Lyle line throwing gun

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  • Last Post 14 January 2016
bandmiller2 posted this 07 January 2016

Any of you fellas used a navy lyle gun to throw lines from ship to ship. They use a break action receiver much like the handy rifle with a heavy, short, smooth bore 45-70 barrel. The 45-70 shells use black powder with heavy wadding over it. A brass bolt about 10” long with a eye on one end attaches to a light line in a can that plays out when fired. We had a couple at the fire house the chief told me to get rid of them before someone gets hurt. I would never fire one from the shoulder best used like a mortar with the butt resting on something other than a shoulder. Frank C.

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 07 January 2016

Toss this out on Graybeard Outdoors - on the mortar and cannon forum.

 http://www.gbocannons.com/>www.GBOCannons.com

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RicinYakima posted this 07 January 2016

Not only those, but also the ones made from cutoff Trapdoors. My last fire service job was in a city with two long sides being rivers. So here in the desert, people use these for cooling off and get trapped on islands. We used them to pitch a length of cord so they could pull a rope over. (Now we have jet boats for rescue.) They were not as bad for recoil as you would think. The Lyle was much less than the M79 grenade launchers. If I remember correctly, the guy who did the maintenance only loaded it with 50 grains of F black powder. We only used them twice that I remember in 28 years for real rescues, but they were a good excuse to go down to the river for “drill"!

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Westhoff posted this 07 January 2016

I never used one, but I remember them from 70 odd years ago. I was a Radio Officer in the Merchant Marine during WW2. (I graduated from High School when I was 16, and the Merchant Marines were the only outfit I could get into.) They were suffering major manpower losses, and would take anybody they could get.

Wes

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Baltimoreed11754 posted this 13 January 2016

I've used one made from a .45-70 break open H and R to deploy the oil boom across the barge slip at the phosphate plant located on the Pamlico River in eastern NC. I worked there for 40 years. We aggravated with that oil boom every month. It would fire a brass rod woth a 600# test string tied to it and then we would tie a rope to the string. The rope would get pulled across by hand. The rope would get tied to the floating boom and the boom would be pulled out of the building it was stored in, down a ramp through rollers into the water. We used a pickup to pull the boom across. I did get a lot of .45-70 brass out of the deal and after i became a AOperator I didn't have to shoot the hard kicking thing anymore.

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donr308 posted this 13 January 2016

We had several on board my ship. They were the break open 45-70 you mentioned. They stayed in the ships armory until needed. The boatswains mates doing the operation would get what was needed. As mentioned, the load was 45-70 black powder and propelled a rod with a large plastic cylinder on the front end. The line was small and fed from a container that would not tangle. They were one use and allowed a larger line or, messenger to be pulled to the receiving ship. The high line, as it was called, was then was then pulled over so the transfer of personnel, refueling, supplies, mail, or what ever was needed. A line was run through a snatch block and a crew on each ship was required to take up, or give, slack because of the roll and pitch of both ships.  I was a Fire Control P.O.2 and did repair on both fire control and gunnery systems. If the repair was not completed before a ship got underway then you got underway with them. You were pretty much on your own to get back to the tender. Hitching a ride on a Coastguard cutter or getting high lined to another ship heading to home port was usually it. The high line gun was not the only method. An experienced boatswain mate with a good arm could wind up a weight and let it fly and put it on deck every time.  You stirred up some pleasant memories that it was good to revisit. Here is some more info if interested  Don Ross  http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675046360transferring-personnelPipe-frame-chairback-Haul-line-Special-chairto-transfer-disabled           

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donr308 posted this 13 January 2016

The version being discussed is a real wimp compared to what was used in prior years. Through horse trading we acquired an original 2 1/2 inch bore canon that was primarily used in earlier days to throw a line to a ship in distress. It had a 24” barrel, used a charge of 1 1/2 to 8 oz. of black powder made for that purpose and used a projectile weighing 19 lb. Ours was never fired but was mounted on a mahogany block fitted with steel axles and 1” wide, 4” dia. wheels turned from brass stock. A small brass plaque engraved with a bit of history completed the arrangement. It graced the entrance to the Fire Control shop on the USS Everglades AD24,  beside our set of star gauge equipment for measuring bore wear for 3 through 8 inch bores. I wonder sometimes what the fate of the canon was when the ship was decommissioned in 1970, 4 years after I was discharged from active duty.. Hate to think it was scraped. Don Ross      

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bandmiller2 posted this 14 January 2016

Don, I'am sure that old cannon found a good home stuff like that just seems to evaporate and never hit the scrap pile, I believe comshaw is the term. Frank C.

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