Boarding weapons from the Trafalgar era

[CutlassCollector]

I thought I would capture this grouping before I put the pike back on the wall.
It is not entirely chronologically accurate because the pike is the 1888 model but the rest are representative of the weapons used by the crew in boarding actions in the early part of the 19th century.

Boarding Pike – Tower Armoury

Boarding Axe - Sargent. It has lost some of the shaft and would normally be 2’ long.

Long Sea Service Pistol – Tower Armoury. This is a monster, it has a 12” barrel and is 19” overall length – compare the size with the cutlass. It is also heavy 3.3 lbs (1.5kg). It is no surprise that reports indicate that once fired, seamen often just chucked it at the enemy to be rid of it. Many of these were shortened, by the admiralty, to a 9” barrel to make them less cumbersome.

The 1804 Cutlass – Craven. Marked with the cypher GR.