*British, 1845 Pattern Enfield Royal Navy Cutlass, Converted 1888*
Marked on the ricasso: War Arrow over WD, Crown over E over 44, N
Marked on the obverse: C, /88
Approximate measurements: 68cm / 27″ blade
A British 1845 Pattern Naval Cutlass featuring a 27-inch single-edge steel blade. The blade is marked with a broad arrow WD and a crown inspection stamp with ‘E’ (indicating the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield) over ’44’ and ‘N’ for Navy acceptance. The other side is stamped with ‘C’ over ‘/88,’ signifying a conversion in 1888 when the blade was officially shortened from 29.5 inches to 27 inches. The cutlass has a black-painted steel upturned bowl guard and heavy grip, a slightly curved, unfullered spear-point blade, and a steel bowl hilt with turned-over edges at the knucklebow and a sword knot slit near the pommel. It has a cast-iron ribbed grip and a steel teardrop-shaped pommel cap but lacks a scabbard.
Naval cutlasses were designed for close combat on wooden sailing ships, intended for hacking and thrusting rather than dueling. The 1845 Pattern cutlass, based on George Lovell’s design, was adopted by the Royal Navy after trials in 1841 and issued in significant quantities from 1845, despite the uncertainty of its exact entry into service due to a fire at the Tower of London storehouse. These cutlasses were well-suited for the confined and demanding environment of shipboard combat, serving the reduced Royal Navy following the Napoleonic Wars.
The 1845 Pattern underwent several modifications. Around 1859, the cutlass was modified to reduce the gap between the grip and knuckle guard from 2.75 inches to 2.38 inches, narrow the guard’s width where it met the pommel, add a washer between the guard and grip, and slightly turn the guard’s top edge outward. The blade was also shortened to 27 inches and slightly narrowed. In the 1870s, blades were further shortened to 26 inches and straightened, though the initial straightening weakened them, causing some to bend. After complaints, affected blades were re-treated and marked with an “R.” By 1887, it was ordered that all remaining 1845 cutlasses have their blades reduced to 27 inches without further straightening attempts, which resolved the issue. This cutlass is one of those conversions. The final chapter of the 1845 Pattern ended with the introduction of a new pattern in 1889, featuring a straight blade and a full-width tang, which could not have been added by conversion.
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