revenge of the balls

[Stankfoot]

"Civil War cannonball kills Virginia relic collector"

"..... But in February, White's hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.

More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a quarter-mile from White's home in this leafy Richmond suburb."

link to story (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscivil0503,0,7702523.story)

[lleeder]

Damn I thought this was gonna be about how grlNIN's boyfriend got back at her with a kick in the cunt. http://www.ronfez.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69212

[MadMatt]

Damn I thought this was gonna be about how grlNIN's boyfriend got back at her with a kick in the cunt. http://www.ronfez.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69212

:lol::lol::lol:

I was going to post almost exactly the same thing!

:lol::lol::lol:

[Judge Smails]

I guess all that "Mission Accomplished" talk was premature.

http://yogan.meinungsverstaerker.de/fun/war_over_balls_licked.jpg

[TheMojoPin]

Wait, cannonballs explode? I thought they were just a big metal sphere flying through the air and mowing everything down in its path.

What makes them explode? Impact? It seems like that there would be a good chance of them blowing up in the damn cannon.

I love me some history, but I don't know shit about military tech.

[A.J.]

Hmmm...where was El Mudo when this happened?

[MadMatt]

Wait, cannonballs explode? I thought they were just a big metal sphere flying through the air and mowing everything down in its path.

What makes them explode? Impact? It seems like that there would be a good chance of them blowing up in the damn cannon.

I love me some history, but I don't know shit about military tech.

Based on the description in the brief article I read, the type of "cannonball" the guy had was probably a Shell or a Case projectile.


Shell projectiles would have a delayed charge/fuse that would break the projectile into a relatively small number of fragments. The fragments were dangerous, but the explosion could also cause fires and damage to fortifications.

Case projectiles were similar to Shells, but had a smaller charge and contained shrapnel designed to take out personnel. The charge was enough to break apart the case and disperse the shrapnel (which did all the damage).


I am GUESSING that it was a Shell, because the explosion was substantial and the case seems to have fragmented rather than shooting out a lot of "formal" shrapnel. I'm saying this because there was a fragment found lodged in a neighbor's porch a quarter-mile away, which points to the more powerful charge of a Shell (IMO).

There is more I could say, but this is already a boring post...

[MadMatt]

Hmmm...where was El Mudo when this happened?

I thought of El Mudo as soon as I read about this. I actually expected him to have already posted in this thread - or to have created it.

Miss that history-lovin' bastard... :down:

[Crippler]

Wait, cannonballs explode? I thought they were just a big metal sphere flying through the air and mowing everything down in its path.

Holy crap, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

What makes them explode? Impact? It seems like that there would be a good chance of them blowing up in the damn cannon.

Also my very next thought. Damn, Civil War era weapons were apparently a lot more advanced than I give them credit for.

Chalk this up to "you learn something new everyday." I'll be damned.

[Bob Impact]

What makes them explode? Impact?

Leave me out of this.

[MadMatt]

What makes them explode? Impact? It seems like that there would be a good chance of them blowing up in the damn cannon.


Also my very next thought. Damn, Civil War era weapons were apparently a lot more advanced than I give them credit for.

Chalk this up to "you learn something new everyday." I'll be damned.

I forgot to address this issue - and it is amazing when you look back at weapons technology. Humans have known how to kill each other in increasingly complex, ingenious, and dangerous ways for centuries.

Cannonballs could be solid ordinance, but you also had explosive rounds (like mentioned above), Grape Shot, Chain Shot, and other types.

Exploding rounds (again, as above) would often have a delayed fuse that would set off the charge. However, if the cannon had a rifled barrel they could employ a Shell with a percussive charge that would detonate the shell on impact.

[TheMojoPin]

Grape Shot, Chain Shot

http://www.pirates-corsaires.com/img/sid-meieir-pirates.jpg

FTW.

I own everyone in that game taking down enemy sails with chain shot and then pounding them into near-sinking/explosion with volley ater volley of grape shot.

[midwestjeff]

It's started.

The South is rising again.