THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY

BLAKELY RIFLES

Mostly imported by the Confederacy during the Civil War, the documented use of Blakely rifles is fragmentary. Many Blakely types have no weight markings; so this data is provided only when known. Blakely had no production facilities and contracted with others to produce his rifles, and these firms are noted when known. This may account for the many variations found. The late Capt. Adrian Caruana, having done extensive research on Blakely and his rifles, suggested that any rifle not specifically including a "Blakely" marking is not one. We nevertheless include such rifles in this listing where most people will expect to find them. In his 1968 book, Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, Warren Ripley assigned type numbers to surviving Blakely rifles in an effort to simplify their recognition and to bring order to the confusion surrounding their many variations. Those assigned types are retained here. Clear and reproducible photos are not always available to the compiler; therefore, better photos for posting here are welcome.
2.9-inch Blakely rifle, Type 10. Total length, 36.45 inches; maker, unknown; rifling, 6-groove sawtooth, right-hand twist; weight, 197 pounds (per scale); known survivors, 3, one of which is marked "BLAKELEY(sic)/LONDON." Little is known of these except for the presence of the survivors.

2.9-inch Blakely rifle, Type 11. Total length, 60.75 inches; maker, Vavasseur; known survivors, 2. The two known survivors were recovered in 1974 from the wreck of the blockade-runner Georgiana outside Charleston harbor. Markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and indicate they were made by Vavasseur of London in 1862.

3.5-inch (12-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 2. Total length, 58 inches; rifling, 7-groove flat, right-hand twist; weight, 600 pounds (per scale); markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and indicate they were made by Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool in 1861; known survivors, 10. Two survivors previously designated Type 5 are actually Type 2 with collars covering defects ahead of the trunnion band.

3.5-inch Blakely rifle, Type 2, once designated as Type 5. Note the 6-inch wide collar forward of the trunnion band that covers a defect in the tube. Thus, two survivors like this one are actually repaired Type 2 Blakelys.

3.5-inch (12-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 3. Total length, 60.34 inches; rifling, 6-groove sawtooth, right-hand twist; known survivor, 1; markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and indicate manufacture by Forrester & Co. of Liverpool in 1862

3.5-inch (12-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 4. Total length, 66 inches; rifling, 6-groove sawtooth, right-hand twist; markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and indicate they were made by Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool in 1861 and 1862; known survivors, 4, of which one has been converted to a "mortar" that Warren Ripley designated as Type 12.

3.5-inch (12-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 6. Total length, 67.15 inches; rifling, 7-groove flat, right-hand twist; known survivors, 3; maker, Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool in 1861 (no marking for Blakely). This would probably be more accurately described as a 3.5-inch Fawcett, Preston rifle.

3.75-inch (16-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 1. Total length, 83 inches; rifling, 6-groove with right-hand twist; markings of the single known survivor are shown below. This is one of the most historical, and most frequently misidentified, Blakelys in the United States. Two holes near the vent clearly indicate the former presence of a descriptive plaque, evidently the one detailing the gift of this rifle to the people of South Carolina by a citizen resident abroad to commemorate the succession of South Carolina from the Union on 20 December 1860. While most sources identify this rifle as having a 3.5-inch bore, a bore plug gauge revealed its land diameter is exactly 3.75 inches. A 20 January 1864 Selma Arsenal list of propellant charges specifies charges identical to those for the 3.8-in James rifle. See also the entry on the Famous Guns page.

Markings on breech of 3.75-inch Blakely rifle, Type 1

4-inch (18-pounder) Blakely rifle, Type 7. Total length, 83 inches; rifling 6-groove with right-hand twist; known survivors, 3; maker, Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool in 1862 (no marking for Blakely). This would probably be more accurately described as a 4-inch Fawcett, Preston rifle.

4-inch (18-pounder) Blakely navy rifle. Total length, 89.5 inches; rifling 6-groove with right-hand twist; known survivors, 3; maker, Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool in 1862 (no marking for Blakely). Marked identically to the Type 7 above, this would probably be more accurately described as a 4-inch Fawcett, Preston navy rifle.

4.5-inch (20-pounder) Blakely siege/navy rifle. Total length, 96 inches; rifling, 7-groove with right-hand twist; known survivors, 3; markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and manufacture by Fawcett, Preston & Co. in 1861.

4.5-inch (20-pounder) Blakely rifle. Details, such as length, weight and rifling, of this rifle are unknown. Its envelope is similar to the 3.5-inch Type 3 above, and it trunnion markings include readable portions of "BLAKELY'S PATENT."

7-inch (120-pounder) Blakely navy rifle. Total length, 119.5 inches; rifling, 9-groove with right-hand twist; known survivors, 2; markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and manufacture by Fawcett, Preston & Co. in 1861.

7.5-inch Blakely navy rifle. Total length, 124 inches; rifling, 12-groove Scott with right-hand twist; known survivors, 2 (including "Widow Blakely" below); markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT." These tubes were British 42-pounders of 57 hundred-weight manufactured by Low Moore of Bradford, Yorkshire, and later banded, reamed and rifled.

The "Widow Blakely". A 7.5-inch Blakely navy rifled described above, it served in the defenses of Vicksburg. One of its own shells burst inside the tube during action against Union gunboats on 22 May 1863. The burst muzzle was trimmed back, reducing the overall length to 100 inches, and the rifle continued in service during the remainder of the siege. See also the entry on the Famous Guns page.

9-inch Blakely seacoast rifle. Total length is unknown inasmuch as the original barrel, salvaged for scrap, is represented by a piece of pipe. Markings include "BLAKELY'S PATENT" and manufacture by Fawcett, Preston & Co. in 1864. This is one of four of these rifles, and four similar smoothbores, intercepted at Liverpool where they had been delivered for Confederate ships.

12.75-inch Blakely seacoast rifle. Total length and weight are unknown. Rifling is four-groove Scott with right-hand twist. Two of these rifles and their carriages were delivered at Wilmington NC in August 1863 for installation at Fort Fisher. Before they could be mounted, General Beauregard requisitioned them for the defense of Charleston SC. Unfamiliar with the characteristics and purpose of an air chamber, the Confederates burst one tube at the first fire. When John Mercer Brooke deduced the air chamber's purpose, the second tube was properly loaded and served at Frazier's Wharf while the first tube was repaired. Both were later blown up to prevent capture. The breech of the first rifle and the chase of the second are pictured here.

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