Speaking for myself, I don't know that I'd want to be messing with 150 year old black powder explosives. From all I've read and heard, it takes very little to set it off.
Posted on 05/05/2008 9:46:50 AM PDT by Abathar
May 5, 2008: The U.S. Civil War continues to kill. Sam White, a Virginia based collector of Civil War munitions, died recently while cleaning up a nine inch, 75 pound, cannon ball. White had previously restored or examined over 1,500 of these shells. But the one that killed him was different. It was fired from a ship board gun, and was designed to be more waterproof than shells used by land based artillery. This kept the fuze, and black powder explosive charge, dry and viable after 150 years. Mister White was using metal tools to clean up the shell, which apparently set off the fuze, and detonated the shell more than 150 years after it was fired off the Virginia coast.
There are still thousands of Civil War era shells buried, or sitting on the bottom off the coast. But a far more dangerous threat are unexploded munitions from more recent wars, especially the two World Wars. Over a thousand bombs, hand grenades, mines and shells from these conflicts are uncovered each year in Europe alone. Still more are unearthed in Asia and North Africa. People continue to die from the World Wars, and will for decades to come.
The silver lining is at least he didn't suffer...
I just hate it when that happens.
Yep, but at least it’s a brief feeling of hate though...
Speaking for myself, I don't know that I'd want to be messing with 150 year old black powder explosives. From all I've read and heard, it takes very little to set it off.
Sam, if he’s a Virginia resident, should be counted as a Confederate casualty.
Good grief, do you know how many history books would have to be reprinted to edit that change???
Sam White to Saint Peter: “What the heck am I doing here?”
Well guess that answers the question of if an old civil war exploding cannon ball would still work after being buried in the Sahara sands in an Iron Clad that escaped from the South and sailed to Africa getting stranded when a river went dry.
“And where are my eyebrows??”
Fun movie, and I guess it does.
Now that you mention it - Will it still explode after being stuck in the arctic ice for 200 years when clutched by a dead sailor with the key to a Mason’s treasure though?
Hmmm might have to test that one. Not sure I want to volunteer though. Don’t like cold weather.
Dixieping for later
Ancient? Hardly so.
What if he was a carpet-bagger, like me?
Cannon Ball !
Coming at Ya’ !
I’m sure he didn’t even know what hit him.
Not to mention with a kidnapped Abraham Lincoln on board, Mr. Cussler.
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