A question about boarding pikes

M ELEY · 1st October 2009, 08:56 PM

I'd love to see that ship, if I ever get a trip over to the homeland (grandfather was from Redruth, Cornwall). The U.S.S. Constitution likewise had boarding pikes stacked around the main mast, so I think this was a common practice. On most ships of the line, the pikes would have been heavy wooden affairs with langets/side straps, but many of the Rev War pikes and certainly the ones made for merchant defence and privateers didn't. Likewise, the Brit pikes for the RN had butt plates, but MOST other navies (American, French, Dutch, etc) didn't , as this metal cap would mar the deck over time. Anyway, still a mystery piece. I think Gonzalo is right, though, to not strictly label this piece as Span colonial-after seeing all of those navaja from Spain with similar decorations. Likewise, many colonial North American pieces had primitive line etching/markings...

1st October 2009, 08:56 PM	#20
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,165	I'd love to see that ship, if I ever get a trip over to the homeland (grandfather was from Redruth, Cornwall). The U.S.S. Constitution likewise had boarding pikes stacked around the main mast, so I think this was a common practice. On most ships of the line, the pikes would have been heavy wooden affairs with langets/side straps, but many of the Rev War pikes and certainly the ones made for merchant defence and privateers didn't. Likewise, the Brit pikes for the RN had butt plates, but MOST other navies (American, French, Dutch, etc) didn't , as this metal cap would mar the deck over time. Anyway, still a mystery piece. I think Gonzalo is right, though, to not strictly label this piece as Span colonial-after seeing all of those navaja from Spain with similar decorations. Likewise, many colonial North American pieces had primitive line etching/markings...