Prairie Dawg
Member
Hi Folks:
I thought some of you might find this interesting.
My pard & former Ohio Frontiersman champion Marcus Allen was attending the 200th Anniversary of the bombardment of Fort McHenry last weekend. He served on the cannon crews during that weekend as the # 1 gunner (the person who fires the cannon with a linstock - burning rope). On Sept 16 there was a cannon failure and the breech of the cannon blew open due to apparent failure of the cannon barrel casting.
Marcus was not on the cannon that failed. The cannon that blew out the breech was the identical sister cannon to the cannon that he was firing on Sept. 13.
Here are pics of the failed cannon.
--Dawg
The Official National Park Service Bulletin on the cannon failure:
Cannon Breech Failure
Issued By The National Park Service September 16, 2014
BALTIMORE -During the firing of a reproduction historic cannon at Fort McHenry National
Monument and Historic Shrine on September 16, 2014, the breech of the gun failed, according to the
National Park Service.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on September 16, the park's living history gun crew used black powder
to fire a salute to a passing ship as part of the weeklong series of events celebrating the 200th
anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner. The firing of black powder in the reproduction cannon
caused the breech to dislodge. The breech is the mass of metal at the rear end of the cannon.
There were no spectator injuries;one of the members of the cannon crew suffered minor flash burns
on one hand.The cause of the accident is under investigation.
The NPS has suspended the black powder historic weapons firing program at Fort McHenry. The
immediate area around the Water Battery remains closed but the rest of the park remains open.
The cannon crew was saluting the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle and The Pride of Baltimore II.
About Fort McHenry National Monument &Historic Shrine
I thought some of you might find this interesting.
My pard & former Ohio Frontiersman champion Marcus Allen was attending the 200th Anniversary of the bombardment of Fort McHenry last weekend. He served on the cannon crews during that weekend as the # 1 gunner (the person who fires the cannon with a linstock - burning rope). On Sept 16 there was a cannon failure and the breech of the cannon blew open due to apparent failure of the cannon barrel casting.
Marcus was not on the cannon that failed. The cannon that blew out the breech was the identical sister cannon to the cannon that he was firing on Sept. 13.
Here are pics of the failed cannon.
--Dawg
The Official National Park Service Bulletin on the cannon failure:
Cannon Breech Failure
Issued By The National Park Service September 16, 2014
BALTIMORE -During the firing of a reproduction historic cannon at Fort McHenry National
Monument and Historic Shrine on September 16, 2014, the breech of the gun failed, according to the
National Park Service.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on September 16, the park's living history gun crew used black powder
to fire a salute to a passing ship as part of the weeklong series of events celebrating the 200th
anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner. The firing of black powder in the reproduction cannon
caused the breech to dislodge. The breech is the mass of metal at the rear end of the cannon.
There were no spectator injuries;one of the members of the cannon crew suffered minor flash burns
on one hand.The cause of the accident is under investigation.
The NPS has suspended the black powder historic weapons firing program at Fort McHenry. The
immediate area around the Water Battery remains closed but the rest of the park remains open.
The cannon crew was saluting the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle and The Pride of Baltimore II.
About Fort McHenry National Monument &Historic Shrine