The defeat of the Danes at Copenhagen, the battle of the Nile, the “glorious first of June,” the battle of Trafalgar, the duels of the American War, and the battle of Navarino, united to give a splendid termination to the career of the wooden warship as a fighting unit. That of Trafalgar was the last in which great fleets of the best “wooden walls” that human skill could devise opposed each other in manœuvre and counter-manœuvre. That of Navarino, fought in a bay, almost in a dead calm, with the ships hardly moving and some even at anchor, was the last conflict in the world’s history in which the wooden battleships of the East and the West lay alongside each other and blazed away with every available weapon at a range so close at times that they could not possibly miss.

Constructionally, wooden battleships had about attained the limit of size. Already they revealed unmistakable signs of longitudinal weakness, and it had been a problem, which the builders up to that time had been unable to solve, how to stiffen the hulls so that they would withstand the hogging and sagging strains. It was not until Sir Robert Seppings introduced his system of ship construction that the difficulty was overcome, but the increase in the deadweight of the ship was great. Still, had it not been for his system it would have been impossible to construct some of the later vessels which left the ways before steam was introduced and iron was adopted for ship construction. Very few vessels were built larger than those which fought in Trafalgar Bay, though several were designed. The improvements made were rather in the form of the underbody in order to increase the speed and sea-going qualities of the ships. One of the largest old-style battleships ever proposed was the Duke of Kent, which was to have been a four-decker carrying one hundred and seventy guns, and having a tonnage of 3,700. She was to have been given a length of 221 feet 6 inches on the gun-deck, an extreme breadth of 64 feet, and a depth of hold of 26 feet. On the lower deck she was to have had thirty-six 32-pounders, and a similar complement on the lower middle deck; thirty-six 24-pounders on the middle deck; thirty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck; ten 12-pounders and six 32-pounder carronades on the quarter-deck; and four 12-pounders and four 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle. Though she never progressed beyond the paper stage, these particulars are interesting as showing what the naval architects of a hundred years ago were prepared to design.

The Queen of one hundred and ten guns, the first three-decker launched after Queen Victoria’s accession, the Vernon of fifty guns, and Pique of forty guns, and others of various classes were designed by Sir W. Symonds, who, during his fifteen years’ surveyorship to the Admiralty, was responsible for no fewer than one hundred and eighty vessels. The finer lines he gave them increased their speed, and they were broader, loftier, and roomier between decks than their predecessors, and were better ships all round. They may be regarded as embodying the highest degree of excellence to which the sailing wooden warship attained.

Reference has been made to the guns used on shipboard at various times, and to the establishment of dimensions or rates to be observed in building the ships employed in the British Navy. The guns about to be described were used in all navies; the establishments referred to are peculiar to the British Navy, though the vessels themselves differed but little from those belonging to other nations. It must also be remembered that though the names of the guns were retained through century after century, very little is known of the earliest weapons, and that their names came to be applied to guns which had little in common.

The establishments, as they were called, were adopted to secure uniformity in types, and it is well to bear these details in mind, or at least to refer to them, in studying the history of the achievements of the British Navy in order that an approximately correct idea may be obtained of the ships and weapons used by and against Great Britain which have had so great an influence on the world’s history.

The principal establishments were ordered in 1677, 1691, 1706, 1719, and 1745, and certain proposals were also made in 1733 and 1741, which were not of quite so far-reaching a character as the others. The establishment of 1745 was not adhered to for many years, and there has been no cut-and-dried establishment since, the requirements of modern warfare and the inventiveness of all nations having militated against adherence to a rigid standard. Ships of one hundred guns were in length on the gun-deck in 1677, 165 feet; in 1719, 174 feet; in 1745, 178 feet; their extreme breadth was 46 feet in 1677, and 51 feet in 1745, and the burthen increased from 1,550 tons in the first-named year, to 2,000 in the last. The ships of ninety guns had lengths on the gun-deck of 158 feet, 164 feet, and 170 feet in the three years respectively; their extreme breadth was 44 feet, 47 feet 2 inches, and 48 feet 6 inches, and their tonnage 1,307, 1,569, and 1,730 tons. The three-deckers of eighty guns first appear in the 1691 establishment; they were 156 feet on the gun-deck, 158 feet in 1719, and 165 feet in 1745; their extreme breadths at the three dates were 41 feet, 44 feet 6 inches, and 47 feet, and their burthens 1,100, 1,350, and 1,585 tons. Seventy-gun ships increased from 150 feet in length in 1677, to 160 feet in 1745, their breadth from 39 feet 8 inches to 45 feet, and their burthens from 1,013 tons to 1,414 tons. Ships of sixty guns were 144 feet in length in 1691, and 150 feet in 1745, with respective breadths of 37 feet 6 inches, and 42 feet 8 inches, and tonnages of 900 and 1,191 tons. Fifty-gun ships appear in the ratings of 1706 with a length of 130 feet, and in 1745 of 144 feet; then-respective breadths being 38 feet and 41 feet, and tonnages 704 and 1,052 tons. In the same year also, 40-gun ships are recorded with a length of 118 feet, an extreme breadth of 32 feet, and a tonnage of 531 tons; these dimensions had risen in 1745 to 133 feet, 37 feet 6 inches, and 814 tons. Ships of twenty guns were rated in 1719 with a length of 106 feet, breadth 28 feet 4 inches, and tonnage 374; increased by 1745 to 113 feet, 32 feet, and 508 tons.

In regard to their complements, a 100-gun ship in 1677 carried seven hundred and eighty men; in 1733, eight hundred and fifty; and in 1805, eight hundred and thirty-seven men. Ships of ninety and ninety-eight guns had, in 1677, six hundred and sixty men; in 1706, six hundred and eighty men; in 1733, seven hundred and fifty men; and in 1805, seven hundred and thirty-eight men. An 80-gun ship carried in 1692, four hundred and ninety men; in 1706, five hundred and twenty; in 1733, six hundred; in 1745, six hundred and fifty; and in 1805, seven hundred and nineteen men. A 74-gun large class ship had in 1762, six hundred and fifty men; and in 1805, ten less; a 74-gun common class ship had, in 1745, six hundred men; in 1762, six hundred and fifty men; in 1783, six hundred; and in 1805, five hundred and ninety men. A 70-gun ship had in 1677, four hundred and sixty men; in 1706, four hundred and forty; in 1733, four hundred and eighty; and in 1745, five hundred and twenty men. A 64-gun ship in 1745 had four hundred and seventy men; in 1762, five hundred; and in 1805, four hundred and ninety-one men. A 60-gun ship had in 1692, three hundred and fifty-five men; in 1706, three hundred and sixty-five men; in 1733, four hundred; and in 1745, four hundred and twenty. A 50-gun ship had in 1706, two hundred and eighty men; in 1733, three hundred; in 1745, three hundred and fifty; and in 1805, three hundred and forty-three. A 44-gun ship carried in 1733, two hundred and fifty men; in 1745, two hundred and eighty; in 1783, three hundred men; and in 1805, two hundred and ninety-four men.

Very little indeed is known of the earliest types of firearms carried afloat. The crudeness of the methods of manufacture, and the absence of any standard for pattern or size, left the makers free to produce whatever weapons they fancied. The Christopher of the Tower, in June, 1338, is said to have had three iron cannon with five iron chambers. The guns were breechloaders, and the chambers contained the charge and perhaps the projectile. She also had a hand-gun, which, though fired from the shoulder, had the barrel supported by a rest standing on the deck, after the manner of the hand-guns in use ashore. The Mary of the Tower was equipped with an iron cannon provided with two chambers, and a brass gun with one chamber. None of the weapons yet discovered show how the chambers were fastened in the guns of this period. It is known that they fitted loosely and that the chambers could be fired, if necessary, without the guns.

The early naval guns were called “crakys of war.”[23] They included cannon-paviors, or guns which threw round stone shot, and appropriately named murtherers, which were smaller weapons and were loaded with anything that could be fired out again.

An inventory of the Great Barke as “vyeuwyd” in the twenty-third year of King Henry VIII., is preserved in the Cotton Library at the British Museum. The following are extracts:—

“Hereafter followeth the ordinances pertayning to the sayde shype, item, in primis, two brazyn pecys called kannon pecys on stockyes which wayith The one 9 c. 3 q. 11 lb., the other 10 c. 1 q. 17 lb., whole weight 20 c. 28 lb.: Item 2 payer of shod wheeles nyeu: item two ladyng ladells.

“Starboard side. Item oon port pece of yeron cast with 2 chambers: item a port pece of yeron, with one chamber. Item a spruyche slyng with one chamber.

“Larboard side. Item oon port pece with 2 chambers: Item another port pece, with oon chamber, whyche chamber was not made for the sayd pece.

“In the forecastell. Item a small slyng with 2 chambers. Item another pece of yeron with two chambers, the oon broken.”

Even in Queen Elizabeth’s day much of the artillery had to be imported from Germany. It was not until about 1531 that iron guns were first cast in England, and brass guns were cast three or four years later. Guns were made of greater weight and bore when it was discovered how to cast them instead of building them, and muzzle-loaders gradually superseded the old breechloaders. The change, however, was slow, and was probably retarded by the reluctance of those ship owners who had breechloaders to discard them while they could yet be fired, a reluctance which no doubt extended, owing to the paucity of weapons, to the rulers of the various states.

The guns of the sixteenth century were extraordinarily varied. The largest was the cannon-royal of rather more than 8½ inches diameter,[24] 8 feet 6 inches in length, and weighing about 8,000 lb.; its charge of powder was about 30 lb., and its shot weighed 74 lb. The cannon was 8 inches diameter, weighed about 6,000 lb., and with a charge of 27 lb. threw a shot of 60 to 63 lb. The cannon-serpentine was of 7 inches diameter, weighed 5,500 lb., and with a charge of 25 lb. threw a shot of 42 lb. The bastard-cannon was of about the same length as the cannon-serpentine, but a lighter weapon, and though the charge of powder was 5 lb. less, the weight of the shot was the same. The demi-cannon varied from a little under 6½ inches diameter to 6¾ inches, and was about 11 feet in length and weighed about 4,000 lb., and with a charge of 18 lb., threw a projectile weighing from 31 to 33½ lb. The bore of the cannon-pedro, or petro, was 6 inches, its weight about 3,800 lb., its shot, usually of stone, whence its name, from 24 to 26 lb. The diameter of the culverin was from 5¼ inches to 5½ inches, its length was close upon 11 feet, its weight 4,840 lb., it received a 12 lb. charge, and fired an 18 lb. shot. The basilisk was slightly shorter and lighter, and its 14 lb. shot required 9 lb. of powder. The diameter of the demi-culverin was 4 inches, its weight 3,400 lb., its charge was 6 lb., and its shot 8 to 9½ lb. The culverin-bastard seems to have been of half an inch larger bore, about 8½ feet long, but to have been 400 lb. lighter than the demi-culverin, and to have fired an 11 lb. shot with a charge of 5¾ lb. The saker, or sacar, was a far smaller weapon, being less than 3¾ inches diameter, under 7 feet in length, and weighing about 1,400 lb.; its charge was 4 lb., and its shot 4 to 6 lb. The minion, slightly smaller in all respects, threw a 3 lb. to 4 lb. shot. The falcon was of 2½ inches diameter, 6 feet long, weighed 680 lb., and fired a 2 lb. shot with a charge of a little over 1 lb. of powder. The falconet was a smaller edition of the falcon. The serpentine was of 1½ inches diameter, weighed 400 lb., and fired a ½-lb. shot; and the rabinet, or robinet, was an even lighter weapon.

For loading, canvas or paper cartridges were used, but an iron ladle for the powder was preferred. The following list of commands in the gun-drill contrasts oddly with what would pass in the turret of, say, a modern super-Dreadnought:—

“Search your piece; sponge your piece; fill your ladle; put in your powder; empty your ladle; put up your powder; thrust home your wad; regard your shot; put home your shot gently; thrust home your last wad with three strokes; gauge your piece.”

Some curious guns were invented when the ordnance industry was in its infancy. The Scots in a southern raid in 1640 used guns of leather at their passage of the Tyne—which says more for the strength of the leather than of the powder. A composite affair called the “kalter” gun, introduced in the time of Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, is described:—

“A thin cylinder of beaten copper screwed into a brass breech, whose chamber was strengthened by four bands of iron, the tube itself being covered with layers of mastic, over which cords were laid firmly round its whole length and equalised by a layer of plaster, a coating of leather, boiled and varnished completing the piece.”[25]

Another peculiar weapon was a twin gun, in shape something like a stumpy tuning-fork, with parallel barrels and one touch-hole; another was a gun which could be fired at either end, the cavity in which the chambers were placed being in the middle. It must have been an awkward piece to handle. Hand grenades, used sometimes preparatory to boarding, were introduced in 1689 during William III.’s reorganisation of the artillery.

Even when the ships were provided with guns, opinion was by no means unanimous as to the extent to which the weapons should be employed, or the range at which they would be most effective. The method in vogue on the Atlantic was to shoot as soon as it was thought the enemy could be seriously damaged. A gentleman named Gibson, who reported on the condition of the British Navy in 1585-1603, is quoted by Charnock as saying:—

“Be sure it is your enemy before you shoot, and that you are in halfe gunnshott of your ennemy before you shoot. It is direct cowardice to shoot at greater distance, unless he is running away. British gunns being for the most part shorter, are made to carry a bigger shot than a French gun of like weight, therefore the French gunns reach further, and those of Britain make a bigger hole. By this the French have the advantage to fight at a distance, and we yard-arm to yard-arm. The like advantage we have of them in shipping (although they are broader and carry a better saile) our sides are thicker and the better able to resist their shott. By this they are more subject to bee sunk by gunnshott than wee are.”

The Mediterranean custom was different. The Marquis of Villafranca, whose advice was sought by Don John of Austria, thought there should not be more than two discharges before the galleys close, that the arquebussiers should not fire the second time until the blood of the man hit should splash back in their faces, and that the noise of the discharge should coincide with the ramming of the hostile vessel. But all the guns employed in the Mediterranean sea-fights were not of this order. In the tremendous struggle between the Cross and the Crescent much heavier artillery was used. One siege gun is said to have thrown a shot of 160 lb. During this struggle the Knights of Malta, after the capture of St. Elmo by the Turks, when the latter dishonoured the bodies of the slain knights, retaliated by beheading their Turkish prisoners and firing the heads back into the camp of the besieging Turks. The Knights combined unswerving fidelity to their principles and their masters, when they acknowledged any, with the utmost bravery, ferocity, and cruelty. There was little to choose between the leaders on either side, but the palm must be given to the Mohammedan leaders for their fertility of resource in extricating themselves from apparently hopeless situations. The chief of these were the brothers Barbaroussa, one of whom made himself King of Algiers, and they and others of the band were the greatest of the Barbary pirates, dreaded from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. The elder Barbaroussa and his worthy successor, Dragut Reis, became the chief admirals of the Turkish forces, the latter being killed in that terrible struggle at Malta in which St. Elmo fell, a fate which was only averted from the whole fortress by the remarkable genius of the greatest commander the knights ever possessed. By way of commemorating the services of the brothers Barbaroussa, the present Turkish government has named after them the two second-hand German warships it recently bought.

In the latter part of the seventeenth century the cannon were probably 42-pounders, the demi-cannon 32-pounders, and the culverins 18-pounders. Before an effort was made to systematise the armament of ships, hardly any two vessels carried the same number of guns. It was proposed in 1677 that a first-rate should carry twenty-six cannon with eight men to each; twenty-eight culverins, with five men to each; twenty-eight sakers on the upper deck, four on the forecastle, and twelve on the quarter deck, with three men to each saker; and two 3-pounders with two men each. A second-rate should carry twenty-six demi-cannon, with six men to each; twenty-six culverins; twenty-six sakers on the upper deck and ten on the quarter deck; and two 3-pounders, with the same number of men to the guns as a first-rate. A third-rater should carry twenty-six demi-cannon, twenty-six 12-pounders with four men to each; four forecastle and ten quarter deck sakers, and four 3-pounders. The remainder of the complements was to consist of two hundred and ninety-six men, two hundred and sixty-two men, and one hundred and sixty-two men for the three rates respectively, giving grand totals of seven hundred and eighty men, six hundred and sixty men, and four hundred and seventy men.

About the beginning of the seventeenth century the practice was introduced and has been retained ever since—with the exception of the later guns, which are indicated by their weight or the diameter of their calibre—of describing the guns by the weight of their shot.

A remarkable advance in the science of gun-making was shown when the carronade was introduced by the Carron Company. Briefly, this weapon may be described as a short heavy gun, carrying a heavy shot, and using a moderate charge of powder. It was a wonderfully destructive weapon at short range, and as a broadside gun held its own well into the middle of the nineteenth century. A favourite carronade was that of six diameters, one of which is here illustrated; that is, the length of the bore was six times the diameter of the calibre at the gun’s mouth.

These guns were made in two or three patterns. One was the familiar swivel, another had the trunnions below the gun centre so that the gun rested upon them, and the third and most common was that with the trunnions at the sides. The carriages, too, were exceedingly ingenious, being devised to permit of meeting the recoil as well as adding to the facility of handling the weapon, and the sighting arrangements did not leave the gunner much opportunity of going wrong provided he obeyed the instructions.

It was customary to fire a round, solid iron shot from these guns. On one occasion a very different missile was employed. An armed merchantman was overtaken by a privateer, and being short of cannon balls, the cargo was broached. The first missile hit the side of the privateer and smashed. The second hit a mast, dented it, and flew to pieces. Another missile smashed itself and a privateersman’s head at the same time, and the enemy then hauled off, wondering what new projectile had now been discovered. The merchant ship had defended itself with round Dutch cheeses—a testimony alike to the ingenuity of her commander and the strength of the missiles.

The East India Company had several vessels built in the Far East, and great was the outcry at the proposal that Indian-built ships should be included in the British Navy. However, the success which attended the armed ships of the Company, such, for instance as the Grappler, launched at Bombay, in 1804, was responsible for the launch of a “beautiful frigate” at Bombay, called The Pitt, the first ever built in India for His Majesty’s service.[26] A picture of her is in the Guildhall Museum, London.

The merchant vessels of the East in the seventeenth century were usually built of teak and well armed, and if they were not particularly fast sailers—some were particularly slow—they were usually able to withstand the shot of all but the heaviest guns which the pirates and privateers carried who infested those seas. Some of the greatest French naval heroes were men who were dreaded from one side of the Indian ocean to the other.

One of the vessels constructed in those days and still afloat is the sailing ship Success, which, after an eventful career, was one of the “floating hells” in which convicts were imprisoned near Melbourne for some years, then became a coal hulk, was somehow saved from destruction when her equally evil companion ships were ordered to be broken up, was turned into an exhibition ship showing her as a prison ship, was scuttled in Sydney harbour, raised again, and has since toured the world. She saw active service about a hundred years ago, and still bears on her tough sides the marks of the enemy’s cannon balls. She is probably the last of her type afloat. The East Indiamen and the West Indiamen of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries invariably carried guns, and needed them.

It is strange to think how recently the policing or safety of the seas has been secured, for the Liverpool newspapers contained, even in times of peace, advertisements that vessels would sail with the convoy, and that such and such a warship would act as escort.

Even along the British coasts the Carron Company armed its schooners, and offered special inducements to those passengers who were willing and able to assist the crew to repel a possible attack.