Well I have a dumb question I think ? I've been finding little brick, or mortar plugs. At first I thought they were from homes, and had to do with construction. But now I realize that they must be marine related. I first found these in the bahamas, and now on an isolated beach with no homes.....they must come from the sea. I think they may be related to boats/ships of the 1800s ??
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Dang it Bart.
It's morning.
Oh wait , it's morning...
Fiber? Cork?
Why didn't they float away?
Any pitch indications?
Smooth bore wadding comes to mind. Over powder , or under shot wads. Over powder can be thinner and more a card. But who knows for blunderbuss and swivel or pivot guns.
You work wood so are familier with some expanding more when wet used as plugs.
Here in timber construction seen in barn post and beam builds from way back , square locust (one type of long duration) pegs had thier corners knocked off partway to start them on tenon holes ect. Then driven in for the square peg round hole, I now pronounce you married type juncture.
[Hi there, I just answered a different question regarding ship damage in this sub -- I will link there for resources from Google books:
Regarding cannon fire, the main concern would be actual holes in the ship's hull that were leaking water. A secondary concern would be structural damage to the ship's hull, related to actual cannon fire but not as the result of direct damage/holes, that would loosen space between planks and allow water to enter that way.
Depending on the size of the hole, ships' carpenters and carpenters' mates could use shot plugs to try to stem the flow of water. Shot plugs were tapered cylinders that could fit several sizes of hole (fatter side to the outside). Working over the side of the ship, they could hammer shot plugs into holes, which would theoretically be held in place by water pressure while they worked on a more permanent patch.
For larger holes or those more difficult to be plugged, they could do something called "fothering" a sail. To do that, they would sew pieces of rope fibers, yarn, twine or shakings through a spare sail, giving it the look of an old-time quilt and increasing the density of the sail. They would lower the fothered sail over the side and maneuver it to cover the hole; although it was not wateright, it might slow the leak and allow repairs to be made.
For major structural damage, cables (ropes) could be wrapped around the ship and tightened to tighten the seams between the hull planks.
Pumping ship was a daily occupation anyhow, because all wooden ships leaked, and they were fitted with pumps. So pumping would be ongoing during the other damage control operations.]