Instructor: Saucy Jack

Pirates used weapons that were available in their area of operation.  The most devastating weapon was the cannon.

Cannons

This weapon was common on nearly all military and merchant ships. Cannons required a  large well trained crew to load, aim and fire. A well trained crew could fire one round every two to five minutes.

 Cannon also required a semi-complicated support system. Cannon required constant maintenance to keep them in firing condition. Cleaning and repainting was a typical gunners task. Cannon balls often became corroded with rust which would cause them to either not fit into the cannon or wobble outside their intended trajectory when fired.

 Gun Powder was commonly stored in a  room lined with lead  to prevent sparks.  The door to the powder room was covered with wet felt curtains. The master gunner wore felt slippers. All these precautions were to prevent an accidental explosion. Powder was issued in small pre measured pouches with just enough to fire one ball.

Most cannon used on ships were effective up to 2,000 yards. With the largest able to fire a ball of thirty-two pounds. The thirty-two pounder fit a gun with a five inch bore. Cannon weighed from 600 pounds for a two pound ball to five thousand pounds for a thirty-two pound ball.

Types of cannon shot used were:

Round Shot: This standard projectile was a solid iron ball of various sizes, depending on the size cannon bore. Although the ball had range it lacked accuracy and was thus used  most often as a medium range projectile.

Bomb: A hollow iron ball was filled with powder and sometimes small musket balls with intension of an explosion on impact.

Bar Shot:   Iron bars were effective in their destruction of rigging, mast, and personnel when they hit their target but were undependable with erratic trajectory.

Chain Shot:  Two iron balls were fastened together with chain and were effective as a medium range shot for cutting rigging and damaging masts. They did little damage to ship's hulls.

Bundle Shot: This was an effective shot for damaging personnel by ricocheting as the bundled together iron bars spread through out the deck of the victim ship.

Grapeshot:  This was a devastating shot against personnel. Small iron balls were wrapped in a canvas bag and would spread out in a wide pattern when fired.

Canister Shot:  A metal container was filled with available material such as nails, glass and shrapnel. It was a more devastating anti-personnel device and eventually became much more popular than grape shot.

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