Weapons

Chesapeake colonial privateer tended to use small arms and swivel guns, finding them more that sufficient to overpower the unarmed merchant vessels of the region. Since you are probably move interested in larger vessel's compliment of weapons, I shall endeavour to provide what can be your pleasure.

Shot; any non-exploding missile fried from a great gun.

Great Gun; a firearm that must be mounted; a piece of ordinance; a cannon.

Bar-shot or Bar; two half cannonballs ;joined by an iron bar, to damage masts and rigging. Chain-shot or chain; two half balls or two balls, joined by a length of chain, used like bar. Langrage; (langrel, langrace, or langridge) a type of Case-shot/Canister-shot that uses jagged pieces of iron to damage sails and mow down men. Round shot; the normal round cast iron ball, named for it's weight

1. cascabel       2. touchhole 3. reinforced ring 4. trunnion 5. carriage 6. truck 7. quinions

Mortar A short piece with a large bore and trunnions on it's breech. Useful for firing over town walls into defenses by propelling the shell at a high angle, but with poor accuracy.

Bomb an exploding missile fired from a great gun, usually a mortar. Most often resembling Round Shot, though hollowed filled with powder, and fused.

Swivel Gun or Swivel Usually a small gun or cannon, mounted on a swivel on the rail or in the rigging, so it can be fired in any direction, preferably downward into the waist of a  ship, spewing dozens of small shot like a modern shotgun, to decrease the number of crew, making maneuvering, manning the guns, boarding, etc, more difficult.

12 ponders to 36 pounders Less accuracy, but capable of firing a larger ball, for more destructive power at a closer range.

Long Nine or Nine Pounder Longer Barreled and firing a smaller ball with great accuracy. Used as bow and stern Chasers, to reach another ship before you were in range of it's shorter, heavier guns.

Carronade or Smasher A short barreled, heavy naval gun for firing a much heavy shot over a short distance.  Named for the Carron Ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland. First British use in 1779. Usually fired a 64 - 66 pound shot.

Construction des vaisseaux du Roy, 1695

L'exercice du Canon. - [page 132] Cannoniers prenez garde vous.    Silence. tapez vos Canons. D' acute;marez vos Canons. Prenez la Platine. D"acute;couvrez la Lumiere. Prenez la Sonde. Mettez-lagrave; dans la Lumiere. Crevez la Gargousse. Hors la Sonde. Passez-la; sur la main. Prenez le Poulevrin. Haut lePoulevrin. D'acute;bouchez le avec les dents. Emorsez. Bouchez le Poulevrin. Joignez la main gauche au Poulevrin. Ecrasez la poudre. Pendez le Poulevrin la ceinture. Prenez la Platine. Couvrez la Lumiere. Prenez vos Pinces Anspects. Canonniers pointez. ~ Pointez en avant. Pointez en arriere. [Page R:133] Pointez en belle. Pointez agrave; d'acute;macircter. Pointez agrave; couler bas. Pointez agrave;  l'horison. Posez vos Pinces  Anspects sur le pont.        Prenez le Boute-feu Prenez la Platine. Souflez la meacuteche. Boutez le feu. Piquez le Boute-feu sur le Pont. Mettez la Platine sur le Canon. Prenez l'Escofilon. Passez le pied gauche par dessus les Palans Brague. Mettez l'Escofilon dans le Canon. Mettez le pouce sur la Lumiere. Poussez l'Escofilon au fond du Canon. Virez-le trois fois. Hors l'Escofilon en virant. Frapez-le sur la bouche du Canon. Acourciss l'Escofilon. Chargez s l'Escofilon. Prenes la Gargousse. Mord la Gargousse. Mett  la grave; dans le Canon. Pren  le valet. Mett le sur la Gargousse. Mett le refouloir dans le Canon.        Pousse la Gargousse au fond du Canon. [Page R:134]         Frape trois coups. Sond eacute;s la Gargousse. Hors le refouloir. Pren la bale. &Mett dans le Canon. Pren le valet.        Mett sur la bale. Mett le refouloir dans le Canon.        Pouss la bale sur la poudre. Frap un coup. Hors le refouloir. pass le pied gauche par dessus les Palans Brague. Change l'Escofilon. Pose sur le Pont. Prene la Platine. Couvre la Lumiere. Rangez-vous sur les Palans. Pousse le Canon au Sabord.

Translation Cannoneers take guard position.        Silence. Remove the Tampion from your Guns. Unmoor your Guns. Seize the Lock.        Uncover the Light (touch hole).        Take up the Probe. (priming wire) Put it there in the touchhole. Burst the Cartridge. (make a hole in the cartridge with the piming wire down through the touch hole) Take out the Probe. Place it there in the hand.        Take up the Powder horn. Present the Powder horn. Uncork it with the teeth. Fill the measure. Cork the Powder horn. Place the Powder horn in the left hand. Place the powder in the lock/touchhole. Hang the Powder horn on the belt.        Close the Lock. Cover the touch Hole Present your Grips (Handspikes. ) Canonniers aim.        -Aim forward        - Aim aft [ Page R:133 ] -Aim carefully.        -Aim for dismasting.        -Aim low. -Aim even with the horizon. Restore your Grips (Handspikes to the Deck.) Prepare the linstock. (or) Preparet the lock. Blow on the slowmatch. Light the linstock. Put the Linstock on the deck. Place the Lock on the Gun. Present the Linstock        Move the left foot over the Hoists and Tackle. Place the linstock in the Gun.(fire) Place the  thumb on the touchhole. Shove the Ramrod Swab to the bottom of  the Gun. Swab it three times.        Remove It each time while swabbing.        Tap it on the mouth of the Gun. Wipe the Swab. Present Ramrod. Present Cartridge. Cut the Cartridge.        Place it in the Gun. Present the servage (wadding.) Mettes it on top of the Cartridge. Put the rammer in the Gun. Seat the Cartridge at the bottom of the Gun.        [ Page R:134 Hit the cartrdige with three blows of the rammer Sound the Cartridge. (feel for it to see if seated properly) Remove the  rammer. Present the cannon ball. Start it in the Gun. Present the wad. Start it atop the ball. Start the rammer in the Gun. Press the ball down on the powder. Give it a blow. Remove the Ramrod. Move the left foot over the Hoists and Tackle.        Present Ramrod Place it on the deck. Present the Lock Cover the touchhole. Take up the Hoists. Pull the Gun to the Porthole

FIN.

END.

SMALL ARMS - Instruments of Personal Persuasion and Private Destruction

Small arms Generally ignored on board in the movies. Although after the first shot a pistol does become a nice club, in reality muskets they were used by experienced shots, or marines in navy vessels, to fire down from the rigging into the waist of a ship to reduce gun crews, cause hands aloft to fail to complete the setting of sails to foul attempts to maneuver, or to remove officers. Most movies never bother with any of this.

Rifles Rifled barrels are barrels with a grooves carved into the inside of the barrel with a twist, so that when the rifle is fired, the shot spins as it is ejected from the barrel, increasing it's range and accuracy. The  drawback is that this makes them slower to load, but means that the range increases to approx 300 yards, making it a useful weapon for skilled marksmen in the rigging to use to remove officers from the opposing ship, by looking for targets in fancy hats, or those at the helm, so a ship's control could be lost, and you could approach more easily.

Muskets Muskets were easier to make, faster to fire, and less accurate. Having a smooth bore, the shot is easier to force down the barrel, so the average firing rate was three or even four shots per minute, but do to the poor accuracy, was more effective at ranges under 80 yards, and when fired en masse, by a large group of sailors or Royal Marines.

You can find the 1764 Maual of Arms listed at this site, here.

Cutlass

Boarding was horribly bloody, close work. A naval cutlass is short, thick and deadly because you can use it in very close quarters, as one mob of seamen crashes against the other. Movie fencing between heroes is a joke.

A sailor's personal working tool, it also was a handy weapon

Knives

Either used to cut through the lines thrown to reel ships together, or to cut through fallen rigging and yards,  they could also be used to cut the enemies rigging, and the enemy.

Boarding Axes

Whatever is at hand Blocks and Tackle, Linstocks from the gun crews, rope, a bucket, if it was at hand and you could swing it, pick it up and use it.

Distance is, in and of itself misrepresented in most movies. Most often things would not begin until you were a under a cable length apart. This varies from country to country but it is basically 100 fathoms (Royal Navy) which is one-tenth of a nautical mile. That translates to 608 feet. By comparison, an American Cable length is 720 feet.

Injuries were rather indiscriminate. Since yea know we are going to try and dismast each other, and we have been hanging that netting, you now probably understand why most injuries and deaths came from falling rigging and flying splinters. Then again, if a gun was loose on the deck or a hit from the enemy landed on the gundeck, you were as likely to be crushed by the flying gun, now rolling loose on deck, as to be injured from the shot itself.

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