Английская Википедия:20-pounder Parrott rifle
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox weapon
The 20-pounder Parrott rifle, Model 1861 was a cast iron muzzle-loading rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and employed in field artillery units during the American Civil War. As with other Parrott rifles, the gun breech was reinforced by a distinctive wrought iron reinforcing band. The gun fired a Шаблон:Cvt projectile to a distance of Шаблон:Cvt at an elevation of 5°. The 20-pounder Parrott rifle could fire shell, shrapnel shell (case shot), canister shot, and more rarely solid shot. In spite of the reinforcing band, the 20-pounder earned a dubious reputation for bursting without warning, killing or injuring gunners. The Confederate States of America also manufactured copies of the gun.
Background
Robert Parker Parrott was an ordnance officer in the US Army who inspected cannons manufactured at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York. In 1836, president of the company Gouverneur Kemble persuaded Parrott to resign from the Army and join his firm. Several years before the American Civil War, gun founders grappled with the problem of rifling cannons.Шаблон:Sfn Bronze smoothbore cannons had windage – or space – between the round shot and the barrel. Windage caused the propellant gases from the gunpowder explosion to leak out, but it also put less stress on the gun barrel. With rifled cannon, the ammunition was designed to expand the shell so that there was no windage between the projectile and the gun barrel. This meant that a smaller gunpowder charge could throw a rifled projectile farther, but it also meant that the gun barrel was put under greater stress.Шаблон:Sfn Bronze cannons infrequently burst because the metal was flexible. Cast iron was stronger than bronze, but it was also more rigid. This made cast iron guns more prone to burst at the breech or muzzle.Шаблон:Sfn
Bronze was too soft a metal for rifled guns. Cast iron was hard enough to take rifling but it was too brittle. Parrott's solution to this puzzle was a cast iron rifled cannon that had a wrought iron reinforcing band wrapped around the breech.Шаблон:Sfn When banded guns were manufactured, gravity acted on the bands as they cooled, making an uneven fit around the gun barrel. Parrott overcame the problem by slowly rotating the gun barrel while it was being cooled. The Parrott rifle was first developed in 1859–1860.Шаблон:Sfn Parrott later noted of his invention, "I do not profess to think that they are the best gun in the world, but I think they were the best practical thing that could be got at the time".Шаблон:Sfn The U.S. government bought the first ten 10-pounder Parrott rifles on 23 May 1861.Шаблон:Sfn The U.S. Ordnance Department trusted Robert Parrott to such a degree that he was allowed to be the inspecting officer until the end of 1862. This was a unique arrangement since Parrott was also the manufacturer.Шаблон:Sfn
Manufacture
The West Point Foundry produced about 300 20-pounder Parrott rifles between September 1861 and July 1864. The gun barrels weighted between Шаблон:Cvt and Шаблон:Cvt. The rifling consisted of five lands and grooves of right-hand gaining twist (increasing toward the muzzle) and the caliber (bore diameter) was Шаблон:Cvt.Шаблон:Sfn The 20-pounder Parrott had a reinforcing band Шаблон:Cvt long and Шаблон:Cvt thick. The Register of Inspections recorded numbers 1 through 284. However, there were gaps in the record and surviving guns have been found with numbers in the gaps. Also, there is a gun at Gettysburg National Military Park with registry number 296, so it is likely that the real number of guns produced is at least 296.Шаблон:Sfn The cost per gun was approximately $380.Шаблон:Sfn A number of the guns were designed for Navy use and had a block and pin that fitted over the cascabel (end knob). Only 15 Federal-made guns are known to have survived to the present day.Шаблон:Sfn
The Tredegar Iron Works in the Confederacy produced 45 20-pounder Parrott rifles between August 1862 and December 1864. Like the Federal version, the guns were rifled with five grooves in a right-hand twist. The Confederate pattern differed from the Federal gun by having a reinforcing band Шаблон:Cvt long and Шаблон:Cvt thick. This resulted in the guns averaging Шаблон:Cvt each, which is Шаблон:Cvt more than the heaviest Federal pieces. The Noble Brothers & Company of Rome, Georgia contracted to manufacture 20-pounder Parrott rifles for the Confederacy, but it is not known if they were produced and none have survived.Шаблон:Sfn There are 14 surviving Confederate-made 20-pounder Parrott rifles of which two have markings from the Macon Arsenal and the others were made at Tredegar. The two Macon Arsenal guns have weights averaging Шаблон:Cvt.Шаблон:Sfn
Specifications
The 20-pounder Parrott rifle had a bore (caliber) with a diameter of Шаблон:Cvt and fired a projectile weighing Шаблон:Cvt. Its gun barrel was Шаблон:Cvt long and weighed about Шаблон:Cvt. The gunpowder charge weighed Шаблон:Cvt and fired the projectile with a muzzle velocity of Шаблон:Cvt to a distance of Шаблон:Cvt at 5° elevation.Шаблон:Sfn A smoothbore cannon's projectile usually retained only one-third of its muzzle velocity at Шаблон:Cvt and its round shot could be seen in the air. At the same distance, a rifled projectile often retained two-thirds of its muzzle velocity and was not visible while in flight. A rifled projectile only became visible if it started to tumble out of control. Tumbling occurred when the shell failed to take the grooves inside the gun barrel or when the spin wore off in flight.Шаблон:Sfn
Rifling allowed elongated/heavier rounds to be fired. For example, smoothbore cannons of the same 3.67 caliber as the 20-pounder Parrott fired only 6 pound round shot. For example the M1841 6-pounder field gun.Шаблон:Sfn
The 20-pounder Parrott rifle was mounted on the Шаблон:Cvt carriage for the M1841 12-pounder field gun.Шаблон:Sfn The 20-pounder Parrott rifle fired case shot (shrapnel), shell, and canister shot. The use of bolts (solid shot) was rare and it was usually not provided in the ammunition chests. Firing a shell without a fuse would achieve the same result as firing a solid shot from a rifled gun.Шаблон:Sfn Parrott ammunition was designed to be used. The Parrott rifles could also fire Hotchkiss ammunition, but gunners were not allowed to use Schenkl ammunition.Шаблон:Sfn One flaw in Parrott ammunition was the position of the sabot was at the shell's base. This meant that the final impulse on the projectile as it left the gun was on its base, possibly causing the shell to wobble in flight.Шаблон:Sfn
When firing Canister shot rifled guns were not as effective as canister fired from a 12-pounder Napoleon or a M1841 12-pounder howitzer. First, the rifled gun's 3.67-inch bore was narrower than the 12-pounder's Шаблон:Cvt bore and thus could fire fewer canister balls. Second, the gun's rifling caused the canister to be thrown in an irregular pattern. Union General Henry Jackson Hunt asserted that rifled guns had a canister range only half the Шаблон:Cvt effective range of canister fired from the 12-pounder Napoleon.Шаблон:Sfn
Early in the war, many Union batteries were organized with six guns of identical type.Шаблон:Sfn However, as will be noted, batteries armed with 20-pounder Parrott rifles often had four guns.Шаблон:Sfn Each gun required two 6-horse teams. The first team pulled the gun and its limber and the second team pulled the caisson (ammunition wagon).Шаблон:Sfn Each caisson carried two ammunition chests and the limber carried one additional ammunition chest.Шаблон:Sfn In addition to its guns, limbers, and caissons, each battery had two additional vehicles, a supply wagon and a portable forge.Шаблон:Sfn The 20-pounder Parrott rifle's great weight made it difficult for a 6-horse team to pull. The guns were among the heaviest pieces that could be classified as field artillery, so few were taken along with the field armies.Шаблон:Sfn The 10-pounder Parrott rifle was more frequently utilized.Шаблон:Sfn Under normal conditions, infantry could be expected to march Шаблон:Cvt in six hours, while it would take an artillery battery 10 hours to march Шаблон:Cvt.Шаблон:Sfn
History
At the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862, the Federal Army of the Potomac employed 22 20-pounder Parrott rifles while the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had none.Шаблон:Sfn The 5th New York Independent Light Artillery (Taft's) and 1st New York Light Artillery Battalion, Batteries A (Wever's), B (von Kleiser's), and C (Langner's) were all 4-gun 20-pounder Parrott batteries belonging to the V Corps.Шаблон:Sfn Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery had two 20-pounder Parrott rifles, three 10-pounder Parrott rifles, and one iron 12-pounder howitzer.Шаблон:Sfn Simmonds' Battery and the 4-gun 20-pounder Parrott armed 2nd U.S. Artillery, Battery E (Benjamin's) served in the IX Corps.Шаблон:Sfn During the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862, the 5th New York Battery and Batteries A, B, and C of the New York Battalion served in the Artillery Reserve.Шаблон:Sfn The Artillery Reserve was posted on the east bank of the Rappahannock River on Stafford Heights, opposite the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia.Шаблон:Sfn
Before the Second Battle of Corinth on 3–4 October 1862, William Rosecrans built several lunettes to defend the west side of Corinth, Mississippi. Battery Phillips was Шаблон:Cvt north of Corona Female College, Battery Williams was Шаблон:Cvt northeast of Phillips, and Battery Robinett was Шаблон:Cvt north of Williams and Шаблон:Cvt west of Corinth. Battery Williams contained 30-pounder Parrott rifles while Battery Robinett was armed with three 20-pounder Parrott rifles and manned by Company C of the 1st U.S. Infantry Regiment.Шаблон:Sfn On the first day, Captain Henry Richardson's Battery D, 1st Missouri Light Artillery helped repel two Confederate attacks but lost one gun.Шаблон:Sfn On the second day, the Confederate division led by Martin E. Green routed the division of Thomas Alfred Davies in the Union right-center, but not before the Union guns in Battery Powell inflicted serious casualties. Guarding the north side of Corinth, Battery Powell was defended by three 20-pounder Parrott rifles of Richardson's battery and two M1841 24-pounder howitzers. These guns were overrun.Шаблон:Sfn However, the tide turned and Federal troops recaptured the position, re-manned the guns, and fired on the retreating Confederates.Шаблон:Sfn In the center, Dabney H. Maury's Confederate division launched an assault on David S. Stanley's Federal division. Stanley's position was buttressed by Battery Robinett which became the focus of gallant but unsuccessful Confederate attacks. Losses on both sides were heavy.Шаблон:Sfn
Union General Quincy Adams Gillmore believed that Parrott rifles were as good as the best artillery despite their "unequal endurance". He wrote that the Parrotts were easy for gun crews to operate. Nevertheless, the 20-pounder Parrott rifles had many critics. Confederate General J. Johnston Pettigrew complained that a battery of four 20-pounder Parrotts proved to be worthless. He wrote that half their shells exploded almost as soon as they left the gun and many of the others wobbled in flight. Finally, one of the guns burst, killing one gunner and injuring two others. Confederate Major John Haskell wanted the 20-pounder Parrotts taken away from the Macon Light Artillery to spare its men possible injury. Union General Hunt protested that the 20-pounder Parrotts were "very unsatisfactory"[1] because the shells were unreliable and dangerous to Federal troops. He noted that two of the guns burst at Antietam and one at Fredericksburg. Hunt tried to suppress the use of the 20-pounders in the Army of the Potomac. One of the guns of Taft's Battery (5th New York) burst at Gettysburg.Шаблон:Sfn Parrott rifles were not employed again after the Civil War.Шаблон:Sfn
Civil War artillery
Notes
References
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite web
- Шаблон:Cite web
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite web
Further reading