![]() ![]() The lances were thrust into the whale's vital organs a spout of blood form the blow hole would usually indicate the impending death of the animal. Usually harpoons were stamped with the name of the ship to which it belonged and often marked with the date. Harpoons were often 'tagged' so that the identity of any particular harpoon could be verified in case the ownership of any whale was disputed. A gun harpoon was inserted into the barrel of the gun and once fired into the whale would serve the same purpose as the hand harpoon. The harpoon gun was first invented in 1731 but was not widely used until the nineteenth century. It was a simple design whereby a small wooden pin fastened a hinged barb to the harpoon, when the harpoon is drawn out of the whale the pin breaks and then the hinged barb swings outwards to hold fast. It was adapted by Lewis Temple, an American, in 1848. The Temple Iron became a popular harpoon with whalers. The withers catch hold of the muscle fibres and tendons of the whale and prevent the harpoon from dragging out.Įxperiments with new types of gun common place but projecting a gun harpoon so that it entered the whale as nearly vertically as possible was problematic as a result the hand harpoon remained a popular weapon and was in use throughout the entire era of commercial open boat whaling. The British 'iron' had two barbs each with a small reverse barb or 'stop wither'. The function of the harpoon is simply to fasten a line to the whale. These weapons varied from hand held weapons to explosive devices. As a result the whalers came to rely on the effectiveness and efficiency of their weapons. Getting close enough to the whale to get a line attached and then kill it was continually hampered by rough weather and fighting whales that would often dive below the ice to escape. ![]() Varley, Hull College of Education.Ĭatching whales was difficult and dangerous work.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |