[Public-list] Is this true?

[Roger L Kingsland]

Thanks Gord, I knew you would come thru; Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon Laco" <mainstay at csolve.net>
To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at alberg30.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-list] Is this true?


> Hi there Roger -
>
> Sorry to report that what you found is partly true and partly an old wives
> tale.  Balls were indeed stacked in pyramids for which gunners were taught 
> a
> formula... But never ever in ships.  Can you imagine how you might keep 
> the
> pyramids from falling apart in even a slight seaway?
>
> This storage system was only used for ammunition ashore on immovable
> platforms.
>
> Gord #426
>
>
>
>
>> Albergers,
>>
>> My wife sent me this and asked if it were true (apparently, we both have 
>> too
>> much time on our hands) so I thought I would pose the question to the 
>> experts
>> on the site.  Hopefully it doesn't break the MOB thread.  I was just 
>> jelling
>> the idea of suction cup deck shoes.
>>
>> All the best; Roger
>>
>>
>> I was reading some old time trivia, and this one caught my eye.  Is it 
>> true?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried 
>> iron
>> cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to 
>> keep
>> a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling 
>> about
>> the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with 
>> one
>> ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. 
>> Thus, a
>> supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to 
>> the
>> cannon.
>>
>>
>>
>> There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding 
>> or
>> rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a
>> "Monkey" with 16 round indentations.
>>
>>
>>
>> However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly 
>> rust to
>> it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few
>> landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than 
>> iron
>> when chilled.   Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the 
>> brass
>> indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come 
>> right
>> off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the 
>> balls
>> off a brass monkey."
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