Boarding Axes From the age of fighting sail.  Hache d’abordage, Enterbijl, Entrebil, Änterbila,  Entrebile, Hachas de Abordaje
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The Crown Point Axe


This axe head is significant in that it can be reliably dated to before 1773 as it was excavated from the ruins of the British Fort at Crown Point on the shores of Lake Champlain. The fort was a British naval base from 1759 when Fort Saint-Frédéric was captured from the French and destroyed. It was occupied by American troops during the Revolutionary War but retaken by the British in 1777. In 1773 an accidental fire destroyed a number of buildings and a large part of the fortifications. The axe head was excavated from the ruins of the fire thus dating it to before 1773.


The axe is heavily corroded with no sign of any markings. The blade appears more curved than the standard British tomahawk. The edges of the spike are bevelled to make it sharper and the form of the spike is beak shaped. The langets are straight and approximately 6” long from the top of the head.

Type II  c. 1812

Total  Length: 22.75” (57.8 cm)

Blade - point: 9.5” (24.1 cm)

Blade edge   : 3.0” (7.6 cm)

Pirates Lair Collection

Triangular cut-outs. Marked US on the blade.


Civil War Naval Axe  c. 1860 - ?

Total  Length : 17.0” (43.2 cm)

Blade - point : 7.25” (18.4 cm)

Blade edge   :  4.25” (10.8cm)

Ron Manzer Collection

It is marked US Navy / Cast Steel on the blade and J M Vicar on the side of the hammer.

These axes were supplied by several other contractors and there are examples marked to G.W Bradley, Semmisons & Co., Empire Tools, and Ames Mfg Co. The leather belts and holsters were made at Navy Yards and there are examples marked to New York (N.Y.N.Y), Philadelphia (PHIL’A) and Boston (BOSTON N.Y) and some are dated to the Civil War.

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Recovered relic axe heads carry an advantage over examples which found their way into museums or private collections, as these may have been moved repeatedly and even internationally. A relic recovered from a wreck or a geographical location carries with it an additional historic record linked to that place.

American and British boarding axes have been recovered from sites on Lake Champlain, the Great Lakes and the East Coast. British axes would most likely have been lost during the War of Independence or the 1812 War as British naval involvement in the United States was minimal after the end of the war in 1815.

There are some features that regularly appear on axes from this period that deviate from the standard and may be considered to indicate an Americanisation of the British pattern. These are bevelled edges which sharpen the spike and also the point may be formed from both the upper and lower edges rather then from the top alone, which gives a more ‘beak’ shape to the profile of the spike. They also tend to have straight langets rather than the lobe shape commonly associated with the British tomahawk. One or more of these features and sometimes all of them may appear on the same head.

Most of these British/American axes are unmarked but there are three known examples with these features that are marked with a crown.

Courtesy of Crown Point State Historic Site, Crown Point, NY New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Accession No:    A-CP-5-1968-380-8


British/American   c.1773


Blade - point:  8.0” (20.3 cm)

Blade width : 3.25” (8.25 cm)

Length Langets: 6.0” (15.24 cm)

Width of Langets: 0.87” (2.22 cm)


Note the beak shape and bevelled edges of the spike and the straight langets.


Previous researchers identified three models of American Boarding Axe and agree roughly on their periods of manufacture. Gilkerson divided them into three types and this has become accepted terminology.

Prior to the start of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) naval equipment was British, whether locally produced or imported and after that date local manufacturers continued to make weapons to those familiar designs, so early American naval axes are similar to those of the British until the Type I was introduced around 1797.

It is estimated from the size of the navy that around 2000 Type I axes were produced between 1797 and 1806 and surviving examples are rare.

The Type III axe was produced at the Washington Navy Yard prior to or during the War of 1812 and continued in use until the American Civil War when it was replaced with a hatchet sized axe with opposing hammer.

The Type II is even rarer than the Type I and much harder to date and may well overlap with the Type III. As there were only a few years between the Type I and the introduction of the III it is unlikely that the Type II was ever an official navy pattern between the two.


British/American Boarding Axes

From the Colonial Period to the War of 1812.

British/American c. 1770

Length: 28” (71.1 cm)

Blade - point: 9.0” (22.86 cm)

Blade width : 3.5” (8.89cm)

Length Langets: 6.5” (16.51 cm)

Width of Langets: 1.1” (3.04 cm)

Pirates Lair Collection

This colonial period axe was crudely manufactured around the time of the Revolutionary War. Although made of heavier material, it roughly copies the form and dimensions of the British pattern. It is rare in that it is still complete with a 28” handle. The langets are straight but the spike remains blunt and is hardly shaped at all. There are no markings on the head but ‘A. LEWIS’ is stamped on the shaft.

Relic head recovered from Crown Point on Lake Champlain.

The spike is nearer to the standard British shape but the edges of the spike are slightly bevelled and the point has been broken off. There are signs of a maker’s mark but it is not readable.


The following boarding axe heads are from Ron Manzer’s collection. Ron has been collecting naval antiques and militaria for over fifty years and runs a successful antique business. He was wise enough to be collecting relic heads as well as boarding axes long before they became popular collector items. They include some of the few artefacts that enable us to look back beyond 1797.


Relic axe head recovered in New York State.

This locally made copy loosely follows the British pattern. The blade is short and more flared and the rectangular spike has at some point been cut off for use as a hammer. The langets are almost corroded away. No markings.

British/American c.1780

Blade - point: 8.5” (21.60 cm)

Blade width : 3.4” (8.64cm)


These two axe heads have similar measurements and were recovered together from a site on Lake Champlain. Both are marked with a crown over A S and a third is known to exist. The spikes are beak shaped with bevelled edges and the langets are straight. A S has not been identified.

The crowns are simplified, almost crude in comparison to those that normally indicate government ownership and these axes may have been made in one of the Royal Naval Dockyards that were located at various sites on the East Coast or the Great Lakes.

The Halifax Naval Yard in Nova Scotia was the headquarters of the North American Station for sixty years from 1759 and the only one on the Atlantic coast to remain in British hands after the United States gained its independence. Although mostly used as a depot and repair yard it had the facilities to build small vessels and there was a blacksmith workshop on the site from 1774.

Close up of crown over A S mark on the right hand axe pictured above.

British Type c.1812

Marked with a crown over B P and the maker’s name of Edwards. The B P remains unidentified.

Recovered from the Canadian Great Lakes.

Although the point of the spike is missing is appears more in the traditional British shape narrowing down from the top. The langets are also lobe shaped. The ends of the langets were cut into the pointed shape after being excavated, in order to remove the broken and corroded ends.

Type I

This relic Type I axe was recovered at Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario. Sackets Harbor was an American shipyard and the main naval base on the Great Lakes during the war of 1812 from which many engagements against the British took place and which itself was directly attacked several times. This suggests that Types Is were still in service during this conflict and even possibly manufactured during it to satisfy the demand for arms.

The following axes are more recognisably British but they are listed here because they were recovered from sites in America or Canada that have links to the War of 1812 when it was most likely they were lost.

British Tomahawk Boarding Axe c. 1812


This axe was recovered from a Native American site in New York State. The broad arrow is still visible, and the spike has been completely removed to form a belt axe.

There are several known examples of both British and American boarding axes recovered from Native American sites and burial grounds, often with the spike still intact. The size and form of boarding axes make a handy substitute for both belt axe or tomahawk.

The boarding axe was recovered from the Canadian Great Lakes and has the broad arrow still faintly discernable on the blade. There are no other markings.


The Type I      1797 to c.1813  

The Type I was the first US Navy regulation pattern boarding axe and was first ordered in 1797 to supply the first three frigates of the newly founded United States Navy: Constitution, United States and Constellation. Records show that these ships each received 100 axes in 1798.

There is no record as to why the unusual shape of Type 1 was adopted, especially as the British, French and other European axes were well known in the US. It is possible that the navy put out a general specification for an axe to not only cut rope but drag it as well and that was interpreted as something more than a spike or hook and hence the pocket was formed from the rear of the blade with teeth to better grip the rope. It is not known if this innovation was made by Hoffman who supplied the initial 300 axes for the first three frigates.

Frederick Hoffman operated in Philadelphia between 1750 and 1820 and is known to have bid on government contracts for axes in 1797 and 1806.

There are very few surviving examples of the Type 1. The majority of these examples are marked US/V.IM. Only two are known marked to US/Hoffman, there are two marked US only and there is one with no markings. (There is also one with the unidentified marking US CT 97 which so far remains unexplained.)

V.IM is the ‘view’ mark of John McLean who was the Commissary of Military stores for New York from around 1801. This is after the first six frigates had been launched.

Type I   Hoffman   c. 1797

Total  Length : 25.4” (64.5 cm)

Blade - point : 11.7” (29.7 cm)

Blade edge    :  3.0”  ( 7.6 cm)

Mike Edwards Collection

The Hoffman axes are larger than the V.IM marked axes. This one is marked US / Hoffman on two lines and another US / F. Hoffman which may indicate at least two different production periods.

The bearded blade is slightly curved and incorporates two rearward facing prominently cut teeth and is balanced by a flat sided spike which is almost square in cross-section. The shaft is complete and ends in a ball. There are no langets and the head is held on by a wedge and also has a pin that passes through both sides of the eye and the wedge to secure it in place.  


Type I  V.IM   c. 1801  

Total  Length: 28” (71 cm)

Blade - point: 10.12” (25.7 cm)

Blade edge    :  3.0”  ( 7.6 cm)

Sim Comfort Collection  

This axe is marked US / V.IM in two lines - the inspector’s view mark of John McLean which was V. IM.  (I and J were interchangeable in the script of the time and Iain is also the old Scots version of John).  

It is one of the very few with the original shaft still intact, which is several inches longer than the Hoffman axe and ends in a swelling. There are no langets and the head is held by a wedge through the top of the shaft.

The width between the blade and the point of the spike of V.IM axes varies between 9.5 - 10.25” (24.1 -26.0 cm). The blade edge varies from 3 - 3.12” (7.6 - 7.9 cm)


Type I  V.IM   c. 1801  

Total  Length: na

Blade - point: 10.0” (25.4 cm)

Blade edge    :  3.0”  ( 7.6 cm)

Ron Manzer Collection

Type I  US   c. 1812 ?  

Total  Length: na

Blade - point: 9.0” (22.86 cm)

Blade edge   :  2.75”  ( 7.0 cm)


This axe is one of only two known which are marked US in a cartouche. It is smaller than both the V.IM and Hoffman marked axes and is of poorer quality, with the head splitting at the forged seams.





Erie Maritime Museum - Object No: FN2002.5.1A-B

Modified Type III  c. 1812

Total  Length: 24 ” (61 cm)

Blade - point: 7.5” (19 cm)

Koch Collection

There are several examples where the spike has been shortened and formed into a hammer shape. Rankin identified this as a variant but it seems more likely that it was modified into the hammer shape to extend its usefulness as the need for a spike was reduced

Even though the boarding axe became largely redundant as steam ships rapidly replaced sail in the first half of the nineteenth century, the Type III remained in service up to the 1860s. It was replaced with a hatchet sized axe with opposing hammer instead of a spike. This was more useful as gun mountings transitioned from wood to steel with mechanical adjustments.


The Type III      c. 1806 - 1813


American

Boarding Axes

Major revision August 2022

Type III     c. 1812  

Total  Length : 24.0” (61.0 cm)

Blade - point  : 9.1” (23.11 cm)

Blade edge    :  2.70”  (6.9 cm)

Private Collection

Square cross section spike.




The Type III uses a complex and precision fit of the langets to secure the head which requires a considerable amount of engineering and manual labour. These axes are made to a very high standard and the fit of wood to metal and metal to metal is exceptional. It is thought that all Type IIIs made to this standard were produced at the Washington Navy Yard. The Yard had a workforce of around fifty in the blacksmith department and it manufactured everything to equip a warship, from anchors to nails. There was a steam engine from 1810 to drive machinery. The department was run by Master Blacksmith Benjamin King who may well have had a hand in the design of the Type III axe.

The blade is wedge shaped with a single tooth cut into the underside. Original hafts are 24” (61 cm) long and normally terminate in a ball. The width of the blade is between 9.0 - 10.5” (23 - 27 cm) and the blade edge between 2.5 - 3.0” (6 - 8 cm).

There were different batches made and there are variations. The spike may be almost square in cross section or a thinner and more rectangular shape, with the latter tending to be slightly larger. A small number have the join across the top of the dome where the tops of the two langets meet sealed with metal and presenting a solid appearance. Gilkerson identified this as the ‘crested dome’.

Some Type IIIs have additional material at the join between the blade and spike and the eye which is thought to be a neat finishing detail, similar to pipe tomahawks of the period, rather than a reinforcement.

They are marked U. S / N.Y.W/ J.T .  Naval Officer Joseph Tarbell (1773 - 1815) being the inspector at the Navy Yard Washington at various times between 1806 and 1813.

As yet there are no known examples which are marked to any of the other major naval shipyards. There are a small number of unmarked Type IIIs which are made to the same standard and it is possible that these were made at the yard and put into service without an inspection during the War of 1812. Tarbell was away on active duty for most of that period. The Yard was burned down in 1814 to prevent it falling into hands of the British when they briefly occupied Washington.

Type III     c. 1812  

Total  Length : 24.0” (61.0 cm)

Blade - point  : 10.5” (26.7 cm)

Blade edge    :  3.0”  (7.6 cm)

Private Collection

Rectangular spike.

Curved detail at join of blade to eye and spike to eye.

The two langets are a precision fit and completely cover the top edge of the eye forming a dome. The lower edge of the eye is also covered by a lip on the langet.

It is important to keep water out of the head so the join to the left is barely noticeable and the dome to the right is sealed with additional metal.

Type III     c. 1812  

Total  Length :      24.0”                          24.0”                    24.0”

Blade - point  :        9.6”                            7.1” (cropped)       9.6”       

Blade edge    :         2.6”                            2.4”                      2.8”


Three Type IIIs all with the square cross section spike. Note the slight differences between them dependant on the individual smith who forged the blade but still retaining the overall shape and keeping within the required measurements.

Mike Edwards Collection

Type III     c. 1812  

Total  Length : na

Blade - point  : 10.0” (25.4 cm)

Blade edge    :  2.8”  (7.1 cm)

US Constitution Museum

Rectangular spike.

Curved detail at join of blade to eye and spike to eye.



The Type II      c. 1806 - 1860

The Type II retains the wedge shape with the single tooth beneath the blade. The slots may be triangular or rounded in shape. The langets are forged integral with the head in a similar way to the British boarding axe and this makes for a much simpler construction method than the Type III.

There are only a few surviving examples which make it difficult to place in relation to the other two models. The most likely explanation is that the Type II was introduced after the III when supplies of equipment were urgently needed to satisfy the demands of the War of 1812. The Type II could be made faster and cheaper than the Type III and be produced by any blacksmith or edged tool maker. This is born out by the fact that most examples are different from each other. The Type II may have continued on as a private purchase for merchant ships after the war, but it does not appear ever to have been adopted by the US Navy as a regulation pattern. There are examples marked U.S but probably again this relates to supplies obtained during the War of 1812.


As the advent of steam power and iron clad ships changed the nature of naval warfare the boarding axe became redundant. The naval axe that replaced the Type III, around 1860 and was used during the American Civil War (1861-1865) was a hatchet with a blade still designed for cutting rope, protected by langets and opposed by a hammer. Two slots beneath the blade continued the link with toothed axes of the past.

However the axe was still regarded as a combat tool and was often mounted on each gun sometimes in purpose made slotted holders. It was also supplied with a leather holster and belt so could be carried on small boat operations.




Photograph courtesy of Library of Congress (Prints and Photographs Division).


Civil War Hatchet   1860 - ?


British/American and US Boarding axes are rare, so if you have one or know of one in a museum or collection, even if a relic or head, please get in touch at sea.axes@ gmail.com to improve the knowledge.

An article entitled The American Naval Boarding Axe has been published in the Arms and Armour Journal, Vol 19/1, 2022, by this author, and is available at the link below:

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JHWEICZPABFMDJVCNJ8C/full?target=10.1080/17416124.2022.2045050

Type II  c. 1812

Total  Length: 22.75” (57.8 cm)

Blade - point: 8.25” (21.0 cm)

Blade edge   : 2.75” (7.0 cm)

Sim Comfort Collection

Unmarked, rounded cut-outs, spike probably shortened at some time.

Both the Type I and II were made using traditional axe making methods and could be produced by any competent blacksmith. This is not the case with the Type III which has a more complex construction.

During the War of 1812 there was a critical lack of arms of all types, and the navy procured equipment from wherever it could on the East Coast and the Great Lakes. These suppliers would not have had the skill or resources to produce the more complex Type III.

The Type II may well have been adopted as an easier to make version of the Type III, which was also quicker to manufacture in quantity to satisfy the urgent demands of the war. It is thought that Type Is were also produced during the War of 1812 for the same reason.

All three American types are distinguished by teeth cut into the rear of the blade and designed to assist with hauling and snagging rope; no other country adopted this design feature.