Nelson & His World

Question:
Were any of the Belgian sea service pistols made in 1790's ever issued to the Royal Navy ? I've seen these advertised as such. Any documentation would be helpful.

Hello Peter,

A welcome from me to the forum.

As to your question, I would not have thought so – but you never know! I believe many, if not all, of those issued to the British navy were stamped 'Tower', ie, having come from the Tower of London armouries. At least any that I've seen have been.

Hm, that's kinda sorta whata I thought, but you know how stories get started. For what it's worth, Mexico bought weapons from the U.K. for their military, including the navy. They would stamp the eagle and snake on the lock plate. I've seen quite a few "Bess" muskets, Bakers and carbines done this way.

Peter,

What you say is interesting, and I wouldn't mind betting that they were made at the Tower. Presumably that would have been when fighting the US.

I should have added that Tower weapons for British use normally bore the monogram of the monarch on the lockplate, for our period GR, but there are of course later examples with VR. I would also imagine there was also WR for William lV.

Here's the Tower Armouries website, which you may find of interest:

http://www.royalarmouries.org/collectio ... es-history