Lyle gunn.
/ˈlʌɪl ɡʌn/, U.S. /ˈlaɪl ˌɡən/ A cannon, invented in 1877, designed to project a rope from the shore to a stranded ship to facilitate salvaging and rescue operations.
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the world > action or operation > safety > rescue or deliverance > [noun] > means of > means of saving life > from ship or drowning
plank1608
cradle1839
plug1841
anchor ball1858
breeches-buoy1880
Lyle gun1880
life gun1910
Schermuly1922
1880 Ann. Rep. U.S. Life-Saving Service 109 The keeper..then proceeded to charge the Lyle gun.
1899 Ann. Rep. U.S. Life-Saving Service 471 The sample submitted is designed for use with the 2½-inch Lyle gun.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XV. 606/2 The keeper fires a line over the wreck with the Lyle gun, a small bronze cannon..having an extreme range of about 700 yards.
1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 106/2 Lyle gun, a life-saving gun designed to shoot a projectile with a line attached. This line..establishes a connection with a stranded ship by which an endless line and tail block is hauled off and afterwards a hawser.
1944 H. Norby Questions & Answers vi. 128 No part of Lyle gun equipment is to be used for any other purpose.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1880