5-cm Canister Shot

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-1298

A 5-cm canister shot, painted black. It has a simple cylindrical body with a rope noose on top.

This shell was used with 5-cm rifled muzzle-loaders, which were developed from the smooth bore 1-pounder swivel of French design. The proposal to adapt these guns for rifled ammunition was first formulated by Head of Artillery W. de Fremery in 1860, and in December 1862, successful trials were held with shells and canister shot. According to the literature, the shell is filled with 69 bullets N° 10, weighing 0.037 pounds each.

H. van Goens, Handleiding tot de kennis van de zee-artillerie, Rotterdam 1861-65, p. 371; J.H. Haakman, Handboek over de zee-artillerie voor konstabels en matrozen-kanonniers, 4 vols., Nieuwediep, 1871-72, vol. 2, p. 171; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1298

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Constructie Werkplaats, 5-cm Canister Shot, Delft, 1863', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.245110