More on the cannon from the Alderney shipwreck
From The Times Online
The barrel of the cannon had been plugged with a tampion of wood and sealed with candle wax by sailors more than 400 years ago.
The stale air of another age whistled out with a hiss when the seal was broken finally last week. Archaeologists gathered around the weapon could smell the gunpowder and hydrogen sulphide as it escaped.
The cannon is one of a set that comprises the first archaeological evidence of a revolution in weaponry that took place during the reign of Elizabeth I – a revolution upon which an empire would be built.
…
A replica is to be cast in iron, transported to a quarry in the Midlands and fired at a replica of the side of an Elizabethan ship.Ballistics experts will measure its range. The archaeologists will examine its handling and recoil, and the damage that it could inflict.
NW Limited...History in Vogue said,
July 1, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
This is wonderful stuff!
I will have to keep watching and see what happens…thank you for this site, going to read more as I have time.
Liz
Foose said,
July 1, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Yes, I like the part where the historians in attendance scampered for cover, like something out of “Indiana Jones.”