Bomb squad safely detonates Civil War cannonball found in Maryland

[Mr. Digger]

Did someone on the forum find this? Says it was found by a detectorist. Link to article below. That fuse looks pretty viable!



https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/maryland-cannonball-civil-war-detonate-trnd/index.html

 

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[ToddsPoint]

One more rare Civil War artifact destroyed by overzealous bomb squad guys. Paranoia runs deep in those guys and they love to blow things up, no matter the history or value. There are Civil War collectors that could have safely disarmed this thing. Ask the CannonballGuy. Gary

 

[Ralph558]

Genuinely didn't think it was still called a cannonball when it was rigged to explode. I thought the internal charge was what defined it as a shell*. I thought round-shot was the ball type projectile, then shot for when it was scatter (canister or grapeshot) and then shell for when you've got an explosive projectile. Where's an artillery nerd when you need one?

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[Tpmetal]

Genuinely didn't think it was still called a cannonball when it was rigged to explode. I thought the internal charge was what defined it as a shell*. I thought round-shot was the ball type projectile, then shot for when it was scatter (canister or grapeshot) and then shell for when you've got an explosive projectile. Where's an artillery nerd when you need one?

Don't worry, we have the number one artillery nerd named cannonballguy. Hopefully he sees this and responds

 

[RustyRelics]

This the only and only time I'll ever say, F the police. Son of a turd!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Did someone on the forum find this? Says it was found by a detectorist. Link to article below. That fuse looks pretty viable!

View attachment 1913655

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/maryland-cannonball-civil-war-detonate-trnd/index.html

Those fuses aren't waterproof and the powder inside would be mostly mud by now. That one could have been easily cleaned out by someone who knows how to do it safely. Aquachigger has a couple good videos about disarming shells, and about what 170 year old black powder actually does when it's removed from the shell

 

[GoldieLocks]

I thought they were solid metal balls? Why would they need to be blown up? * It was like flying into a Paris airport and finding out they blew up abandoned or lost luggage! I laughed! No going to lost and found there.