These were found at a coast battery site which housed two 6" naval guns up until the 1950s. They seem to be WW2 dated and I have always assumed that they are perhaps crates for the projectiles for the guns, with the little recess around the inside for the drive band, but I have not seen anything like these anywhere before. They are octagonal in section with internal dia 7¼" and height 28". Could anyone enlighten me. Thanks.
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Are these shell crates?
- Thread starter Drewz
- Start date
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- container crate projectile shell
Yes.. the shell would also have a rope or canvas grommet over the driving band. Shell were stored loose and stacked on dunnage, but could be crated for transport, depending on where and how the shell was being moved.
Plugged shell is (apart from the driving band) pretty indestructible and was usually stored loose with no other protection apart from paint. Heavy shell is however a nightmare to transport unless it is well shored and chocked. Once a shell starts to roll it can do a lot of damage to rail trucks and holds etc. Crating takes time, but it allows the shell to be stowed more quickly and safely than if loose although it is not as space efficient and takes time to crate up. These days, shell over 105mm is usually palletised and moved using MHE. Pallets can be either standard wooden ones with packing and banding or specialised cage crates, sometimes containing charges.
Crates seldom survive as they are often used up on the battlefield as a source of firewood and "useful bits of wood".
Plugged shell is (apart from the driving band) pretty indestructible and was usually stored loose with no other protection apart from paint. Heavy shell is however a nightmare to transport unless it is well shored and chocked. Once a shell starts to roll it can do a lot of damage to rail trucks and holds etc. Crating takes time, but it allows the shell to be stowed more quickly and safely than if loose although it is not as space efficient and takes time to crate up. These days, shell over 105mm is usually palletised and moved using MHE. Pallets can be either standard wooden ones with packing and banding or specialised cage crates, sometimes containing charges.
Crates seldom survive as they are often used up on the battlefield as a source of firewood and "useful bits of wood".
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Hi Duson, thanks for your reply and photos, the crates do seem to be almost identical to my ones, some food for thought.
Hi bombdoc, thanks for this info.