Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: malloy@nprdc.navy.mil (Sean Malloy) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: What is a 6-pounder gun? Message-ID: <7161@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 6 Jun 89 01:56:50 GMT References: <7030@cbnews.ATT.COM> <7127@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Navy Personnel R&D Center, San Diego Lines: 44 Approved: military@att.att.com From: malloy@nprdc.navy.mil (Sean Malloy) In article <7127@cbnews.ATT.COM> mayse@p.cs.uiuc.edu writes: >It used to be that artillery were described simply by the weight of the >projectiles. Back around the time of the Revolutionary War, for instance, >the heaviest naval armament (at least on British and American ships) >consisted of "24-pounders" and "32-pounders," also known colloquially >(I believe) as "long toms" and "carronades." (The 24's were for firing >"accurately" at some distance; the 32's were for close-in bashing). >This latter term/role are probably the reason the first USN purpose- >designed fire support ship (for amphibious assaults) was the USS Carronade. > >[mod.note: I believe that the term "carronade" refers to a gun mounted >on the ship's gunwales via a pintle mount, as opposed to being mounted >on a carriage. As they couldn't recoil, the powder charge had to be >small, reducing the effective range of the gun. Correct me if I'm >wrong... In any case, the name derives from the town of Carron, Scotland, >which apparently had a fine ironworks. - Bill ] Carronades were used to increase the weight of shot a broadside could deliver without the weight penalty that long guns of the same shot weight carried. Three-decker ships of the line often would have thirty-two or forty-eight pounder guns on the lower gun deck; however, the weight of these guns made them impractical for smaller vessels. The carronade allowed small ships to fire a heavy broadside, albeit at the cost of trading off most of the range of the long gun. The increased weight of broadside at the ranges British sailing orders prescribed combat made the carronade a very viable weapon. The most common carronade was the 32-pounder, although they were also made in 48-, 24-, and 16-pounder versions as well. The carronades would fire the same weight of powder as the long gun of the same shot weight, and would achieve much the same velocity, the gunpowder quality being more important than barrel length, given the shot-to-barrel fit (or lack thereof) during the period. Sean Malloy | "The proton absorbs a photon Navy Personnel Research & Development Center | and emits two morons, a San Diego, CA 92152-6800 | lepton, a boson, and a malloy@nprdc.navy.mil | boson's mate. Why did I ever | take high-energy physics?"