US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania
Two US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed flanking a monument in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. Many thanks to James Murray for these photos.
Two US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed flanking a monument in front of the Wyoming County Courthouse in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. Many thanks to James Murray for these photos!
The two are displayed on original iron Marsilly carriages. The two guns are:
US Navy 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 216 was cast at Cyrus Alger & Co. in 1867. As manufactured it weighed 4,523 pounds. It was mounted on the old steam frigate USS Minnesota in December of 1879. In September of 1881 it was placed aboard USS New Hampshire. It served aboard the old ship of the line until December 1897.
US Navy 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 338 was cast at Builders Foundry in 1866. As manufactured it weighted 4,530 pounds. Unusually, it continues to mount it’s brass forward sight - something rarely seen in preserved guns. In September of 1881 it was placed aboard USS New Hampshire. It served aboard the old ship of the line until December 1897.
Both guns were loaned by the Navy to the J.W. Reynolds Post #98, Grand Army of the Republic, in Tunkhannock in February 1898.
The 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds: This type of cannon was designed by the Bureau of Ordnance in 1864 due to a perceived need for lightweight 32-Pounders. The resulting 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds borrowed the general shape from Admiral Dahlgren’s 9-Inch, 10-Inch, and 11-Inch cannons. However, the 32-Pounders, like the similar 8-Inch Shell guns of 6,500 Pounds, had a simplified ring cascabel. Few if any of this type of cannon would have seen service during the Civil War. Postwar, some served ashore in saluting batteries. Others served afloat on training ships and aboard auxiliary vessels. Many never left storage. However, as the smallest of the Navy’s “big guns”, many were loaned to local communities in the 1890s and 1900s. Consequently, a relatively large number - around 90 - survive to the present.
USS New Hampshire as a training ship circa 1890.
