LANYARD: Made of a strong twisted cord, 12-feet long, with a wooden
handle attached at one end and an iron hook at the other.
The
lanyard hook was attached to the eye in the serrated wire of the friction
primer after the primer was seated into the vent. The gunner would grip the
wooden handle and pull the lanyard quickly, thereby causing the wire to pull
through the friction primer, causing a spark. This would ignite the powder charge in
the cannon tube. |