawrence was decommissioned in 1863 and used as a storeship from that point.

From 1863 to 1865, Number 39 may have been the sole armament aboard USS Stonewall, a small schooner which had been captured by the US Navy and was used as a ship’s tender.

In 1866, Number 39 was placed aboard the iron hulled tug USS Pinta (NARA RG 74 Entry 112 Vol. 1. Pp. 14-15). Pinta served served at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and at Key West. Number 39 seems to have been removed at Philadelphia in 1876.

In 1877 Number 39 was “selected for Constitution” and is recorded being placed aboard USS Constitution in June of 1877 but removed again in December of 1877 (NARA RG 74 Entry 112 Vol. 1. Pp. 14-15). In 1877, Constitution had just been subject to a significant repair which had been intended to prepare the ship for public display during the Centennial celebrations of the United States in 1876. Unfortunately, 1876 passed before the work was completed. Newly repaired, Constitution served as a training vessel for boy sailors at Philadelphia. In 1878, Constitution would sail to France, but Number 39 seems to have been removed by this point. (Fitz-Enz, David. “Old Ironsides”, pg. 207).

Number 39 is the only surviving artillery piece of any description for which I have found evidence in Bureau of Ordnance Records to have served aboard USS Constitution prior to 1900. The ship’s current “armament” dates to the late 1920s, and that “armament” replaced another set cast for display only in 1907. The 1907 guns have been widely disbursed to communities around the nation where they are sometimes believed to be original to the ship’s War of 1812 service. (If someone knows of another with DOCUMENTED connection to Constitution, I’d love to hear it!)

Number 39 was loaned by the US Navy to the “Hancock Post, Grand Army of the Republic” in October 1899. According to the Borough of Downingtown’s website, Number 39 was restored recently by a public drive and placed in a new location at a memorial to area service members.