Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance: A Guide to Large Artillery Projectiles, Torpedoes, and Mines

Harding

225 Harding The designer of the Harding family of projectiles has proved to be the most elusive of any of the designers of Civil War projectiles. The author searched in vain at the National Archives, the Museum of the Confederacy, the Library of Virginia, and talked with librarians at the Charleston Historical Society and the Charleston Museum. No information was found to identify Harding. This family of projectiles owes its “Harding” name to a series of photographs taken at the Charleston Arsenal shortly after the war. In preparing projectiles to be photographed, someone had meticulously assembled about 50 pieces of heavy artillery projectiles and torpedoes and painted the names and calibers on most of them. Among those, were more than a dozen projectiles labeled “Harding.” (See front of dust jacket.) During modern times some 11 different types and calibers of projectiles from this family have been recovered in various locations around Charleston and along the South Carolina coast. Based on their recovery locations, Harding projectiles may have appeared as early as 1863, certainly by 1864. They continued to be used until Confederate forces abandoned Charleston as General Sherman began to move north from Savannah towards Wilmington. Many of the Harding shells and bolts have short, smooth Parrott-like shell bodies, but with more pointed noses, and several Harding designs have Parrott-like rabbeted sabots. However, several late war designs were truly innovative. This included the 7-inch and 8inch shells with the wood base covering thin tapered bases. And one of the best known is the 10-inch dumbbell bolt photographed at the Charleston Arsenal. This bolt was mistakenly identified in earlier books as a Brooke bolt. However, a close inspection of this bolt in the West Point collection confirms it is a Harding. 226 RIFLED PROJECTILES HARDING 227 228 RIFLED PROJECTILES CS 6.4-inch Harding Hollow Shot Diameter: Length: Weight: Gun: Rifled 32-pounder Gun 6.33 inches 11.75 inches 56 pounds (64 nominal) Rarity: Sabot: Copper Ring Fuze: None Rifling: 13-groove 9 Provenance: Combahee River, South Carolina, from the January 1865 Confederate attack on the USS Dai w Ching. No other known recovery sites. Comments: Most known recovered specimens were fired by a rifled 32-pounder gun with 13-groove rifling. The iron base plug screws into the hole. See next page for cross-section. HARDING 229 CS 6.4-inch Harding Hollow Shot Half-Section Diameter: Length: Weight: Gun: Rifled 32-pounder Gun 6.33 inches 11.00 inches 26 pounds (68 nominal) Rarity: Sabot: Copper Ring Fuze: None Rifling: 13-groove 9 Provenance: Combahee River, South Carolina. No other battlefield recovery sites known. Comments: This cross-section demonstrates that this hollow shot was intended to be very light in order to achieve high initial velocities for short-range engagements. The attack on the USS Dai Ching in January 1865 was exactly the kind of engagement this design was suited for. Note the threaded iron plug in the base of the bolt. 230 RIFLED PROJECTILES HARDING 231 CS 7-inch Harding Shell Diameter: Length: Weight: Gun: Rifled 42-pounder Gun 6.83 inches 11.37 inches 49 pounds (70 nominal) Rarity: 9 Sabot: Copper Ring Fuze: Wood/Girardey (missing) Rifling: 8-groove Provenance: Charleston area. No other known recovery sites. Comments: The 7-inch caliber shell is much rarer than the 6.4-inch caliber. Few rifled 42-pounders were deployed in the Charleston area. Most shells were fired from Confederate batteries on James Island or along that defensive line. This shell has lost some of its weight in the saltwater environment prior to recovery. Most 7-inch Harding shells threw their sabots. At least one 7-inch Harding bolt is reported to have been recovered. 232 RIFLED PROJECTILES CS 7-inch Harding Wooden Base Shell Diameter: Length: Weight: Gun: 7-inch Brooke or Rifled 42-pounder 6.90 inches 24.50 inches 90 pounds Rarity: 10 Sabot: Copper Ring (and wood) Fuze: CS Lead Percussion Rifling: Unfired Provenance: Unknown. Almost certainly from Charleston. Only two specimens known. Comments: This shell is probably not an armor-piercing design. It is lightweight and aerodynamically shaped, features intended to achieve high speed at short range. No known battlefield recoveries. This shell is one of those photographed at Charleston Arsenal just...