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Cannon
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Naval
artillery in the Age of Sail encompasses the period of
roughly 1571-1863: when large, sail-powered wooden naval
warships dominated the high seas, mounting a bewildering
variety of different types and sizes of cannon as their
main armament. These characteristics, along with the
handling and seamanship of the ships that mounted them,
defined the environment in which the Naval tactics in the
Age of Sail developed.
During
the Age of Sail, almost all cannon designs were
muzzle-loading; the cannon is essentially a sealed tube,
open only at the front, and the powder, wadding, and
cannonball were loaded from the front in that order. There
was a small opening at the rear, usually on top, into
which a fuse or other ignition mechanism was fitted to
ignite the powder.
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| Firing a naval cannon required
a great amount of labour and manpower. Cannon used
gunpowder as the propellant, whose bulk had to be kept in
a special storage area below deck for safety. Powder
Boys, typically 10-14 year old children, were enlisted
to run powder from the armory up to the gun decks of a
vessel as required.
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| The firing procedure for a
cannon was as follows: A wet swab was used to mop out the
interior of the barrel, extinguishing any embers from a
previous firing which might cause the next charge of
gunpowder to go off prematurely. Gunpowder, either loose
or in a cloth or parchment cartridge (in which case it
would have a hole made in it with a 'quill' through the
touch hole), was placed in the barrel, followed by a cloth
wad (typically made from canvas and old rope), and rammed
home with a ramrod. Next the shot was rammed in, followed
by another wad (to prevent the cannon ball from rolling
out of the barrel if the muzzle was depressed.) The gun in
its carriage was then 'run out' — men heaved on the gun
tackles until the front of the gun carriage was hard up
against the ship's bulwark, and the barrel protruding out
of the gun port. This took the majority of the manpower -
the total weight of a large cannon in its carriage could
reach over two tons, and the ship would probably be
rolling. The touch hole in the rear ('breech') of the
cannon was filled with finer gunpowder ('priming powder')
and ignited, either with a slow match or, from the 1790s,
by a flintlock set off by pulling a lanyard. The slow
match or spark from the flintlock ignited the priming
powder, which in turn set off the main charge, which
propelled the shot out of the barrel. When the gun
discharged, the recoil sent it backwards until it was
stopped by the breech rope — a sturdy rope made fast to
ring bolts let into the bulwarks, and a turn taken about
the gun's cascabel, the knob at the end of the gun barrel.
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A typical broadside of a Royal
Navy ship of the late 18th century could be fired 2-3
times in approximately 5 minutes, depending on the
training of the crew, a well trained one being essential
to the simple yet detailed process of preparing to fire.
Ironically, the British Admiralty did not see fit to
provide additional powder to captains to train their
crews, generally only allowing 1/3 of the powder loaded
onto the ship to be fired in the first six months of a
typical voyage, barring hostile action. Instead of live
fire practice, most captains exercised their crews by
"running" the guns in and out
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| — performing all the steps
associated with firing but for the actual discharge. Some
wealthy captains — those who had made money capturing
prizes or from wealthy families - were known to purchase
powder with their own funds to enable their crews to fire
real discharges at real targets.
One
descriptive characteristic which was commonly used was to
define guns by their pound rating: theoretically, the
weight of a single solid iron shot fired by that bore of
cannon. Common sizes were 42-pounders, 32-pounders,
24-pounders, 18-pounders, 12-pounders, 9-pounders,
8-pounders, 6-pounders, and various smaller calibres.
French ships used standardized guns of 36-pound, 24-pound
and 12-pound calibres, augmented by carronades and smaller
pieces. In general, larger ships carrying more guns
carried larger ones as well.
The
muzzle-loading design and weight of the iron placed design
constraints on the length and size of naval guns. Muzzle
loading required the cannon to be positioned within the
hull of the ship for loading. The hull is only so wide,
with guns on both sides, and hatchways in the centre of
the deck also limit the room available. Weight is always a
great concern in ship design as it affects speed,
stability, and buoyancy. The desire for longer guns for
greater range and accuracy, and greater weight of shot for
more destructive power, led to some interesting gun
designs.
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Cannon:
The lower tier of 17th century English ships of the line
were usually equipped with demi-cannon — a naval gun
which fired a 32-pound solid shot. A full cannon at this
time fired a 42-pound shot, but these were discontinued by
the 18th century as they were seen as too unwieldy. By the
end of the century, principles long adopted in Europe
specified the characteristics of cannon of the British
ship design and the types |
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tested guns by measurement, proof by powder (two or three
firings), and using compressed water for leak detection
Demi-Cannon
A
demi-cannon or half-cannon was a 17th Century naval gun
which fired a 32-pound solid shot. A full cannon fired a
42-pound shot. 42-pounders were discontinued as they were
seen as too unwieldy in the 18th Century. The lower tier
of 17th Century English ships of the line were usually
equipped with demi-cannons. Ships featuring demi-cannons
included HMS Sovereign of the Seas, HMS Resolution
and HMS James, which fought in the Anglo-Dutch
naval wars.
Demi-Culverin
A
demi-culverin or saker was a 17th Century term for a
cannon which fired a 9-pound solid shot (a culverin fired
an 18-pound shot). It was first employed by the Dutch in
the early 1600s. The tube was about 3 metres long, and
fired a shot 11 cm in diameter and 4 to 6 kilograms in
mass. With a weight of 1640 kg (3600 lb), it had a range
of almost 2 km, though its effective range was only about
80 metres. Firing this gun was dangerous - many gunners
lost their lives to recoiling barrels or blowback from the
touchhole.
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Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon,
developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an
ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK used from the 1770s to
the 1860s.
The
carronade was designed as a short-range naval weapon with
a low muzzle velocity, and is said to have been invented
by Lieutenant General Robert Melville in 1759 and
developed by Charles Gascoigne, manager of the Carron
Company from 1769 to 1779. It was adopted by the Royal
Navy in
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1779,
and its early years was also known as a
"gasconade" or "melvillade". The lower
muzzle velocity of a carronade's round shot was intended
to create many more of the deadly wooden splinters when
hitting the structure of an enemy vessel, leading to its
nickname, the smasher. However, the small powder charge of
the carronade was only able to project a heavy cannonball
over a relatively limited distance. The short barrel, low
muzzle velocity and short range also increased the risk
that a carronade would eject burning wadding onto nearby
combustible materials, increasing the risk of fire.
Long Nine
One unique naval gun
was the long nine. It was a proportionately longer-barrelled
9-pounder. Its typical mounting as a bow or stern chaser,
where it was not perpendicular to the keel, allowed room
to operate this longer weapon. In a chase situation, the
gun's greater range came into play. However, the desire to
reduce weight in the ends of the ship and the relative
fragility of the bow and stern portions of the hull
limited this role to a nine, rather than a 12 or
24-pounder. |
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Swivel guns
Swivel
guns were used principally aboard sailing
ships during the age of sail, serving as short-range anti-personnel
ordnance. They were not ship-sinking weapons, due to their
small caliber and short range, but could do considerable
damage to anyone caught in their line of fire.
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Due
to their relatively small size, swivel guns were highly
portable and could be moved around the deck of a ship
quite easily (and certainly much more easily than other
types of cannon). They could be mounted on the deck
railings of a ship, which provided the gunner with a
reasonably steady platform from which to fire. Their
portability enabled them to be installed wherever they
were most needed; whereas larger cannon were useless if
they were on the wrong side of the ship, swivel guns could
be carried across the deck to face the enemy.
Shot
In
addition to varying shot weights, different types of shot
were employed for various situations:
- Round shot - Solid spherical cast-iron shot,
the standard fare in naval battles.
- Canister shot - Cans filled with dozens of
musket balls. The cans broke open on firing to turn
the gun into a giant shotgun for use against enemy
personnel.
- Grapeshot - Canvas-wrapped stacks of smaller
round shot which fitted in the barrel, typically three
or more layers of three. Some grape shot was made with
thin metal or wood disks between the layers, held
together by a central bolt. The packages broke open
when fired and the balls scattered with deadly effect.
Grape was often used against the enemy quarterdeck to
kill or injure the officers, or against enemy boarding
parties.
- Chain-shot - Two iron balls joined together
with a chain. This type of shot was particularly
effective against rigging, boarding netting and sails
since the balls and chain would whirl like a bola when
fired.
- Bar shot - Two balls or hemispheres joined by
a solid bar. Their use was similar to chain shot.
- Link shot - A series of long chain links
which unfolded and extended upon firing.
- Langrage - Bags of any old junk -- scrap
metal, bolts, rocks, gravel, old musket balls, etc. --
fired to injure enemy crews.
- Fire arrows - A thick dartlike incendiary
projectile with a barbed point, wrapped with
inflammable pitch-soaked canvas which took fire when
the gun was fired. The point stuck in sails, hulls or
spars and set fire to the enemy ship.
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