Dahlgren boat howitzers Dahlgren shell guns Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, the primary ship-to-ship weapons were muzzle-loading smoothbore broadside guns firing solid iron shot short distances. This all changed when the French Navy adopted a design of Col. Henri-Joseph Paixhans for a shell gun (canon-obusier) of 22 cm (8.7-inch) capable of throwing a shell in a reasonably flat trajectory in 1842. The U.S. Navy shortly followed suit, adopting an , Paixhans-style shell gun. Dahlgren was determined to design a new generation of shell gun that would be capable of firing explosive shells at higher velocity and greater range. They would also have the capacity to effectively fire solid shot. The ability to fire solid shot would become increasingly important as armored warships appeared on the scene: All of the Dahlgren shell guns were cast iron columbiads, with a distinctive soda bottle shape, and all but two had an elevating screw running through the cascabel. Although some Dahlgren shell guns were tested to failure, no Dahlgren shell gun burst during service, a notable distinction for the time. Dahlgren shell guns were capable of firing shot, shell, shrapnel, canister, and (with the exception of the XV-inch shell gun) grapeshot. Specific shell and related guns Thirty-two-pounder Thirty-two-pounder gun of 27 cwt. M.1855: Little is known about the gun as few were believed to have been produced. The U.S. Navy had several different models of 32-pounders, which are hard to differentiate in records. Thirty-two-pounders were the primary armaments of older ships like (commissioned 1842, sunk by ) and (commissioned 1842, struck its colors to CSS Virginia). Later ships were armed with mixtures of shell guns, most of which were designed by Dahlgren. The 32-pounders were still useful in providing primary or secondary armament to smaller ships and river gunboats. While earlier 32-pounders primarily fired solid shot, and these guns were called shot guns these newer guns could also fire shell. The 32-pounder gun of 27 cwt. had a crew of six and a powder-boy. Thirty-two-pounder gun of 4,500 pounds and VIII-inch Dahlgren shell gun: 383 of the 32-pounders each weighing and 355 of the Dahlgrens were cast by Alger Builders, Fort Pitt Foundry, and Seyfert, McManus & Co. between 1864 and 1867. The 32-pounder had a crew of 10 and a powder-boy while the VIII-inch had a crew of 12 and a powder-boy. Some have argued that these guns are not Dahlgren