Armament
Like many of the Mississippi theatre ironclads, USS Carondelet had its armament changed multiple times over life of the vessel. To expedite the entrance of Carondelet into service, she and the other City-class gunboats were fitted with whatever weapons were available; then had their weapons upgraded as new pieces became available. Though the 8 in (200 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore cannons were fairly modern most of the other original armaments were antiquated; such as the 32-pounders, or modified; such as the 42-pounder "rifles" which were in fact, old smoothbores that had been gouged out to give them rifling. These 42-pounder weapons were of particular concern to military commanders because they were structurally weaker and more prone to exploding than purpose-built rifled cannons. Additionally, the close confines of riverine combat greatly increased the threat of boarding parties. The 12-pounder howitzer was equipped to address that concern and was not used in regular combat.
| Ordnance characteristics | ||
|---|---|---|
| January 1862 | May 1863 | January 1864 |
| • 4 × 8-inch smoothbores • 1 × 50-pounder rifle • 1 × 42-pounder rifle • 6 × 32-pounder rifles • 1 × 30-pounder rifle • 1 × 12-pounder rifle |
• 3 × 9-inch smoothbores • 4 × 8-inch smoothbores • 1 × 50-pounder rifle • 1 × 42-pounder rifle • 1 × 32-pounder rifle • 1 × 30-pounder rifle • 1 × 12-pounder rifle |
• 3 × 9-inch smoothbores • 4 × 8-inch smoothbores • 2 × 100-pounder rifles • 1 × 50-pounder rifle • 1 × 30-pounder rifle • 1 × 12-pounder rifle |
Read more about this topic: USS Carondelet (1861)