Cleaning rod for Greener harpoon gun
Date1860s
Object number00000042
NameCleaning rod
MediumBrass
DimensionsOverall: 12 x 510 x 12 mm, 0.05 kg
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis brass rod was used for cleaning a Greener harpoon gun. William Greener devised the swivel mounted Greener Gun in 1837. The gun was mounted on the bow of a whaleboat and fired harpoons at whales. The rod has a cleaning screw at one end.HistoryEarly killing methods were as dangerous to the crews as they were deadly to the whale. Hand-thrown harpoons merely attached a rope to the whale to stop it from escaping. Actual killing of the wounded and thrashing mammal was done at close range. A long lance pierced the lungs or heart for a slow death.
Harpoon firing guns became standard from the 1850s. The Greener gun was regarded as the best of the open whaleboat guns. It was mounted on a swivel base in the bow and fired double barbed steel harpoons. William Greener of Birmingham, England, devised the method in 1837. The mechanism for firing usually consisted of a hammer that struck a pair of percussion caps. The harpoons used in Greener guns changed very little over the years, but the head changed as the hand-darted irons changed.SignificanceThis cleaning rod is typical of the 1860s whaling period in the Southern Seas.
c1884
