POTD: A Harpoon That Blows Up? – The Grudchos & Eggers Bomb Lance
Sam.S 10.27.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Grudchos & Eggers Bomb Lance. Whalers in the mid-1800s faced a dilemma – getting close enough to harpoon a whale risked attack and losing the prize if it fled into the ice or sank when killed. The Grudchos & Eggers percussion shoulder gun offered one solution. Produced around 1855-1860 in the whaling hub of New Bedford, Massachusetts, it allowed firing bomb lance harpoons from a safer distance than hand-thrown versions. Weighing around 18 pounds, the gun was lighter than boat-mounted swivel guns but still kicked fiercely when the 3-pound harpoon launched, often knocking gunners clear across the deck! To improve accuracy, Grudchos & Eggers rifled the barrel to stabilize the specially designed harpoons it fired. However, this meant no other harpoons would work with it. Some later models had the rifling bored out for flexibility. Though considered unsporting by some whalers, percussion shoulder guns like this represented an incremental improvement.
“Manufactured in Bedford, Massachusetts, c. 1855-1860. Includes a 14 3/4″ percussion ignition bomb lance (good with repairs and holes in the main body).”
Lot 226: Grudchos & Eggers Percussion Harpoon/Bomb Lance Whaling Gun – Scarce Grudchos & Eggers Percussion Harpoon/Bomb Lance Whaling Gun with Bomb Lance. (n.d.-f). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved October 27, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1034/226/grudchos-and-eggers-percussion-harpoonbomb-lance-whaling-gun.
