The Dahlgren gun is a family of muzzle-loading naval cannon designed by United States Navy officer John A. Dahlgren beginning in 1849, after an accidental gun burst killed a gunner and pushed the Navy toward a safer shape. The guns took on a distinctive smooth, curved profile, sometimes called the soda-bottle shape, that concentrated the metal where the pressure of firing was greatest, and the design let a single gun fire shot, shell, shrapnel, canister, or grapeshot rather than requiring a separate gun for each. Made as light boat howitzers, heavier shell guns, and rifled versions, Dahlgren guns armed Union warships including the ironclad monitors and became one of the signature naval weapons of the American Civil War, with no Dahlgren shell gun recorded to have burst in service.
Facts
Weapon ClassMuzzle-loading naval gun 1 Introduced Year Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Connections
Used In
Source Dahlgren gun, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Dahlgren gun, Wikipedia
Lead section
Dahlgren guns were muzzle-loading naval guns designed by United States Navy Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren.
History section
In 1849, then-lieutenant Dahlgren began to design a family of smoothbore muzzle-loading boat howitzers.
service status
Dahlgren (November 13, 1809, July 12, 1870), mostly used in the American Civil War
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
Used In: American Civil War, Wikipedia article text
Dahlgren (November 13, 1809, July 12, 1870), mostly used in the American Civil War.
View the SourceWikidata: Dahlgren Gun
Wikidata Q1157449, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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