Akko 1 shipwreck: The effect of cannon fire on the wooden hull

Y. Kahanov; J. B. Tresman; Y. Me-Bar; D. Cvikel; A. Hillman

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.013

Akko 1 shipwreck: The effect of cannon fire on the wooden hull

Y. Kahanov, J. B. Tresman, Y. Me-Bar, D. Cvikel, A. Hillman

Department of Maritime Civilizations

University of Haifa

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The Akko 1 shipwreck was discovered inside the harbour of the old walled city of Akko (Acre, St. Jean d'Acre, Akka), Israel. The ship's hull was built mainly of oak, with closely-set framing timbers that created a solid side. The shipwreck was apparently a result of the naval bombardment of the town in 1840.Reduced scale experiments of simulating the firing of cannonballs at a ship's side were conducted by Rafael (Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Israel). The experimental set-up included a laboratory gun firing at wooden targets representing the side of a ship, and a monitoring high-speed camera system, measuring the entrance and exit velocities of projectiles. Scaling up the results of the tests showed that a 12-pdr cannonball could easily have penetrated the hull. The lower the impact velocity of the cannonball, the greater the damage caused to the ship's side, with a larger amount of splinters being generated. The minimum penetration velocity was about 150 m/s.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	1993-2002
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	39
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.013
State	Published - Jul 2012

Keywords

19th Century naval gunnery
Akko 1 shipwreck
Penetration velocity
Scaling down
Splinters

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Archaeology
Archaeology

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10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.013

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title = "Akko 1 shipwreck: The effect of cannon fire on the wooden hull",

abstract = "The Akko 1 shipwreck was discovered inside the harbour of the old walled city of Akko (Acre, St. Jean d'Acre, Akka), Israel. The ship's hull was built mainly of oak, with closely-set framing timbers that created a solid side. The shipwreck was apparently a result of the naval bombardment of the town in 1840.Reduced scale experiments of simulating the firing of cannonballs at a ship's side were conducted by Rafael (Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Israel). The experimental set-up included a laboratory gun firing at wooden targets representing the side of a ship, and a monitoring high-speed camera system, measuring the entrance and exit velocities of projectiles. Scaling up the results of the tests showed that a 12-pdr cannonball could easily have penetrated the hull. The lower the impact velocity of the cannonball, the greater the damage caused to the ship's side, with a larger amount of splinters being generated. The minimum penetration velocity was about 150 m/s.",

keywords = "19th Century naval gunnery, Akko 1 shipwreck, Penetration velocity, Scaling down, Splinters",

author = "Y. Kahanov and Tresman, \{J. B.\} and Y. Me-Bar and D. Cvikel and A. Hillman",

note = "Funding Information: The underwater excavations and research of the Akko 1 shipwreck were supported by Ron Marlar , the Yaacov Salomon Foundation, the late Reuven Sadnai—Coral Maritime Services Ltd. , the Halpern Foundation , a Sir Maurice Hatter Fellowship , the Hecht Trust , a Jewish National Fund Fellowship , the President, Rector, Dean and Faculty of Humanities , University of Haifa , and anonymous donors, to whom the authors are grateful.",

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AU - Hillman, A.

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Akko 1 shipwreck: The effect of cannon fire on the wooden hull

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Keywords

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