Does anyone recoginize this? A tool maybe?

[CaribbeanDiver]

This is from a ship that went down in early 1700.

There have been maybe 20-25 of these.? Found mostly with or near cannon balls.

The photos make it look like it may have some wood, but they are all iron. It is about 10" long.

Any input is appreciated.

 

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[omnicognic]

Perhaps they are the ends of tools related to firing the cannon such as ramrods, swabs and even levers used in naval warfare to move the cannon into firing position? Here are some modern examples of such cannon accessories:

 

[CaribbeanDiver]

Very interesting.

 

[KevGA]

They look like whaling tools:

http://eheritage.statelibrary.tas.g...N=St+Helens+History+Room&ID=122412&ImageNum=1

http://www.sagharborwhalingmuseum.org/inventory7.shtml

 

[CaribbeanDiver]

A decent call but considering this is a military ship, and in the Eastern Caribbean, I doubt they were doing any whaling. Also, the head is pretty thick.

 

[old gringo]

Here is some info on tools of the Cannoneer

"Tools
Gunner's equipment was numerous. There were the tompion (a lid that fitted over the muzzle of the gun to keep wind and weather out of the bore) and the lead cover for the vent; water buckets for the sponges and passing boxes for the powder; scrapers and tools for "searching" the bore to find dangerous cracks or holes; chocks for the wheels; blocks and rollers, lifting jacks, and gins for moving guns; and drills and augers for clearing the vent. But among the most important tools for every day firing were the following:

Handspikes were big pinch bars to manhandle cannon. They were used to move the carriage and to lift the breech of the gun so that the elevating quoin or screw might be adjusted. They were of different types, but were essentially 6-foot-long wooden poles, shod with iron. Some of them, like the Marsilly handspike, had rollers at the toe so that the wheelless rear of the carriage could be lifted with the handspike and rolled with comparative ease.

The wormer was a double screw, something like a pair of intertwined corkscrews, fixed to a long handle. Inserted in the gun bore and twisted, it seized and drew out wads or the remains of cartridge bags stuck in the gun after firing. Worm screws were sometimes mounted in the head of the sponge, so that the piece could be sponged and wormed at the same time.

The ladle was the most important of all the gunner's tools in the early years, since it was not only the measure for the powder but the only way to dump the powder in the bore at the proper place. It was generally made of copper, the same gauge as the windage of the gun; that is, the copper was just thick enough to fit between ball and bore.

Essentially, the ladle is merely a scoop, a metal cylinder secured to a wooden disk on a long staff. But before the introduction of the powder cartridge, cutting a ladle to the right size was one of the most important accomplishments a gunner had to learn. Collado, that Spanish mathematician of the sixteenth century, used the culverin ladle as the master pattern. It was 4-1/2 calibers long and would carry exactly the weight of the ball in powder. Ladles for lesser guns could be proportioned (that is, shortened) from the master pattern.

The ladle full of powder was pushed home in the bore. Turning the handle dumped the charge, which then had to be packed with the rammer. As powder charges were lessened in later years, the ladle was shortened; by 1750, it was only three shot diameters long. With cartridges, the ladle was no longer needed for loading the gun, but it was still handy for withdrawing the round.

The sponge was a wooden cylinder about a foot long, the same diameter as the shot, and covered with lambskin. Like all bore tools, it was mounted on a long staff; after being dampened with water, it was used for cleaning the bore of the piece after firing. Essentially, sponging made sure there were no sparks in the bore when the new charge was put in. Often the sponge was on the opposite end of the rammer, and sometimes, instead of being lambskin-covered, the sponge was a bristle brush.

The rammer was a wooden cylinder about the same diameter and length as the shot. It pushed home the powder charge, the wad, and the shot. As a precaution against faulty or double loading, marks on the rammer handle showed the loaders when the different parts of the charge were properly seated.

The gunner's pick or priming wire was a sharp pointed tool resembling a common ice pick blade. It was used to clear the vent of the gun and to pierce the powder bag so that flame from the primer could ignite the charge.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sail-armament.htm