A selection of the rifles and ammunition recovered from the Aud can be viewed in various museums in Britain and Ireland, -among these are the Cork Public Museum in Fitzgeralds Park,Cork, The National Museum in Dublin,The Irish Defence Forces Museum, Collins Barracks, Cork, Cobh Public Museum, and the Imperial War Museum, in London.
It is agreed tht the majority of these rifles are the model known as the Mosin Nagant 1891,captured in the German rout of Russian forces in the battle of Tannenburg. These rifles have been referred in various publications as being 'outmoded and out of date' - when in fact they were comparable with many of the leading makes of the era.
Rifle and bayonets from the Aud cargo, on display in London
They were a rifle with a magazine, which enabled the owner to pre-load 5 rounds from a clip, and then fire in reasonably rapid succession. The Mosin-Nagant was the first Russian rifle to incorporate the ideas of a small calibre high-velocity magazine rifle, and replaced the earlier single-shot Berdan rifle in the hands of Tsarist troops.
They were known as 'three-line rifles' which referred to their calibre. A 'line' was approximately .10in, so the calibre of the guns was .30in. After the Russian revolution the Soviets adopted the metric system, and thereafter this calibre was referred to as 7.62mm.
The Rifles on the Aud were of the type 'Russkaya 3-lineinaya vintovka o1891g'. - (Russian 3-line rifle, model of the year 1891). This was the basic model, fully stocked except for a few inches of muzzle to which a socket bayonet could be fitted. Although obsolete elsewhere, the Russian army placed great reliance on the socket bayonet, which was intended to be carried in a permanently fixed attitude. Bayonets for these guns were carried on board the Aud.
Top, a complete Mosin Nagant rifle Bottom, a rifle stock recovered from the wreck in the 1980s. on display in the Irish Defence Forces Museum, Collins Barracks, Cork
The bayonets were contained in scabbards, which were of zinc alloy construction. these and the metal of the bayonets reacted quickly with seawater and did not survive. The two examples in London, were probably those listed in reports as recovered by diver Dempsey for the trial of Roger Casement, in 1916. The part of the bayonets scabbards that have survived are the 'frogs' - these are the leather top parts which were attached to the belt of the soldier.
Leather 'frog' from bayonet scabbard on Aud wreck
part of the Aud cargo of ammunition
Martin Pegler, of the Royal Armouries, Leeds, kindly identified ammunition samples recovered in the 1997 survey. They are;
A. A: British .303. - Ammunition captured by Germany on the Western Front and intended for use in stolen British rifles such as the Lee-Enflield.
B: German 11.5 x 60R - for use in the ‘Howth Gun Running ‘ rifles.
C: Russian 7.62 x 54R - for use in Mosin Nagant 1891 rifles
D: German 7.62 x 57R - for use in Maxim machine guns and Mauser rifles.
Rifle Dimensions
Length: 51.25in
Weight unloaded: 8lb 12oz
Magazine: 5 round integral box
Muzzle velocity: c.2600fps
Ref: Military Arms of the 20th Century By Ian Hogg and John Weeks (1973)
Other armaments thought to be on board the Aud, were Maxim machine guns, and 6 pounder equivalent field guns, though, those have not been identified in the wreck, as yet
Ammunition on the wreck of the Aud
