Pintles and Gudgeons.

[davyboy]

What metal were pintles and gudgeons manufactured from in English 17th and 18th century warships. Bronze or Iron ? Lavery does not mention which in his Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War. I would assume Bronze as Iron and Saltwater don't mix too well 

 

Thanks,

 

Dave 

 

[Mark P]

Evening Davyboy;

 

In the 17th century they were made of iron.  Anthony Deane experimented with lead cladding to protect ships' bottoms from worm and fouling,  but he had to give up due to the electrolytic reaction of the different metals in seawater (all metal fittings near the lead corroded rapidly)

 

In the last two decades of the 18th century,  the move to coppering of ships' bottoms made a change to something non-ferrous essential.  Gudgeons and pintles were then made of 'mixt metal',  bronze to us,  which is an alloy of around 90% copper and 10% tin (the tin makes the copper much harder and resistant to wear) The gudgeons and pintles for 'Hannibal',  a 50 gun ship of this period,  weighed in a 1 1/4 tons. 

 

Keel bolts,  I believe,  were made of copper,  not bronze. 

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

[davyboy]

Hi Mark P,

 

Thank you for that info,much obliged. It means I don't have to blacken the brass set I've made for my current build.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dave