US Navy 32-Pounders of 57 Hundredweight in Needham, Massachusetts

Jul 22

Four US Navy 32-Pounders of 57 Hundredweight are displayed in Nehoiden Cemetery in Needham, Massachusetts. Photo by James Murray.

Four US Navy 32-Pounders of 57 Hundredweight are displayed as a unique monument in Nehoiden Cemetery in Needham, Massachusetts. A plaque on the display states that they were placed in 1902 by Post 181, Grand Army of the Republic. Bureau of Ordnance Records indicate that these four 32-Pounders were sent to the Boston Navy Yard after their 1848-1849 manufacture by Cyrus Alger & Company. There they remained in storage until loaned to Galen Orr Post 181 in Needham.

Many thanks to friend-of-the-page James Murray for sharing these photos!

The four 32-Pounders are:

US Navy 32-Pounder Number 501. Manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Co. in 1848. Weight as manufactured was 56-3-21.
US Navy 32-Pounder Number 503. Manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Co. in 1849. Weight as manufactured was 58-0-09.
US Navy 32-Pounder Number 504. Manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Co. in 1849. Weight as manufactured was 57-2-05. This is the cannon on top.
US Navy 32-Pounder Number 505. Manufactured by Cyrus Alger & Co. in 1849. Weight as manufactured was 56-2-20.

The 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight was part of a series of 32-Pounders introduced by the Navy around 1846. The intention was to equip the fleet with uniform batteries of 32-Pounders. The 32-Pounder of 57cwt was intended for the gun decks of heavy frigates and ships of the line. Lighter weight 32-Pounders were cast for smaller ships and the spar decks of larger ships. While all fired the same projectiles, maximum propellant charges varied considerably. The 57 Hundredweight gun could use an up to 9-Pound propellant charge. While the intention had been to create uniform batteries, the 8-Inch shell guns which were initially intended to be a supplement to the heavy 32-Pounders were found to be much more effective and formed ever larger portions of ships’ batteries.

The 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight was perhaps the oldest gun the US Navy kept in inventory into the late 19th century. An 1875 note in Bureau of Ordnance records note that the chief of the Bureau ordered the guns kept as they were suitable candidates for modernization - one was even converted to a rifled breechloader. Guns which had never seen service afloat seem to have been preferred for retention as these mobilization assets. Therefore many of the more than 100 survivors of the type were never issued to a ship.