Confederate

Carkeet

 

DIAMETER: 1.94 inches
GUN: 2-pounder Carkeet smoothbore, 2-inch caliber
LENGTH: 3 3/16 inches
WEIGHT: 2 pounds 2 ounces
CONSTRUCTION: Solid Shot
SABOT: None
FUZING: None

James Hill Carkeet, of Natchez, Mississippi, was issued a Confederate patent for his smoothbore 2-pounder Carkeet cannon on September 3, 1861.  One source states that the Confederate patent #19 was issued on 09/03/1861 to James H. Harkut (*Carcut) of Natchez, MS for Manufacture of Cannon.  To the author's knowledge, his projectile was not patented.  This projectile used two air vanes as the system of rotation.  The rotary motion of the projectile occurred when the air passed over the two vanes, producing a left-hand twist.  There are several different varieties of the Carkeet projectile.  This pictured projectile has a concave base.  The only battlefield Carkeet recovery occurred on the Champion's Hill battlefield located in Mississippi near Vicksburg.  Several specimens were recovered from the site of the Selma Arsenal in Alabama.  A wooden "Carkeet" patent model of this type of projectile is located in the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.  Pictured below is another recovered specimen for comparison.
 
CarkeetSide2.jpgCarkeetNose.jpg (20281 bytes) CarkeetSide1.jpg CarkeetBase2.jpgCarkeetBase.jpg