18th Century Small Bronze Swivel Yoke
 

I believe this small swivel yoke is made of bronze, it is not iron that is for sure. It probably was recover from the French shipwreck mentioned in this post:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18703

It seems almost too small to be for something like a deck gun. Any ideas?

The image shows us that the yoke is roughly 7,5 cm as it is right now. I remembered a similar French "naval rampant gun" . When searching on these words, you will find lots of these, mostly flintlock, guns. ;)

best as always,
Marcus

http://i60.tinypic.com/23majok.jpg

Bad edit

Thanks Marcus. I believe the ship sank in 1781 or 1782, so it would be a flintlock.

The distance between the tips of the yoke's arms is 2 inches, or 5.08 cm.

Keep in mind, Dana, that these rampart guns were more than flintlocks, but true monsters! They put them on a swivel on purpose to pack a wallop without disabling the shooter's arm! Swivel guns such as the one pictured were used as wall/fort guns, but also on the rails of ships to 'discourage borders'! Their large bore allowed for standard shot, but one hears that you could pack them with bits of metal, broken glass, nails, etc, for a devastating blast! For more on them, check out Gilkerson's 'Boarders Away II'.
Mark

I've seem them Mark. I even have one. This yoke doesn't seem big enough to accommodate what I would normally think of as a swivel gun, but I do believe it was from a French shipwreck dating from 1781 or 1782.

Opps! Sorry, mate! Wow! I envy you if you actually possess such a piece. I wasn't paying close enough attention to the dimensions of the piece. Hmm...an oar securer?

A tholepin; that was my first guess ... but i hesitated after the gun yoke approach :shrug:

Too small for that too. It really does look like a swivel yoke for something like a Blunderbuss.

If it is a tholepin it REALLY doesn't belong here.

Let it not be a REAL problem; nobody is gonna beat you for that :cool:
The tholepin was only another suggestion; but it doesn't have to be the correct answer.
Not due to its dimensions (it could belong in a small auxiliary rowing boat), but both tholepins and gun yokes are usually secured on the gunwales by means of a spike/rod introduced in a hole and not by (short) screw thread ends.
... so i humbly realize :o

I was guessing that this Yoke screwed into another rod or post of some type, not directly into the gunwale. :shrug: