5. Nice Strong Firearms Company Salute Cannon (Owned by a Survivor of the RMS Titanic)
serial (or assembly) #47, 16 ga., 7 3/4" barrel with a very good plus bore. Metal surfaces on this neat little 16 ga. are a lovely deep ocher patina. The mahogany carriage rates about excellent with nearly all its original varnish, and the minor dings, small scratches and handling marks one would expect from the years. There is one small ding on the right carriage cheek and evidence of a very old repaired chip to the rear of the right cap square; the right rear cap square nut is a replacement. The original leather-tired wheels are present, it appears as though their retaining pegs are replaced. The mechanism is fully functional and the breech marking is nearly completely legible. A close inspection of the bottom of the cannon carriage revealed old markings in pencil which read: "Fred M. Hoyt/ (Illegible _N___ad) Stamford Conn" there is much additional writing which cannot be deciphered. A quick check of exact spelling for "Frederick M. Hoyt" reveals a Stamford Connecticut resident who was also a very prominent yachtsman who was actually Commodore of the Larchmont Yacht Club in 1901, who also belong to the Yale Racquette and New York Yacht Clubs. He owned several yachts and was often in Long Island harbors as a visitor. Further checking reveals that Mr. Frederick Maxfield Hoyt was also aboard the RMS Titanic on that fateful night in 1912 when she went to the bottom of the North Atlantic. His wife Jane Anne Hoyt was in the last collapsible lifeboat - Boat D- to be launched. When she was in the water and the boat clear of the ship, Maxfield abandoned ship diving into the freezing water. He then swam to the boat and was pulled aboard. He was a resident of Manhattan with a summer home in Stamford Connecticut, it was said of him "..few New Yorkers were as well-known in yachting circles". He died July 5, 1940, at 67 years of age. One of his yachts, a 30 footer, was named "Norota", the partially indecipherable name ahead of "Stamford Conn" on the bottom of the carriage may well be the name of another of his yachts. Overall this is a lovely 16 ga. strong yacht cannon, it is even more intriguing and interesting to find it was the property of a prominent New York yachtsman who actually survived the sinking of the most famous luxury liner of all time. (3245-3) (2000/3000) SOLD FOR $3795.00 |
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