Thread: Cannonballs

Any Navy guys out there who can verify the following? I read an article recently that stated that iron cannon balls on men-of-war were stored next to the guns in "monkeys." A "monkey" was a metal plate with 16 round indentations. The cannon balls were stacked in a a square based pyramid on this plate with the top ball resting on four balls resting on nine resting on the bottom layer of sixteen. Brass monkeys...

From the GBO mortar and cannon forum. on: August 28, 2005, 04:41:16 AM Black Powder Forums / Blackpowder Mortar and Cannon Sponsored by Seacoast Artillery / Ball Monkey I'm sure many forum readers are familiar with the "controversy" surrounding the term "brass monkey". The story goes as follows: "In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those...

In addition when extra ball was allowed to be placed by the guns, it was pushed up against the bulwark and hald in place by putting it into rope rings which prevented it from rolling around the deck. Imagine a ship fighting a battle in rough weather with 24 or 36 pound iron balls rolling around the deck smacking you in the ankles! Or even worse, falling down a hatch and landing on someone! Moneys were used on land, not aboard ships.