Guns of another color.

[Bill Wells]

In my research of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service, I had come upon interesting items not normally written about.  I am writing a small article about the overhaul of the U. S. Revenue Schooner Van Buren, commanded by Captain Thomas C. Rudulph, at Charleston, South Carolina during September 1845.

One of the more unusual things noted in the vessel's logs was as described,

The Gunner worked on the deck guns that remained aboard because the four 12-pounders weighed one thousand pounds each plus about three hundred pounds for each wood carriage.  Custom had the guns “blackened” in previous years, but Rudulph put his brand on them this time.  On September 16, 1845, the ship’s chandler, Captain Hugh E. Vincent, [ship chandler] delivered four pounds of “red ochre.” The Gunner and gang coated the guns and the “iron works” on the gun carriages with this mixture.  Although an unusual color for guns, its use violated no rules or regulations.  Some of the cutters painted the small boats’ interior a bright green with a white interior stripe at the top.

In 1847, William Brady, Sailing Master, USN, published a book titled The Kedge Anchor; or, Young Sailor’s Assistant, containing thousands of helpful hints, procedures, and facts for sailing vessels. Under the heading of “Keeping the Copper Clean,” Brady advised that clean copper made the vessel look good, and copper cleanliness made a statement about its crew, crew, and captain.  Hard labor and scrubbing the copper was the preferred method, but paint provided a quick fix, if not viewed too closely. The mix of red ochre and paint oil to the “color of new copper.” The application required calm and fair weather was calm because water would wash it off the wet mixture.  However, if appropriately applied, this “will preserve a good appearance for a long time.” 

[wefalck]

'Red ochre' is iron-oxyhydroxide (FeOOH), depending on the amount of crystal water and the purity of the material, it can be actually anything from a pretty bright red to a dark brown. Dark brown would be ok (in some navies the cast-iron guns were made to corrode with vinegar and the resulting mixture of iron-acetate and iron-oxyhydroxide solidified in situ by rubbing the gun with line-seed oil), but a red gun would show stains from powder-smoke and the powder-slime from washing out the guns all over. There is a good reason, why guns were painted dark.