This style of axe, often referred to as a "tomahawk style," was used by the Royal Navy from the 1750s through the Napoleonic Wars until around 1850. A later version, adopted around 1860 and used during the American Civil War, was a hatchet with a blade designed for cutting rope and a hammer opposite the blade.

Considering that boarding axes were produced in their thousands, very few survived the demise of the sailing ship and the British tomahawk pattern is rare today. Some of the remaining examples do not carry a makers name although they are often marked with  the B.O and broad arrow mark of the Board of Ordnance. The lack of different patterns over the years means that it is difficult to date early axes and other than the Crown Point axe there is no solid evidence so far to date an axe to an earlier time.