Salute or signal cannon

The so-called volley or signal cannons are small bronze or iron artillery pieces, cast in the image and likeness of real artillery pieces, but much smaller in size and designed mainly to fire only a charge of gunpowder without launching any projectiles. The salutes – reminiscent of the gesture of ships unloading their fire hydrants, firing them at the entrance to a friendly port, thus demonstrating their confidence and intentions of peace by entering the port with their artillery unloaded – then became a gesture of honorific greeting, performed by these small pieces. Both in the context of peace and war, the shot was used to signal sightings, at sea or on land, thus giving an unmistakable and audible signal from a great distance. With the romantic revivals of the late 19th century, these small fire hydrants gained a new interest, of a more playful nature, to signal the start of regattas or the beginning of other competitions, or even to mark important times of the day. This specimen, which is part of the Angra do Heroísmo Museum’s Military and Armaments Management Unit, is made of cast iron, possibly from the early 19th century, mimicking British fire hydrants from that period. It is mounted on a Victorian-style cast iron square repair, similar to those used by artillery inside fortifications.