Plan of dive station 2
Muskets and mizzen mast chains

Station 2

Here you can see the remains of several muskets. These were used by the 120 marines on board Colossus, as well as by the ordinary seamen. These are sea service muskets, similar to the well known ‘Brown Bess’ of the British Army, but simpler and slightly shorter than the standard land musket. They were smooth-bore flint-lock weapons and fired a lead ball of 0.75 inch diameter. The accuracy of this type of weapon was low; the effective range would have been well under 100m. The barrel is made from steel, the stock is wood and the trigger guard and butt plate are copper alloy.

A musket laying on the seabed

This is what the now corroded muskets would have looked like. The musket was fired using black powder (gun powder), which was ignited by sparks generated by a flint striking a steel plate.

Photograph of a musket

To the north of the muskets are a number of large iron objects. These are the remains of the mizzen chains, the iron fastenings which held the shrouds (supporting ropes) from the mizzen mast to the outside of the ship’s hull.

Video

Next: Station 3

Next station 6m