The American Naval Boarding Axe

This paper presents the current state of knowledge of American naval boarding axes from the colonial period to the Civil War. It spans the time when most naval axes were either manufactured in Britain or were locally made copies, through the brief life of the Continental Navy and to the formation of the United States Navy which issued the first government pattern axes. It examines the three types of ‘toothed’ boarding axe which are uniquely identifiable as American by the inclusion of a serration on the rear side of the blade. It ends with the Civil War and the evolution of the boarding axe to a tool more in keeping with the transition from sail to steam and the introduction of more powerful naval artillery.