A Sequel to Early Medieval Cannons:Cannons and Cannon Tactics in the Navy

**scottishranger** · June 28, 2006, 11:48 AM

A Sequel to Early Medieval Cannons

Cannons and Cannon Tactics in the Navy

The invention of the cannon in the Late Medieval Ages brought forth many new tactics both to land, where it could destroy in week fortresses that had previously taken years to conquer, and the high seas. This article will be about the use of Cannons and its tactic at sea in the Age of The Sail (1800-1870)

When the cannon was first introduced to Europe it completely revolutionized and reversed naval warfare, gone was the age where ship had close with the enemy and rely on luck on weight of number to board the enemy ship and take her. Now the Cannon ushered in a new age of warfare.

The first stages of combat began with shots at long range(1000 yards), with barely a hope of hitting anything at such a distance. Once the ships had maneuvered to within a few hundred yards the fire would be directed towards the enemy ship masts with the frightfully effective chain shot, in hopes of breaking a mast and thus taking away the enemy ship’s maneuverability. Now once the two ships had closed to within 150 yards the deadly broadside was fired, all the cannons on the side facing the enemy were fired in unison with deadly solid shot into the hull of the enemy. The cannons of the broadside did horrible deeds to the sailors and gun crews, sometimes tearing off limbs and horribly mangling bodies, not to mention the sometimes gigantic splinters sent flailing by the breaking wood of the hull. While this is all going on in the hull marine sharpshooter in the masts brought down their enemies on the deck by accurate musket fire, especially officers if they could be found. Heroism demanded that the officers be on deck in full uniform, of course, so they fell.
Sometimes a cannonball would find the ships main powder magazine, if this happened and the gunpowder stored there ignited it meant a quick and fiery death for all hands on the ship, this is what is believed to have happened to Napoleon’s flagship, L’Orient a 153 gun ship of the line, at Abukir Bay(Battle of the Nile).

Sometimes this action could repeated for hours without end, broadside after broadside being rammed home into both ships until either a ship struck her colors(pulled down her flag, thus signifying the surrender of the ship) or one ship boarded the another. If the ship was boarded, the detachment of marines armed with musket and the bayonet would usually be first across to engage the enemy followed by the various sailors of all kinds armed with cutlasses and pistols. What followed was fierce hand to hand fighting in which normally the crew with the most numbers was victorious.

The heaviest guns of the ship were placed on the main gun deck, low in the ship. Lighter guns were placed on higher decks, and sometimes on the top deck. The heavier guns fired the broadside, so the ship had to be maneuvered to direct their fire. Guns on the weather deck could be aimed more flexibly, and the cannon placed at the bows and the stern were especially valuable to protect the ship from attack from these directions, which were favored by attackers since they were not then exposed to the ship's broadside. It was found that ships of greater armament (weight of broadside), competently handled, could always defeat a ship of lighter armament, but that the more lightly armed ships, if competently designed, could always outrun a more heavily armed ship.

A Carronade

Cannons were normally placed in rows along the sides of the ship, on the gun deck or decks, and fired through ports in the side of the hull that could be stopped when not in use. They were on wooden carriages with four small wheels, and restrained by block and tackle in recoil. Powder was brought to them as needed from a magazine deeper in the ship where it was safe from fire and sparks. The armament was primary in the rating of ships. Ships were rated by number of gun decks, number of guns, or hull volume. A single-decker, or frigate, had one gun deck (in the hull) covered by a weather deck, which most people would think of as the deck. A ship of the line had three decks, usually a deck of long guns, then two decks of carronades. A razee (from French, rasée, shaved) had had the top gun deck removed, so that it was now a two-decker and easier to handle and man. The number of guns was generally the conventional total number of guns firing through gun ports in the sides of the ship, so was an even number. There were actually more guns on a ship than this. Not included were bow and stern chasers(so called because they bow chasers would be used to fire on a fleeing ship and the aft guns were used to protect the ship while fleeing), cannon, often on swivels, that fired forward and backwards, respectively, extra guns on the quarters, and guns that stuck through odd holes, as well as guns on the weather deck

Types of ships:
Hull volume is tonnage. A ton is nominally 100 cubic feet, but the tonnage of a ship is arrived at by multiplying together certain measurements, and making certain assumptions and allowances, so that it can be significantly different from the actual volume of the hull, especially in unusual ships.
The HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship, was a three-decker ship of the line, a 104. The typical ship of the line of 1812 was a 74, with a deck of long 32-pounders, and two decks of carronades, plus chasers and other miscellaneous armament. The more common frigate, such as HMS Shannon, was a 38, carrying long 18-pounders. Most ships of this period also had carronades; those with only carronades were at a disadvantage at long range and in good weather. The Royal Navy made the mistake of too much reliance on carronades as primary armament. All these large ships were ship- or square-rigged on three masts. The masts were made up of three parts, a sturdy lower part well fixed in the hull, a topmast spliced to it, and a topgallant mast spliced to that. The upper parts of the masts were often torn off by gales or gunfire, and could be replaced from spares carried on the ship. Hundreds of men were required to man the sails and the guns; a crew of 300 was not unusual on a frigate.
Brigs and brigantines were smaller, two-masted ships, handy smaller versions of frigates. The brig was square-rigged on both masts, the brigantine was schooner-rigged on the mainmast. They had perhaps 22 guns. They had to be nimble sailers to stay out of trouble; their mobility and speed were their chief advantages. They were especially useful as commerce raiders, and were favored by the more prominent privateers. Leaving port, they would be stuffed with men to man the prizes they took during their cruise.
Sloops of war were single-masted ships, fore-and-aft (schooner) rigged, mounting a few guns, often on swivels, and relying on their speed and surprise for their effectiveness. They were used in cutting expeditions, where men in boats would sneak up on a craft and take it by boarding.