Still looking for plans for a late 1700s naval gun truck

[rusty barrels]

I do appreciate everyone who responded before with the USS Cairo and the USS Constitution but I was looking for something earlier. I ordered a plan from one outfit that was suppose to be a blueprint from 1770s and it was garbage (a bad xerox 1 page 8X11 copy that I payed three dollars for and can't read nor understand) I wish I had taken detailed pictures of the guns from the ship Lady Washington and the Bill of Rights when they were here.

[Double D]

I'm not sure what you are looking for, you can't get more late 1700's that George's Constitution Gun.

Drop me an email.  I have a couple of other plans in Word.doc that might work.

[rusty barrels]

Hi DD, I guess I'm looking for something earlier, in the days of pirates, I didn't realize the Connie was that old.

[freddo]

I have some drawings of a late 18th century cannon carriage. They depict the standard pattern Royal Navy carriage the dimensions of which varied according to the size of the gun [The various dimensions are given in table form].Since you are interested in a ' pirate type ' carriage these may serve your purpose the Brits being the biggest pirates of that time.If you wish I can mail them to you.If you would like copies send me a message with your address.I live in Australia so I suppose it would take about a week

[GGaskill]

If you are looking for late 1700's, the Constitution guns are models of 1779.  Carribean piracy was pretty much stamped out in the early 1700's (death of Blackbeard was November 22, 1718.)  So pirate gun carriages would most likely date from the 1600's, although there wasn't a lot of change in the art until the 19th century.  You could look at the carriages pictured in this page from Artillery Through the Ages for ideas but the figures are not detailed enough to build from.

[Artilleryman]

You might find what you are looking for in Round Shot and Rammers page 37.  Use wooden wheels instead of iron ones.

[Tropico]

The Con was built in the late 18th century ., 1797 actually...,a great pirate gun would be a Queen Anne era cannon .., say a sub scale 4 pounder., maybe a 1/2 scale.,A Queen Anne would perhaps be 17th century ., say 1640 thru 1690 ., the trunnion is a little lower .., not the usualy 180 across like most cannons .., savvy?

[rusty barrels]

Thanks for all your offers and help, maybe I should just stick to a loose representation of one of the Connie's guns, after all the barrel is a 2/3 scale of a 1841 sixpounder.

[GGaskill]

Maybe you should consider a carriage from the USS Cairo 42 pounders.  A little large but you could scale it to a 2/3 six pounder and the era would be more consistent.

[GGaskill]

From p. 22 of Round Shot and Rammers by Harold L. Peterson, "Pattern for English Saker of about 1600 with Ship-type Carriage."  Click the image for a larger drawing.

It is a large image so be sure to view it at full size.

[Cannoneer]

   

      George Washington signed the document authorizing the building of six frigates in 1794, one of these being the USS Constitution. One of the primary reasons for building these frigates was to combat the "Barbary Pirates", who were at this time playing havoc with American merchant shipping. The Barbary Pirates were operating out of the North African states of Morocco,Algiers,Tunis and Tripoli. There were also the so-called "Privateers", who were nothing more than pirates operating with the sanctions of their respective countries. The British, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese all had privateers roaming the seas. The captains of these ships being provided with "letters of marque" from their countries governments, could attack foreign ships with impunity. In America, in the early 1800s, Jean Lafitte and his men were very active in the practice of piracy, based out of three island strongholds located at the mouth of the Mississippi River facing the Gulf of Mexico. Though Lafitte claimed to have never attacked an American ship. One of the last famous pirates of the Caribbean was Cofresi: Roberto Cofresi Ramirez de Arellano(1791-1825),he was executed for his crimes in Puerto Rico. I don't mean to be giving a history of piracy but the point is the practice of piracy wasn't dead in the late 1700s or early 1800s, it was still flourishing. If you want to replicate an earlier style carriage the great era of piracy in the caribbean extends from the mid 1500s to the end of the golden age of piracy in the 1730s. Pirates, whatever century they were operating in, had to out of necessity be very ingenious fellows, so they would be trying to get their hands on whatever any of the major sea powers (Britain,Holland,Spain etc.) were using as state of the art at that time.                            This site is in Scandinavian but it has a lot of interesting stuff on it. Click on everything high lighted in purple. There are some nice diagrams of naval carriages from the 1600s. There are also some sections you can translate into English.                                            http://www.maritimt.net/kanoner/rappert.htm                                                                        

[Tropico]

Personally I build my carriages  from my head and I lay them out on paper (Computer) before cutting ., this way I can adjust until I get what "Looks" right.  If I am correct.,a shipwright at a given shipyard built the carriages for a ship pretty much the same for the newly commisioned vessle. however the ship builder next door probably built them a bit differant., which also would not be the same carriage as the ship wright built in Portsmouth ., which probably wasnt the same carriage what came out of Boston which was probably differant than next year and the year after and so on. As well as the gun shapes and sizes. Also you have to remember some ships had more or less head room this changed the way the carriages were built for that given ship as well.

Rusty Barrels if I can help you let me know., I believe we live fairly close ? I am 20 miles south of Olympia.

[rusty barrels]

Hi Tropico, I'm beginning to see what you mean. I have see so many different types of trucks now that I too believe that it all depends on the way the ship was built, height of the gun port, slope of the deck,etc. etc. I will keep your offer to help in mind. I'm on the east hill of Kent