Cannon Balls, did you know this?

Question

ANNON BALLS !!! DID YOU KNOW THIS ?

It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck was the problem. The best storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen.

Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.

The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make them of brass - hence, Brass Monkeys.

Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey.

Thus,it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. And all this time, you thought that was just a vulgar expression, didn't you?

Answer 1

Great story and not a word of it is true.

See:

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq107....

Edit to Alex - that IS where it comes from - not from this load of faux etymology

Answer 2

That was awesome and very interesting! Thank you!  

Answer 3

mmmm What would Martin the ape -think about that.//

Answer 4

Fascinating!

I did know the platform was called a monkey, but 1) didn't know it was brass, and 2) wasn't aware of the problem caused by the cold.

Thank you.

One more for what a friend refers to as "you're having one of your Michael Caine moments again". (As in "Not a lot of people know this, but..............)

edit:

Thanks for the link Bigredan *JPA, but woe on you for spoiling such a good tale!!

Answer 5

Interesting and I had heard the story before but this is not question seeking an answer but more like someone giving an answer to his own question.

Answer 6

I knew a monkey once who was in show business, his favourite trick was to stand on his d*ck and roll off the stage on his b*lls.

Answer 7

I did not know that!   I can't think why they didn't use wood - the ships were made of wood, why use metal for this tray?    

Answer 8

Fascinating. You learn something new every day! Thank you.

Answer 9

d**n, I and I always had this image of those tacky mantle piece wise monkeys, made in brass (very common in 1970s) in desperate need of welders.

Answer 10

thank you my wise friend but i still prefer the image of a brass monkey at the spot welders.

Answer 11

have a star.

thanks

Answer 12

Well thank you very much for that!  Very enlightening indeed.

I starred your posting it was so informative.

Answer 13

Thank you ... a very interesting read.

Answer 14

Not true. Urban myth.

According to the United States Navy Historical Center, this is a legend of the sea without historical justification.  The center has researched this because of the questions it gets and says the term "brass monkey" and a vulgar reference to the effect of cold on the monkey's extremities, appears to have originated in the book "Before the Mast" by C.A. Abbey.  It was said that it was so cold that it would "freeze the tail off a brass monkey."   The Navy says there is no evidence that the phrase had anything to do with ships or ships with cannon balls.

In actuality, ready service shot was kept on the gun or spar decks in shot racks (also known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy) which consisted of longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, into which round shot (cannon balls) were inserted for ready use by the gun crew. These shot racks or garlands are discussed in: Longridge, C. Nepean. The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships. (Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1981): 64. A top view of shot garlands on the upper deck of a ship-of-the-line is depicted in The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1991): 17.

Answer 15

Bloody good stuff.

Answer 16

Yes, I know that, but my impression was that a brass monkey was not a plate with indentations, but a square hoop the right size to hold the bottom layer of that pyramid. And this hoop would contract enough to actually lift the outside rows of cannon balls high enough that they'd roll out.

Answer 17

Great trivia!  I assume you know the young boys used to run the powder from the magazine to the guns were called powder monkeys?  

Many of those boys were also "a son of a gun."  Their exact parentage was unknown because their mothers left them as infants on the gun deck of the ship.  The British navy kept an orphanage for such children because it was so common.  When the boys were 7 or 8, they'd go to sea as powder monkeys.

Answer 18

Splendid! I am always edified by learning where some of the odd expressions we use come from. Thank you.

Answer 19

Interesting.  Ok ANNON balls were did all that wisdom spring from.