Jeff wrote:
"Steve" wrote in


Virtually every sailing ship in the 1700-1800s had cannons for
protection. Cannons of the times required round iron cannonballs. The
Ship's Master usually wanted to store the cannonballs such that they
could be of instant use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck.
The solution 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 four, 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 called, of course a brass monkey, with 16 round
indentations, one for each cannonball, in the bottom layer. Brass was
used because the cannonballs wouldn't rust to the brass monkey, but
would rust to an iron one. When temperature falls, brass contracts in
size 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 would pop out of the indentations spilling the entire
pyramid over the deck.

Thus it was, quite literally, "It Was Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls
Off a Brass Monkey!"




Don't think so -

Ships master wanted the shot as low in the ship as possible at all times,
not laying around a gundeck - 30 cannonballs would weigh between 180 and
960lbs per gun.... On a ship of the line you'd have about 35-110 tonnes
of weight exactly where you didn't want it, especially when the guns
where run out. A ship of the line usually didn't carry 30 round shot per
gun of the larger calbre, One 32 pounder could penetrate 3' solid oak
after a 1000ft flat tragectory, or 2000ft with a skip off the surface.
After half a dozen bradsides like that usually one or other ship wasn't
there any more, or if it was not many guns where still firing.

Stacking round shot on gun decks would also create the danger of their
breaking free and rolling around loose on deck whenever the ship
encountered rough water, which for the Brits was often. It's a lot more
likely these things would roll off through motion than any supposed
different in thermal expansion.

Cast Iron doen't rust that much, and if the idea of brass was to stop the
shot rusting to an iron plate then why wouldn't the shot in the tiers
above rust to each other?

The ships 'cleared decks' when gunnery took place, which meant knocking
out partitions, dropping hammocks or what ever it took to give enough
space for the six men in the gun crew to move around it and for the guns
aiming and recoil. No room what so ever for neat piles of cannonshot and
a cannon and crew. The other reason for clearing the decks was to reduce
the materials that an inbound shot might hit and splinter around the
inside of a gundeck. For this reason powder was only bought up when
needed.

'Immediate use' is a bit off too, since even the best Brit crews fired
once every 90 seconds or so. The French and Spanish every 2-2 1/2
minuites. Shot and powder where bought up from the locker's and a few
(usually half a dozen) ready-use shot of a variety of types where stored
on the gundecks in wooden racks. Heavier shot where carried up in
bowsers. No monkeys here, other than the kids doing the carrying.

Were they referred to as "powder monkeys" on ships?

The American Heritage Dictionary says:

powder monkey

NOUN: Slang One who carries or sets explosives.

A gun
crew would change shot type several times in an exchange of fire so 30
round shot where not needed.

HMS Victory and Greenwich used to have an educational piece as part of
the tour, according to them a 'Brass Monkey' was a small brass cannon
from the time of transition from bronze to iron, usually swivel mounted
that used stone ball or cylinder shot, both of inconsistent size and
shape. 'Freezing a brass monkey' either refered to the cannon shrinking
enough that *some* shot wouldn't fit so slowing the reload, or 'Freezing
the tail off a brass monkey' was the tail being the handle at the end of
the gun used for aiming which reportedly broke when levering a piece
around on the pivot.

Another story is apparently pawn brokers where originally known as brass
monkeys and the three brass balls hung outside the shop has something to
do with the idea, \\


A line remembered from my high school days...."Meet me in front of the
pawnshop Honey, and you can kiss me under the balls".

On a soberer note, The Medici families in Italy were moneylenders in
Europe. Lengend has it that one of the Medicis in the employ of Emperor
Charles the Great fought a giant and slew him with three sacks of rocks.
The three balls or globes later became part of their family crest, and
ultimately, the sign of pawnbroking.

Jeff


--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."