US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Number 307

Mar 12

US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 307 at Trophy Park

US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 307 is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1864 and weighs 3,500 pounds. According to the research of Wayne Stark, Number 307 did not see any shipboard service in the US Navy, however it was loaned to the Treasury Department from 1864 to 1876. Given that a stereotypical armament for US Revenue Service cutters during this period was a single 30-Pounder Parrott and two to four boat howitzers, Number 307 may have seen service aboard a Revenue Cutter. I would be interested to know whether ordnance records for the United States Revenue Cutter Service exist - and if Number 307’s service with that organization can be established.

Number 307 is displayed on the end of “Cannon Row” at Trophy Park next to 60-Pounder Number 61 of USS Kearsarge, which was featured in a previous post.

The 30-Pounder Parrott fired an approximately 30 pound projectile which could be solid shot or shell with a 3.25 pound propellant charge. In terms of weight of the gun, at 3,500 pounds it was similar to the very lightest 32-Pounders of the 1846 system (the 32-Pounders of 27cwt and 33cwt). Unlike those earlier 32-Pounders, it was in production during the war.

While the Parrott system has a poor reputation for endurance and safety in the present day, this reputation is entirely undeserved when it comes to the 30-Pounder. A January 1865 report lists only three US Navy 30-Pounders which failed in service - two while using experimental propellant and one after being struck on the muzzle by an enemy projectile. Additionally, only three Army 30-Pounders failed - one of those after firing 4,650 rounds (an extremely high total for the era). The 30-Pounder Parrott was a reliable, relatively light weight piece of ordnance which armed many ships of the US Navy and US Revenue Cutter Service during the American Civil War.