THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY

DAHLGREN GUNS & RIFLES

32-pounder Dahlgren shell gun. Total length, 93.72 inches; weight, 3200 pounds; total production, unknown but small; known survivors, none as designed. The tube pictured here is actually a 4.4-inch Sawyer rifle made from a 32-pounder Dahlgren gun block, the only known survivor with Dahlgren's original 32-pounder profile designed in 1855.

32-pounder Bureau of Ordnance gun of 4500 pounds. Total length, 108 inches; weight, 4500 pounds; total production, 379 by Alger, Builders, Fort Pitt, and Seyfert, McManus & Co. 1864-67; Known survivors, 91. Although resembling his design, this type is not a Dahlgren but is included here where searchers are most likely to look for it. With a bore too small for its late introduction, very few saw service during or after the Civil War. Most were used in saluting batteries. Note its regressive use of fragile old-style breech-ing jaws and a quoin for elevation.

VIII-inch Bureau of Ordnance gun of 6500 pounds. Total length, 114.5 inches; weight, 6500 pounds; total production, 351 by Alger, Builders, Fort Pitt, and Seyfert, McManus Co. 1864-67; known survivors, 26. Also not a Dahlgren, it is located here where most searchers will look for it. Few saw service during or after the Civil War. Like the 32-pounder of 4500 pounds above, this regressive design also resurrected fragile old-style breeching jaws and a quoin for elevation

IX-inch Dahlgren shell gun. Total length, 131.975 inches; weight, 9200 pounds; total production, 1185 at Alger, Bellona, Fort Pitt, Seyfert, McManus & Co., Tredegar, and West Point 1855-64; known survivors, 53. Fort Pitt Foundry also made 16 for the Army in 1861 with no known survivor. Extremely reliable and widely used throughout the U.S. Navy, none is known to have burst in service.

XI-inch Dahlgren shell gun. Total length, 159.7 inches; weight, 16,000 pounds; total production, 465 at Alger; Builders; Fort Pitt; Hinkley, Williams & Co.; Portland Locomotive Works; Seyfert, McManus & Co.; Trenton Iron Works; and West Point 1856-64; known survivors, 21. This is the only size Dahlgren to have been cast both with and without muzzle swell. Like the IX-inch Dahlgren, none is known to have burst in service.

A slightly smaller X-inch Dahlgren shell gun weighing 12,500 pounds was designed, and 29 were made by Seyfert, McManus & Co. and West Point Foundry 1855-64. A similar X-inch Dahlgren solid shot gun, having a straight muzzle and weighing 16,500, was designed and 29 made 1862-65. None of either is known to survive.

XI-inch Dahlgren shell gun sleeved to 8-inch rifle. Between 1876 and 1880, West Point and South Boston Foundry (Alger) sleeved 51 XI-inch smoothbore Dahlgrens to 8-inch rifles via muzzle insertion of 15-groove rifled sleeves. Preponderance was adjusted via eccentric trunnion bushings. Original markings remain on the base line behind the vent. Original trunnion markings were turned off and replaced by data relating to the conversion (inspecting officer's initials, year of alteration, weight after conversion, new Registry Number, and designation as "8 IN RIFLE"). Because of the greater recoil resulting from firing heavier elongated projectiles, new carriages were designed as illustrated here.

XV-inch Dahlgren short cannon. Total length, 161 inches; weight, 42,000 pounds; total production, 34 by Fort Pitt Foundry 1862-64, known survivors, 2. Dahlgren's original design featured 38-inch muzzle diameter. This was later reduced to 21 inches by order of the Navy Bureau of Ordnance. The survivor pictured here is one of those with reduced muzzle diameter. Three 12-inch Dahlgren rifles averaging 45,520 pounds were produced from XV-inch Dahlgren gun blocks in 1863. None proved durable enough for service, and none is known to survive.

XV-inch Dahlgren long cannon, "New Model". Total length, 177 inches; weight, 43,000 pounds; total production, 86 by Alger, Fort Pitt, and Seyfert, McManus & Co. 1864-66, 71 & 72; no survivors. Designed by the Navy Bureau of Ordnance in 1864 with longer length to extend through the turret, it was slightly modified by increasing muzzle diameter from 21 inches to 25 inches in 1870. The final version is illustrated in this drawing.

XX-inch Dahlgren. Total length, 216 inches; weight, 97,300 pounds; total production, 4 by Fort Pitt Foundry 1864-67; no survivors. Of the four made, one was not accepted and was sold to Peru. The other three saw no service and were sold for scrap at New York Navy Yard in June 1897. The photograph shows the one purchased by Peru when emplaced at Callao; the gun was inscribed "BEELZEBUB". After being captured by Chile in the "Guerra del Pacifico" (1879-1884), it was taken to Chile where it was last seen in Arica but is no longer there. We hope to determine its present location shortly.

4.4-inch (30-pounder) Dahlgren rifle Total length, 94.82 inches; weight, 3200 pounds; total production, 55 by Fort Pitt Foundry and Washington Navy Yard in 1864; known survivor, 1. Many of these were condemned and sold at auction as early as December 1865. While a 5.1-inch (50-pounder) Dahlgren rifle, a 6-inch (80-pounder) Dahlgren rifle, a 6.4-inch (100-pounder) Dahlgren rifle, a 7.5-inch (50-pounder) Dahlgren rifle, and an 8-inch Dahlgren rifle were also designed and some made, none proved as successful as Dahlgren's shell guns.

Period photographs of Dahlgrens from the Monitor, Kearsarge, and Pawnee are reproduced on the Famous Guns page.

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