US 15” TRIPLE FUSED RODMAN CANNONBALL.

US 15” TRIPLE FUSED RODMAN CANNONBALL. Excavated. Fired. This is an extremely rare triple watercap fused 15” Rodman ball that was fired from either the U.S.S. Montauk or the U.S.S. Lehigh at Battery Pringle on the Stono River near Charleston, South Carolina

USS Montauk, a 1335-ton Passaic class monitor built at Greenpoint, New York, was commissioned in December 1862 under the command of Commander John L. Worden (Captain of the famous Monitor). She arrived at Port Royal, South Carolina, in mid-January 1863 to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Late in the month she bombarded Fort McAllister, Georgia, in a test of her combat abilities. At the end of February, Montauk returned to Ft. McAllister to shell and destroy the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake and early in the next month covered another bombardment of the fort by three of her sister monitors. She was hit several times by enemy cannon fire in these actions and also received damage when a mine (or “torpedo” in the terminology of the day) detonated near her hull just after she had attacked the Rattlesnake.

On 7 April 1863, Montauk was one of nine ironclads, including seven monitors that made a close-range bombardment of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, S.C. During the summer of that year, she participated in a series of attacks on the Charleston harbor fortifications that led to the capture of Battery Wagner in September. Montauk continued to serve in the vicinity of Charleston until February 1865, when she moved north to take part in operations on the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. While stationed off Washington, D.C., in late April 1865, Montauk served as the platform for an examination of the body of John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Abraham Lincoln. She also was a temporary prison for some of Booth’s co-conspirators.

During the Charleston campaign the US gunners on the warships learned how to skip these massive cannonballs on the water so that the shells would skip over the fort walls and land inside the fort. This would be the most effective form of destruction within the fort. All three water cap fuses unscrew. CONDITION: Generally good. Some minor surface indentions from rolling on a hard surface. 4-55788 JM192 (3,000-5,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2005

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2001	$3,852.00	US 15” TRIPLE FUSED RODMAN CANNONBALL. Excavated. Fired. This is an extremely rare triple watercap fused 15” Rodman ball that was fired from either the U.S.S. Montauk or the U.S.S. Lehigh at Battery Pringle on the Stono River near Charleston, South Carolina USS Montauk, a 1335-ton Passaic class monitor built at Greenpoint, New York, was commissioned in December 1862 under the command of Commander John L. Worden (Captain of the famous Monitor). She arrived at Port Royal, South Carolina, in mid-January 1863 to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Late in the month she bombarded Fort McAllister, Georgia, in a test of her combat abilities. At the end of February, Montauk returned to Ft. McAllister to shell and destroy the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake and early in the next month covered another bombardment of the fort by three of her sister monitors. She was hit several times by enemy cannon fire in these actions and also received damage when a mine (or “torpedo” in the terminology of the day) detonated near her hull just after she had attacked the Rattlesnake. On 7 April 1863, Montauk was one of nine ironclads, including seven monitors that made a close-range bombardment of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, S.C. During the summer of that year, she participated in a series of attacks on the Charleston harbor fortifications that led to the capture of Battery Wagner in September. Montauk continued to serve in the vicinity of Charleston until February 1865, when she moved north to take part in operations on the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. While stationed off Washington, D.C., in late April 1865, Montauk served as the platform for an examination of the body of John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Abraham Lincoln. She also was a temporary prison for some of Booth’s co-conspirators. During the Charleston campaign the US gunners on the warships learned how to skip these massive cannonballs on the water so that the shells would skip over the fort walls and land inside the fort. This would be the most effective form of destruction within the fort. All three water cap fuses unscrew. CONDITION: Generally good. Some minor surface indentions from rolling on a hard surface. 4-55788 JM192 (3,000-5,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2005 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

.red{fill:#B50938;} .white{fill:#FFFFFF;} .blue{fill:#005596;}