~ 1849 Midshipman’s Gunnery Log Book From HMS Excellent ~
The front page reads “Gunnery Log HMS Excellent Kept By W E Gordon Midshipman September 24th 1849”.
Inside are over filled in pages in exquisite hand writing and neatly drawn depictions of the art of gunnery, some coloured in.
Sections include parts of guns, carronades, gun carriages, musket locks etc. with illustrations, gunners instruction, magazine exercise, powder making, the making and packaging of cartridges, details on quill tubes, rocket details and much more.
~ HMS Excellent ~
HMS Excellent at this time was the Royal Navy gunnery school, based on the renamed HMS Boyne, and moored in Portsmouth Harbour.
HMS Boyne was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 July 1810 at Portsmouth. On 12 February 1814 she took part with HMS Caledonia in a hot action against the French line-of-battle ship Romulus off Toulon; the French 74 managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast to avoid being surrounded. With the 1817 changes to the rating system Boyne was rerated as a 104-gun first rate ship.
On 23 November 1824, Boyne was driven ashore at Portsmouth during a gale. In 1826 she was cut down (razeed) to become a two-deck, 76-gun third-rate ship of the line. On 1 December 1834 she was renamed HMS Excellent and became a training ship. On 22 November 1859 she was renamed HMS Queen Charlotte and paid off the following month before being broken up from December 1861.
~ Condition ~
The book is rather rough on the outside due to active handling, with lose to the spine. The interior remains clean and tidy.
~ Dimensions ~
The log book is 24 cm (9.5 inches) tall by 19 cm (7.5 inches) wide with around 80 pages, over half of which are filled in.
#10153