what is a "live" cannonball?

Question

Weeks Marine alerted the fire marshal's bomb squad about 1:30 p.m. after spotting the cannonball while unloading a barge. Authorities at the Aberdeen Proving Ground are X-raying all three cannonballs to determine whether they are still live

Answer 1

There were actually many types of shot to be loaded in cannons.

You had your solid shot, which was basically a solid metal ball fired at walls and redoubts to break down enemy defenses... scary as hell, but not really effective against infanty formations.

You had your frag shot, which was akin to creating a giant shotgun... loading a cannon with scraps of metal and firing it in a cloud of flak. It was short range, anti-infantry, with a wide area of effect. The range, however, limited it's use.

Against unhardened targets (lumber houses) and infantry formations at range, your explosive shell was your best bet. This was a hollow ball of metal which was then filled with gunpowder and capped with a fuse. During the firing of the cannon, the explosion of the powder in the tube would ignire the fuse. The ball would hit the ground somewhere near it's target and then explode... sending chunks of ballistic metal out in a sphere. Obviously, however, there were going to be plenty of cases where exploding shells didn't have their fuses ignite. Rumor has it at the alamo Col Travis picked up the warning shot from the mexican army... an unexploded shell of this type, and fired it BACK at Santa Anna as his response to surrender requests.

Today we still come accross ordinance used in the Civil War and other battles of the kind. Explosive shells which didn't detonate are known as live cannonballs because they can technically still be set off if conditions are right. We also run into problems with ordinance made from heavy metals which can contain hazardous materials. For this reason, if you ever discover any sort of ordinance, even solid shot like a cannonball, it is best to contact local authorities who can dispatch an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) team to recover the item.

Answer 2

Cannonballs came in two types, solid metal for knocking down walls and sinking ships, and hollow metal ones which had a central charge of black-powder, for anti-personnel use, while there is very little chance of this exploding where it is, it has to be determined which type it is has if fooled with or heated up while being renovated as a military souvenir, it has the potential to explode.

Answer 3

A cannonball that still posseses the ability to explode.

Answer 4

A cannonball with a heartbeat.

Answer 5

One that still has the explosive charge and fuse.

Answer 6

One with a powder charge that has not been ignited.

Answer 7

not dead yet