Line gun

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Line gun in action for creating a line connection between two ships on the high seas

A line gun is a device that can be used to fire a line to create a line connection to a ship or a person in the water.

functionality

With the help of a pyrotechnic propellant or compressed air, a small weight capsule is fired from the line gun (sometimes also distress signal pistols are used for this ). An extremely tear-resistant nylon line is attached to this weight and unwinds from a spool when it is fired . Line guns can shoot lines up to 300 meters away.

operation area

Line guns are used in seafaring . With the fired, thin line, it is possible to establish a first line connection to another ship or person even in rough seas, against wind or current or across impassable waters. With the help of the nylon line, a thicker line can be used for towing a ship, for exchanging people or for recovery equipment.

history

Manby mortar in use, drawing from 1842

The artillery sergeant Bell made his first attempts with a mortar in Woolwich Arsenal in 1791 and achieved throwing distances of 400 yards (365 m). The Manby mortar designed by George William Manby was first used in 1808 for sea ​​rescue operations that were then only possible near the coast . He revolutionized the rescue because no rescue teams had to row out risking their lives if the damaged vessel could be achieved.

In 1878 David A. Lyle developed the Lyle's life saving gun . B. in service with the US Coast Guard . A famous and documented mission was to rescue two sailors from the Niagara Scow in 1918.

Line gun (1940)

As early as the 19th century, the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People was using harpoon-like devices to fire lines to rescue people from stranded ships. The lines, however, were ordinary ship ropes , usually hemp rope , which were neatly laid and transported in boxes ready for launch.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rescue at sea with a line gun Sailpress.com - Safety for deep-sea sailors, sea weather - by Q-Visions Media Andrea Quaß. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  2. ^ Clayton Evans: Rescue at Sea . Conway Maritime Press 2003, ISBN 0-85177-934-4 , p. 49 f.
  3. ↑ Springfield Armory National Historic Site: David Lyle and his Life Saving Gun - Springfield Armory National Historic Site (US National Park Service). National Park Service, accessed November 6, 2019 .