From Old Cannon to Iron Pigs: The introduction of Kentledge ballast in the early modern French navy

AbstractThe introduction of iron pigs, or kentledge, was a significant change in the ballasting of warships that heavily impacted early modern naval logistics. A close examination of printed sources and excavation reports of seven shipwrecks demonstrates the French navy’s progressive adaptation of kentledge as ballast around 1759 to 1830. Following British use, iron pigs replaced old cannon and round shot. This change in ballasting practices greatly facilitated naval logistics. Allowing for easy stowage and tessellation in the hold of military ships, the French implementation of kentledge heralded harbour modernization at a time of growing industrialization.Key words: reused cannoniron ballasttechnology transferFrench navyharbour logisticssailing skills AcknowledgementsWe wish to express our gratitude to Dr Dana Katz for her proofreading and her suggestions. We thank Professor Eric Rieth for his valuable comments. We received great encouragement from Professor Martin Galinier, director of the APPM program and director of Centre de Recherches sur les Sociétés et Environnements en Méditerranées (CRESEM, EA 7397, University of Perpignan Via Domitia). We extend our gratitude as well to the anonymous reviewers, whose comments have greatly improved the text. We thank the excavation directors who granted us access to their unpublished data, especially Jean-Michel Eriau, Jean-Sébastien Guibert, André Lorin, Benjamin Pepy, Élisabeth Veyrat, and Pierre Villié. Access to the unpublished excavations archives of the shipwrecks found in France was facilitated by the DRASSM (Department of Underwater Archaeological Research), which we wish to thank as well. We express our sincere gratitude to Dr Ingrid Dunyach for the CAD drawings of the hull plans.Notes1 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.2 Pritchard, Louis XV’s Navy (1748–1762).3 Lavery, The Arming and Fitting, 186–92; King, ‘Iron Ballast’.4 Nantet, ‘Les activités de lestage’; Nantet, Phortia, 201–5.5 Martins and Nantet, ‘Le lest’. See also other articles from the same issue of the journal.6 McGrail, ‘The Shipment of Traded Goods’; Nantet, Phortia, 201–20; Gifford, ‘Everything is Ballast’.7 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.8 Martin, ‘The Dartmouth’, 5–7; L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’, 280–90.9 Van Doorninck, ‘Ballast Distribution’.10 Guérout et al., Le navire génois, 153–4.11 Dobbs, ‘The Ballast’.12 Ringer, ‘Arrimage et lestage’, 211–22.13 Keith et al., ‘The Molasses Reef Wreck’, 48–51; Keith and Simmons, ‘Analysis of Hull Remains’, 413–8; Lamb et al., ‘Analysis of the Ballast’.14 Martinsson, ‘Det fossilförande barlastmaterialet’. The ballast found in numerous Scandinavian shipwrecks was made up of boulders and rocks, perhaps due to a different geological context from France and Britain. Burström, Ballast.15 Callahan et al., ‘Ballast Stone’.16 Lazareth, ‘Pierres de lest’, 303–30, 359–68.17 Burström, Ballast, 27–38.18 Samuels, ‘Metallography of the Ballast’, 74–6, fig. 51–55; Samuels, ‘The Metallography of Cast Iron Relics’.19 Lavery, The Arming and Fitting, 186.20 L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsair sous la mer, vol. 3, 27–34.21 Boudriot, Le Vaisseau de 74 canons, 93–4; Lavery, The Arming and Fitting, 186–92.22 Martins, ‘Le lestage et le lest de l’Anémone’, 64–6.23 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’; King, ‘Iron Ballast’.24 Desroches, Dictionnaire; Aubin, Dictionnaire de marine; Aubert de La Chesnaye Des Bois, Dictionnaire militaire; Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopédie; Romme, L’Art de la marine; Fourcroy, Encyclopédie; Bourdé de Villehuet, Principes; Baudin, Manuel de jeune marin; Grandpré, Répertoire; Willaumez, Dictionnaire de marine; Guillaumin, Encyclopédie; Sarrazin de Montferrier, Dictionnaire Universal.25 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, 53–86.26 Groignard, Mémoire, pl. 3.27 Service Historique de la Marine, Vincennes, ref. 7 and 8DD, Rolland, published in Boudriot, The History of the French Frigate, 302–3.28 Campaignac, Atlas du génie maritime, vol. 1, no 88 [1821], 89 [1833], published in Boudriot, The History of the French Frigate, 308–9.29 Lavery, The Arming and Fitting, 84–7; Boudriot, L’Artillerie de mer, 7–42.30 Brown, ‘Guns Carried on East Indiamen’, 19.31 L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsaire sous la mer, vol. 4, 28–9.32 Desroches, Dictionnaire, 311 (‘gros lest’), 312 (‘mauvais lest’).33 Keith et al., ‘The Molasses Reef Wreck’, 55; Keith and Simmons, ‘Analysis’, 418–9.34 L’Hour et al., Le Mauritius, 74.35 Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopédie, vol. 2, 150 (‘emménagement’).36 L’Hour et al., Le Mauritius, 106.37 Desroches, Dictionnaire, 311 (‘gros lest’), 312 (‘mauvais lest’).38 Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopédie, vol. 2, 150 (‘emménagement’).39 Bourdé de Villehuet, Principes, 11.40 L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsaire sous la mer, vol. 4, 28–9.41 Romme, L’Art de la marine, 367.42 L’Hour et al., Le Mauritius; L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsaire sous la mer, vol. 4, 28–9.43 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.44 David and Le Creurer, ‘Rapport’.45 Martin, ‘The Dartmouth’, 33–5.46 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.47 Ibid.48 ACAS, ‘Ça Ira’.49 Bourdé de Villehuet, Principes, 3; Guillaumin, Encyclopédie, vol. 2, 1284–5 (‘lest’).50 L’Hour et al., Le Mauritius, 106.51 King, ‘Iron Ballast’, 17.52 Llinares, ‘Les mémoires’, n. 10.53 Ollivier, Remarques, 181.54 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, 59.55 Blanckley, A Naval Expositor, 52–3.56 L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsaire sous la mer, vol. 3, 27–34.57 Dagneau, ‘La culture matérielle’, vol. 1, 308–11.58 Daggett et al., ‘The Griffin’, 35–41.59 Dagneau, ‘La culture matérielle’, vol. 1, 175–6; L’Hour and Veyrat, Un corsaire sous la mer, vol. 3, 69–76.60 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, 65.61 Eriau, ‘Bataille des Cardinaux’.62 Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopédie, vol. 2, 150 (‘emménagement’).63 King, ‘Iron Ballast’, 18.64 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, 79.65 Samuels, ‘Metallography of the Ballast’ 74–6, figs 51–55; Samuels, ‘The Metallography’; Auzel, ‘Commentaire’.66 Bourdé de Villehuet, Principes, 3; Guillaumin, Encyclopédie, vol. 2, 1284–1285 (‘lest’); Willaumez, Dictionnaire, 358 (‘lest’).67 Grandpré, Répertoire, vol. 2, 505–6 (‘devis’); Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopédie, vol. 1, 72 (‘arrimage’).68 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, n. 22.69 Groignard, Mémoire, 76–78.70 There is no metric equivalent. The barquée corresponds to the load of a small boat (Encyclopédie méthodique marine, vol. 1, 116). Therefore, this unit of measurement changes from one harbour to the next, as France adopted a unified metric system only on 10 December 1799 (19 Frimaire An VIII). This is a unit of volume.71 Llinares, Marine, vol. 1, 157–9, 163–4.72 Llinares, Marine, vol. 1, 31–5.73 King, ‘Iron Ballast’, 17.74 Ollivier, Remarques, 181.75 McGrail, ‘The Shipment of Traded Goods’, 356.76 Cunningham Dobson and Kingsley, ‘HMS Victory’, 245–7.77 Service Historique de la Marine, Vincennes: SH 320.78 Romme, L’Art de la marine, 369.79 Cunningham Dobson and Kingsley, ‘HMS Victory’, 245–7.80 ARHMSM, ‘Maidstone’.81 Skowronek et al., ‘The Legare Anchorage Shipwreck’, 317.82 Samuels, ‘The Metallography’, 352–4; Hosty and Hundley, ‘Preliminary Report’, 20–1.83 Guérout, ‘Prospections’, 112–4.84 Steffy et al., ‘The Charon Report’, 118.85 Keith, ‘How to Read a Shipwreck’, 55.86 Tuttle, ‘Diver Investigations’, 43–4.87 Guérout, ‘Prospections’, 11.88 Similarly, iron water tanks had to be precisely sized and shaped so that they could fit in the hold. Macdonald, ‘The Introduction of Iron Water Tanks’, 218.89 Lavery, The Arming and Fitting, 186.90 Flynn, ‘HMS Pallas’, 74–5.91 Grandpré, Repertoire, vol. 1, 719 (‘gueuse’); Guillaumin, Encyclopedie, vol. 2, 1284–5 (‘lest’).92 L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’.93 David and Le Creurer, ‘Rapport du sondage’.94 Martins, ‘Le lestage’.95 Sténuit, ‘The Wreck’, 223.96 Guérout, ‘Slava Rossii’.97 L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’.98 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.99 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 4.100 David and Le Creurer, ‘Rapport du sondage’.101 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 8.102 Service Historique de la Marine, Vincennes: 7 and 8DD.103 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 5–8.104 Fourcroy, Encyclopedie, vol. 4, 510–511 (‘gueuse’).105 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 5.106 Ollivier, Remarques, 34.107 Skowronek et al., ‘The Legare Anchorage’, fig. 3 ; Steffy et al., ‘The Charon Report’, 118.108 Cunningham Dobson and Kingsley, ‘HMS Victory’, 246, fig. 11.109 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 4; Grandpré, Repertoire, vol. 1, 719 (‘gueuse’); Willaumez, Dictionnaire de marine, 324 (‘gueuse’); Sarrazin de Montferrier, Dictionnaire, 68 (‘arrimage’).110 Villié, ‘La Girafe’; David and Le Creurer, ‘Rapport du sondage’; Lorin and Vasquez, ‘Sondage’; Guibert. et al., ‘Étude’; L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’, 290.111 Villié, ‘La Girafe’; Guérout, ‘Prospections’, 15; L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’, 290; Martins, ‘Lestage’, 66–68; Pepy, ‘Sondage’, 168–9.112 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 4; Grandpré, Repertoire, vol. 1, 719 (‘gueuse’); Willaumez, Dictionnaire de marine, 324 (‘gueuse’); Sarrazin de Montferrier, Dictionnaire, 68 (‘arrimage’).113 Skowronek et al., ‘The Legare Anchorage Shipwreck’, 317114 Jonin ‘Rapport de sondage’; Jonin, ‘Sondage archaeologique’.115 Anon, ‘São José Paquete de Africa’, 162116 Guérout, ‘Slava Rossii’.117 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 5; Sarrazin de Montferrier, Dictionaire, 68 (‘arrimage’).118 Aubert de La Chesnaye Des Bois, Dictionaire militaire, vol. 2, ‘lest’: 487; Vial du Clairbois, Encyclopedie, vol. 3, 160 (pompe), 154 (police).119 Baudin, Manuel du jeune marin, 5.120 Aubin, Dictionnaire, 517 (‘lest lave’); Aubert de La Chesnaye Des Bois, Dictionnaire, vol. 2, 487 (‘lest’).121 Gay, ‘Le fer dans la marine en bois’, 65.122 Ibid., n. 34.123 Villié, ‘La Girafe’.124 Grandpré, Repertoire, vol. 2, 43 (‘lest’).125 Campaignac, Atlas, vol. 1, no 88 [1821], 89 [1833].126 L’Hour and Veyrat, ‘Enquête archéologique’, 280.127 Willaumez, Dictionnaire de marine, 516 (‘saumon’); Sarrazin de Montferrier, Dictionnaire, 408 (‘lest’).128 Veyrat, ‘Le mobilier’, 292–374.129 McBride et al., ‘A Mid-17th Century Merchant Ship’, 249.130 Gianfrotta and Pomey, Archeologia subacquea, 295–6.131 Borrelli, ‘An Initial Assessment’, 357–70.Additional informationNotes on contributorsEmmanuel NantetEmmanuel Nantet is a historian and maritime archaeologist in the Department of Maritime Civilization/Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa. His research focuses on sailing navigation, specifically rudders, tonnages, and ballast. He has led land and underwater excavations in France and Israel. He is currently leading the ERC program SHIPs about Roman harbours in the Mediterranean.Guillaume MartinsGuillaume Martins is a PhD student in maritime archaeology at the CRESEM laboratory at the University of Perpignan Via Domitia. He dedicated his MA degree to ship ballast in the early modern period. Currently, his research focuses on the maritime transport of stone from the quarries to the buildings.