woody50
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- Jun 21, 2007
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PS: Found an other photo on the internet of the balls.... (see later message)
I though I would let you see these double musket balls that I found. Found these on the bottom of a former (12th century harbor). The harbor had been filled in sometime in the 19th century and was now being dug out for the construction of a large building with an underground parking place. Because of environmental regulations here they had to dig the soil out until clean clay was reached. This was at the end quite a deep hole.
I searched the bottom of the harbor when the pit was about 3 meters deep, but before they dug it out completely. The harbor was very old, from the 12th Century, but I believe these were lost on a VOC ship sometime in the 17th century, because it was a busy main harbor for the VOC, who even had their own coinage back then.
Found many relics and coins, but these relics I had never seen, although I have seen about the same weapon only MUCH larger, two cannon balls connected together with an iron bar; shot out of a cannon at another ship they would spin and the idea was to break the masts so the ship could not manover anymore. A long time ago I found one of those, it's at a museum now.
But these are much smaller and connected with a wire and were used for a more ghastly purpose, to horrendous wound the sailors of the other ship. Leaving the musket they would unwind (the wire was coiled up between the two balls when new) and spin through the air until they met someone, you can imagine what they did.
Like I say originally the set consisted of lead musket balls with a coiled up wire between them, these (this is how I found them) seem to be used. But since I found them in a small area in the harbor I am thinking that some sailors played around with some of them while in the harbor, or they were unwound somehow and just dropped overboard. I have not been able to find someone else who has these bullets, but I would imagine somewhere on the net must be more information.
FORGOT to say, every ball measures 17 mm (0.669 caliber or inches), and they are not damaged in anyway, so not been fired.
I though I would let you see these double musket balls that I found. Found these on the bottom of a former (12th century harbor). The harbor had been filled in sometime in the 19th century and was now being dug out for the construction of a large building with an underground parking place. Because of environmental regulations here they had to dig the soil out until clean clay was reached. This was at the end quite a deep hole.
I searched the bottom of the harbor when the pit was about 3 meters deep, but before they dug it out completely. The harbor was very old, from the 12th Century, but I believe these were lost on a VOC ship sometime in the 17th century, because it was a busy main harbor for the VOC, who even had their own coinage back then.
Found many relics and coins, but these relics I had never seen, although I have seen about the same weapon only MUCH larger, two cannon balls connected together with an iron bar; shot out of a cannon at another ship they would spin and the idea was to break the masts so the ship could not manover anymore. A long time ago I found one of those, it's at a museum now.
But these are much smaller and connected with a wire and were used for a more ghastly purpose, to horrendous wound the sailors of the other ship. Leaving the musket they would unwind (the wire was coiled up between the two balls when new) and spin through the air until they met someone, you can imagine what they did.
Like I say originally the set consisted of lead musket balls with a coiled up wire between them, these (this is how I found them) seem to be used. But since I found them in a small area in the harbor I am thinking that some sailors played around with some of them while in the harbor, or they were unwound somehow and just dropped overboard. I have not been able to find someone else who has these bullets, but I would imagine somewhere on the net must be more information.
FORGOT to say, every ball measures 17 mm (0.669 caliber or inches), and they are not damaged in anyway, so not been fired.
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