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Re: LBC..Large British Cannon...Content Only...A History of Balls

To: <RBHouston@aol.com>, <spridgets@autox.team.net>, <midgetsprite@yahoogroups.com>, <Tedgar5555@cs.com>, <dbristow5@attbi.com>, <lwilliams@acaciapark.com>, <MSuziMcD@aol.com>, <LynchCELynch@aol.com>
Subject: Re: LBC..Large British Cannon...Content Only...A History of Balls
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 10:25:00 -0800
User-agent: Microsoft-Outlook-Express-Macintosh-Edition/5.02.2022
It's a cute story, but....

>From the US Navy's site (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq107.htm):

> It has often been claimed that the "brass monkey" was
> a holder or storage rack in which cannon balls (or shot) were
> stacked on a ship. Supposedly when the "monkey" with
> its stack of cannon ball became cold, the contraction of iron
> cannon balls led to the balls falling through or off of the "monkey."
> This explanation appears to be a legend of the sea without historical
> justification. In actuality, ready service shot was kept on the
> gun or spar decks in shot racks (also known as shot garlands in
> the Royal Navy) which consisted of longitudinal wooden planks
> with holes bored into them, into which round shot (cannon balls)
> were inserted for ready use by the gun crew. These shot racks
> or garlands are discussed in: Longridge, C. Nepean. The Anatomy
> of Nelson's Ships. (Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1981):
> 64. A top view of shot garlands on the upper deck of a ship-of-the-line
> is depicted in The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing.
> New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1991): 17.

Best,
Robb
1962 Sprite MK II

> From: RBHouston@aol.com
> Reply-To: RBHouston@aol.com
> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 13:11:52 EST
> To: spridgets@autox.team.net, midgetsprite@yahoogroups.com, Tedgar5555@cs.com,
> dbristow5@attbi.com, lwilliams@acaciapark.com, MSuziMcD@aol.com,
> LynchCELynch@aol.com
> Subject: LBC..Large British Cannon...Content Only...A History of Balls
> 
> A HISTORY OF BALLS
> -----------------
> Did you know, in the mighty British Navy at the time of Empire
> building, every sailing ship had cannon (the plural of cannon) for
> protection. Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs.
> A ship's master wanted to store the cannonballs such that they could
> be available for instant use when needed, but in a manner that would
> not let them roll around the gun deck.
> The solution devised was to stack them up in a square-based pyramid
> next to the cannon. The top level of the stack had one ball, the next
> level down had three, the next had nine, the next had sixteen, and so on.
> Four levels would provide a stack of 30 cannonballs. The only real
> problem was how to keep the bottom level from sliding out from under
> the weight of the higher levels. To do this, they devised a small brass
> plate referred to as a "brass monkey," with one rounded indentation
> for each cannonball in the bottom layer.
> Brass was used because the cannonballs wouldn't rust on the brass monkey,
> but would rust on an iron one. When temperature falls, brass contracts
> faster than iron. As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in
> the brass monkey would get smaller than the iron cannonballs they were
> holding. If the temperature got cold enough, the bottom layer of cannonballs
> 
> would pop out of the indentations, spilling the entire pyramid over the
> deck.
> Thus it was, quite literally, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a
> brass monkey." And so, another familiar phrase became part of the
> language. Now, aren't you glad you took the time to read this historical
> piece?
> And you thought this was going to be a "dirty" story....shame on
> you.

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