Canon Shooting Order

[felelo]

   So, my question is about in which order would they shoot the cannons back in the age of sail. My observations are mostly from movies and games, in which there are many contradictory examples, from one at a time(in order, i.e bow to stern, or not) and just randomly,(the officer yells "fire" and each team "pulls the trigger" as fast as they can)... The one way I never seen its all the cannons at the same time, in unison, and I believe that was probably not done, 'cause feels like 50 cannons shooting at the same time could bring some damage to the ship's structure.

 

   Was there any regulations on this at all?

[Cuthbert Collingwood]

 

50 cannons shooting at the same time could bring some damage to the ship's structure.

Myself and a few friends sat down and did some back of a beer mat maths in the pub one night and came to the same conclusion. A 32 pounder cannon weighs around 2.5 tons and if they all came up against the breech ropes at exactly the same time it would risk damage to the hull.

Another thing to remember is that the gun captains were lighting black powder fuses and so these would have a variable delay before the gun went off. Later they moved to flint locks but these still have a variable delay on thhem, as somebody who has played with flintlock muskets I can vouch for that. Also each gun captain was probably given autonomy in exactly when the gun was fired as they would have to be allowing for the pitch and roll of the ship.

I suspect they probably looked to do a rolling broadside from front to back but as I am not aware of any instruction manuals on gun drill from the period that is really educated gues woork.

[felelo]

So they they would shoot when they had a good position? Say you are broadsiding an enemy ship's stern, as it is smaller than the lenght of the gun deck, each gun captaing would shot when they had the stern on their aim?

[DontTreadOnMe]

I agree with Cuthbert, one thing I will add about the flintlocks on cannon is the "delay" is not long. I've also tinkered with flintlocks and while there is a noticeable delay its still very fast especially if the lock is well tuned. But obviously fuses did take time.
 

[Cuthbert Collingwood]

 

one thing I will add about the flintlocks on cannon is the "delay" is not long.

Agreed although to be honest the one thing about the fuses is you probably got less misfires as especially in damp weather and or when the flint starts to flake flintlocks can be tempremental.

[Brigand]

Does anybody know why they used fuses instead of primer directly in the vent/touch hole?

I've seen some demonstrations where they primed the cannon with by filling the vent with blackpower directly, and the delay between touching it with the linstock and the firing was almost non existing.

Cheers,

Brigand

[Hethwill]

Ripple bow to stern was the most common. Remember you have no range systems other than eye and elevation so effective range was not that long. First gun would find elevation, others would follow suit. Intervals could be second short or longer, depending on what effect was intended.

 

( we are playing a game so threatening fire is not a concern but back in the day a few balls falling in a area 100 meters square around the ship was a warning enough. Here we have to worry about ripple sniping at extreme distances... )

 

Regarding fuses. It is a matter of environment. Ships are damp places and especially during a battle with gun ports open water is spraying everywhere.

[SYN_Bloody-Bandy]

I would like to see a bow to stern (and reverse?) order to fire guns.  Currently the random fire pattern means a good number of cannon are shooting wide as two ships pass each other, where a quick 'ripple' as mentioned would provide the optimal time of fire. 

 

Perhaps have the single fire option (space bar) allow cannon to fire in order front to back... 

 

It may just be biased opinion based on a few experiences, but firing all guns by single shots seem to hit more often.  For instance, a cutter whizzing past my Surprise was missed mostly by a left-click broadside, while later in the battle I fired single shots in a similar engagement and hit with most of them.  Opinions welcome.

[Cuthbert Collingwood]

 

I've seen some demonstrations where they primed the cannon with by filling the vent with blackpower directly, and the delay between touching it with the linstock and the firing was almost non existing.

 

Fuses are easier and quicker to insert than filling the hole with black powder., Naval cannons are very heavily built, more so than army field cannons, and the vent holes can be quite a few inches long..

Also if there is a strong wind blowing the pile of powder you have just created at the top of the hole has a habbit of disappearing making it harder to light the powder with your slow match. You have to remember that you are standing at arms length to one side of the breech so you don't get flattened by the cannon recoiling.. 

If the powder gets damp and fails to burn properly you are going to have real fun in an action clearing out and refilling where as with a fuse you can remove and replace it easily if there is a misfire.

Ideally you want as little loose gunpowder around the cannon as possible, indeed the use of powder monkeys on large ships meant that the powder cartridges arrived as and when needed and you did not need a stock of them near the gun. A load of pre pepared fuses safely contained in a leather fuse bag strikes me as safer than powder horns filled with loose powder.

The thing to remember about black powder is it is not really an explosive in the modern sense of high explosives that dertonate. It is really an accelerant that burns very vigorously producing a great deal of flame, expanding gas and smoke. It is also in many ways a lot more dangerous to use than a modern explosive as a small spark can ignite it. This is why the prickers used to pierce the cartridge through the touch hole were made of brass. Being a far softer metal than iron or steel it is not going to cause sparks when it comes in contact with the metal of the barrel.

[SYN_Bloody-Bandy]

...

Ideally you want as little loose gunpowder around the cannon as possible, indeed the use of powder monkeys on large ships meant that the powder cartridges arrived as and when needed and you did not need a stock of them near the gun.

...

 

The failure to follow RN doctrine resulted in the catastrophic destruction (conflagration) of several British battleships/battlecruisers at Jutland, where they stockpiled powder bags in the turrets.  Then of course explosive shells were being used as well.