Also known as: James shell, James rifle projectile.
| Class | Rifled-artillery projectile system |
|---|---|
| Inventor | General Charles Tillinghast James (1805-1862) |
| First patent | U.S. Patent 14,315, February 26, 1856 |
| Driving system | Expanding lead sabot over a ribbed cast-iron body |
| Notable use | Reduction of Fort Pulaski, Georgia, 1862 |
Inventor and system
Charles Tillinghast James of Rhode Island was a machinist, cotton-mill superintendent, U.S. Senator, and major-general of state militia who turned to ordnance in the 1850s. He developed a rifled cannon and a family of projectiles, patenting his first on February 26, 1856, as U.S. Patent 14,315.
The James projectile carried a lead-alloy sabot formed over a ribbed or channeled iron body. When fired, the soft lead was driven into the gun's rifling to seal the bore and impart rotation. The system saw its best-known service in the Federal reduction of Fort Pulaski in April 1862, where rifled fire breached the fort's masonry.
Identification and legacy
Surviving James projectiles are recognized by the ribbed iron body beneath the remains of the lead sabot and by their caliber. The lead covering was prone to stripping in the bore, and the pattern was gradually displaced by more robust expanding-cup and band systems. James himself was killed on October 16, 1862, at Sag Harbor, New York, when a shell detonated during a demonstration of his projectiles.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- Melton, Jack W., Jr. Civil War Artillery Projectiles: The Half Shell Book. Blue Ridge, GA: Historical Publications LLC, 2018.
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
- Gillmore, Quincy A. Official Report to the United States Engineer Department, of the Siege and Reduction of Fort Pulaski, Georgia, February, March, and April, 1862. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1862.
- Hackley, Frank W. Civil War Explosive Ordnance. Revised November 10, 1960. U.S. Naval School, Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
- United States Military Academy Ordnance Museum. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection.