World War One cannons for Sale and wanted!

Driggs-Schroeder Rapid fire 6 Pounder United States Navy Gun
From the U.S.S. Columbia

1894 Mark VIII

Weight 789 lbs. (Barrel only)

6 Pounder United States Navy Gun for sale

Complete with breech block and the original naval base!

Price reduced to sell fast: $17,500 US$.

Hurry, we expect this to sell immediately at this pricing!

Located in Southern California for Free pick - up or we can arrange reasonable shipping anywhere in the world!

Includes complete history of this cannon and the following booklet!

Driggs-Schroeder Gun, 1894 - Drawings and a written description of the Driggs-Schroeder Rapid fire gun, With information on the mechanism, info. On dismounting and assembling the gun, a listing of spare parts that should accompany the guns, a listing of tools that should be included in the accessory chests, and dimensional data on the guns. Two pages of drawings and six pages of written description are included. The drawings and text are extracted from Description of Modern Ordnance in the United States Navy, prepared by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance in 1894. The work is reproduced on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, 9 pages

Note: We know of a craftsman that can build a reproduction arm rest for this gun if required if required.

The USS COLUMBIA was built as a commerce raider. During the war, however, she saw little actual combat. She took part in convoying troops to Puerto Rico in July and August of 1898.

Background:
The cruiser COLUMBIA was launched on July 26, 1892, with Miss H. Morton christening her as she slid down the ways. In April of 1894, COLUMBIA was placed in commission under the command of Capt. G. W. Sumner. At the time of her commissioning, she was the longest vessel in the U.S. Navy. She and her sister MINNEAPOLIS would maintain this distinction through the Spanish American War.

Her first years were uneventful. She steamed south to protect American interests in the Caribbean. When the Kiel Canal was opened in June of 1895, COLUMBIA was one of the vessels sent to represent the United States. She had crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a record time of just under seven days, at a speed of 18.4 knots. Following the festivities, she returned to the U.S.’s east coast until being decommissioned and held in ordinary in Philadelphia beginning in May of 1897.

With the threat of war looming, COLUMBIA was re-commissioned on March 15, 1898. She was assigned to Commodore Winfield Scott Schley’s “Flying Squadron,” but as concerns mounted up and down the east coast about the whereabouts of Spanish Admiral Cervera’s approaching squadron, and the fear of a possible attack, COLUMBIA was detached from the “Flying Squadron” and sent to patrol off New England. After the Spanish squadron had been located in Santiago harbor, COLUMBIA was detailed to duties in the Cuban theater, beginning on June 30. The COLUMBIA took part in the convoy and landing of troops at Guanica, Puerto Rico on July 26, 1898. In March 31, 1899, COLUMBIA was decommissioned and placed in reserve in Philadelphia.

Following service as a receiving ship in New York from August 31, 1902 to November 9, 1903, and service as part of the North Atlantic Training Squadron, she was again placed out of commission on May 3, 1907.

After the loss of the ocean liner LUSITANIA, the COLUMBIA was re-commissioned on June 22, 1915, joining the Submarine Flotilla as its flagship. Her duty involved steaming between the Atlantic submarine bases on inspection tours. She was detached from this duty on April 19, 1917. Her new duty was as flagship of Squadron 5, Patrol Force steaming off of the Delaware Bay.

In July of 1917, COLUMBIA joined the Cruiser Squadron as a convoy escort. She made five trips across the Atlantic on this duty, ending on November 13, 1918. One of her duties had been to escort the British liner DANUBE from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the war, Columbia became the flagship of Squadron 2, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, steaming along the east coast of the United States, and in the Caribbean. After May 29, she lost her flagship designation, but continued her operations. She was reclassified as CA-16 on July 17, 1920, and renamed OLD COLUMBIA on November 17, 1921.

COLUMBIA was finally decommissioned on June 29, 1921. She was sold January 26, 1922.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

The COLUMBIA was a high speed cruiser for her day, with excellent range at normal cruising speeds. She was, however, relatively lightly armed and lightly armored. This combination gave her the characteristics of an excellent commerce raider, however, there is no evidence of her capturing any prizes in her history. The same characteristics made her somewhat under gunned and under armored for any major squadron-to-squadron action.

The COLUMBIA was built for high speed. However, when she operated at high speed, her coal consumption was quite, as would be expected, greatly reducing her operational range.