Whaling harpoon tattoo11/18/2023 ![]() ![]() A popular gun was called the Greener gun, invented and manufactured by William Greener of Birmingham, England. On later voyages, in the later 1800's, a heavy swivel gun was mounted in the bow of the whaleboat. SWIVEL GUNS & IRONS: Swivel guns were introduced in the early 1700's, but were not practical. The guns weighed more than 20 lbs to absorb much of the recoil. One account of a witness to a demonstration of a new gun harpoon said that when the harpoon was fired, "The whale is the safest creature in or on the ocean." The maximum weight of the projectile for a shoulder gun was approximately 3 lbs, limited by the gun's recoil. These were not very effective because the harpoon trailing the heavy whale line never flew straight and was quite likely to hit the whale broadside, if it hit it at all. SHOULDER GUNS, HARPOONS & BOMB LANCES: In later years, after 1846, shoulder guns were introduced that could fire a special gun harpoon into the whale. The first iron was always a new harpoon, while the second iron was usually one that had been used once and straightened out by the ship's blacksmith or cooper. If it was not possible to dart the second iron, it was tossed overboard to trail out of the way. The short warp of this second iron was attached loosely around the main warp by a bowline. If at all possible, the second harpoon was also darted. If necessary, a harpoon could be darted a maximum of three fathoms, or eighteen feet. It was not thrown like a spear, but was more or less pushed into the whale. When the whaleboat approached close enough to the whale, within three fathoms, but preferably "wood to blackskin", the harpoon was darted. Often the crew had to wait for the whale to rise. At this point the whale could not dive again until it "had his spoutings out" or enriched its blood supply with oxygen for another hour-long dive. The six-man crew in the boat chased the whale hoping to harpoon it just after it surfaced. HARPOON: When a whale was sighted, the whaleboats were cleared away. A Brief Summary of Capturing and Processing a Whale in the American Whale Fisheries, Indicating the Whalecraft Used.
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