Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 28th December 2020, 07:21 PM

I think distinguishing a weapon which is essentially also a tool with basic similarities which might enable its use in varied contexts, to one specific area is pretty much impossible without exacting provenance.

It is in a way like trying to identify a Civil War weapon as Confederate, when weapons of same types and makers were used universally by both sides. Usually weapons of rougher or cruder character are considered Confederate with the thinking that they had little industrial or supply capacity. Obviously this is not a necessarily adequate observation.

The boarding axe is similarly a dilemma in identification as most of them do have a similarity to the fireman's axe. However it must be considered that in function, they are primarily the same with a pike at the back of the head opposing the curved blade. The pike at the back was to dig out molten shot in ship fires, and to dig out burning embers in burning wood in general.
So basically, their primary function was the same, in fact the axes on ships were often termed firemens axes. These were kept typically near gun ports and a fireman was the job of one gunner, who also kept water bucket at hand. Accidental explosion of powder, burning wadding etc. were perils at hand in addition to enemy shot.

Gilkerson in "Boarders Away" (1991, p.25),
"... weapon and tool, the axe was carried to sea by sailors in time before memory, and there it has remained into the present as the ships FIRE AXE, still looking very much like its direct parent, the boarding axe".

p.29:
"...it should be observed that for specialized purposes men of war also carried other kinds of axes such as various kinds of carpenters axes as well as larger broad axes which were sometimes issued to boat parties when it was anticipated that they would have to cut heavy anchor cable. Boats also carried hand hatchets for cutting of all lines".

p.30
"...the private ships carried the entire panoply of battle gear including boarding axes, which were generally unmarked copies of naval styles".

p.31:
"...the boarding axe was a thing of the sea, and it was unhappy and useless ashore except when fighting fires".

It seems that the well known fire brigades of the 19th century and early 20th were more small community groups which may well have relied on the local tool suppliers much in the manner of those charged with supply of private vessels.
It would not seem unlikely that a tool with such commonality as a fire axe (aka boarding axe) might not have seen use in either of these contexts, nor if one transcended use in one area into the other.

Without specific markings or provenance we cannot unequivocably say this axe is one or the other, but safely that it is distinctly of a form that was used in both an axe on vessels as well as in fire fighting ashore.

28th December 2020, 07:21 PM	#8
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,738	I think distinguishing a weapon which is essentially also a tool with basic similarities which might enable its use in varied contexts, to one specific area is pretty much impossible without exacting provenance. It is in a way like trying to identify a Civil War weapon as Confederate, when weapons of same types and makers were used universally by both sides. Usually weapons of rougher or cruder character are considered Confederate with the thinking that they had little industrial or supply capacity. Obviously this is not a necessarily adequate observation. The boarding axe is similarly a dilemma in identification as most of them do have a similarity to the fireman's axe. However it must be considered that in function, they are primarily the same with a pike at the back of the head opposing the curved blade. The pike at the back was to dig out molten shot in ship fires, and to dig out burning embers in burning wood in general. So basically, their primary function was the same, in fact the axes on ships were often termed firemens axes. These were kept typically near gun ports and a fireman was the job of one gunner, who also kept water bucket at hand. Accidental explosion of powder, burning wadding etc. were perils at hand in addition to enemy shot. Gilkerson in "Boarders Away" (1991, p.25), "... weapon and tool, the axe was carried to sea by sailors in time before memory, and there it has remained into the present as the ships FIRE AXE, still looking very much like its direct parent, the boarding axe". p.29: "...it should be observed that for specialized purposes men of war also carried other kinds of axes such as various kinds of carpenters axes as well as larger broad axes which were sometimes issued to boat parties when it was anticipated that they would have to cut heavy anchor cable. Boats also carried hand hatchets for cutting of all lines". p.30 "...the private ships carried the entire panoply of battle gear including boarding axes, which were generally unmarked copies of naval styles". p.31: "...the boarding axe was a thing of the sea, and it was unhappy and useless ashore except when fighting fires". It seems that the well known fire brigades of the 19th century and early 20th were more small community groups which may well have relied on the local tool suppliers much in the manner of those charged with supply of private vessels. It would not seem unlikely that a tool with such commonality as a fire axe (aka boarding axe) might not have seen use in either of these contexts, nor if one transcended use in one area into the other. Without specific markings or provenance we cannot unequivocably say this axe is one or the other, but safely that it is distinctly of a form that was used in both an axe on vessels as well as in fire fighting ashore.