Magnet Fishing for Artifacts?
- Thread starter CharlieDontDive
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 7,660
- Reaction score
- 4,718
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
- Messages
- 13,437
- Reaction score
- 10,026
- Location
- Port Orchard, Washington State
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Using metal detectors (including magnets) on state land including tidelands in Washington requires a permit.
Brilliant finally the mystery is half solved, I wonder was it to be used in case she needed a tow, it was very close to her main gun in the photo above.That's a Lyle gun, not a Parrott rifle. The gun was invented by David Lyle, a US Army ordnance officer on loan to Springfield Armory, as a way to pass a line from a lifesaving station to a ship in distress. More info at: David Lyle and his Life Saving Gun - Springfield Armory National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Here's what it looks like when it hasn't spent many decades under the sea
View attachment 596625
And here's a photo of the projectile it fired with a short length of its special braided line:
There's a decent page on the Folia in French at Chaque jour, une épave : 11 mars 1917, le Folia, grandeur et décadence d'un paquebot - Plongée Infos . Here's the google translate version which is quite readable: Google Translate
It was a USCG requirement even back then that ocean going vessels of this size carry multiple line propelling devices. The purpose was for setting up tows or transferring people or supplies when conditions favored this method over boat or direct transfer.
The Lyle gun was one of the listed acceptable types.
I did a Google books search and found that shipboard use of Lyle guns in this period (and all the way until the early 1970s) was common enough that when it was mentioned, the authors felt no need to explain what it was.
Remember that the Folia had previously served as a transatlantic liner, so would have both the need to carry such a device and the opportunity to obtain this particular device during one of her runs to US waters.
It's been quite a while since I was involved in making charges for Lyle guns, but as I remember, it was a charge of a special purpose mixture of black powder that was ignited by a .32 cal blank. The cartridge shown here is new to me. Perhaps, did different versions exist? Perhaps this one is newer than what I remember?That's a Lyle gun, not a Parrott rifle. The gun was invented by David Lyle, a US Army ordnance officer on loan to Springfield Armory, as a way to pass a line from a lifesaving station to a ship in distress. More info at: David Lyle and his Life Saving Gun - Springfield Armory National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Here's what it looks like when it hasn't spent many decades under the sea
View attachment 596625
And here's a photo of the projectile it fired with a short length of its special braided line:
There's a decent page on the Folia in French at Chaque jour, une épave : 11 mars 1917, le Folia, grandeur et décadence d'un paquebot - Plongée Infos . Here's the google translate version which is quite readable: Google Translate
Lyle guns were made by a variety of manufacturers and the firing mechanism was not standardized until the 1930s, when the USCG started requiring activation by .32 S&W Short blanks on the guns they ordered. Earlier models used friction primers, percussion caps, or various .22, .32 or .38 blanks.
The charge was anywhere from 1 to 8 ounces of black powder. Although Dupont and others marketed "Life-Saving Powder", it was actually standard Fg grade black powder.
Similar threads
