Naval artillery in the Age of Sail

These characteristics, along with the handling and seamanship of the ships that mounted them, defined the environment in which the naval tactics in the Age of Sail developed.

A wet swab was used to mop out the interior of the barrel, extinguishing any embers from a previous firing which might set off the next charge of gunpowder prematurely.

This took the majority of the gun crew manpower, as the weight of a large cannon in its carriage could total over two tons, and the ship would probably be rolling.

The earlier method of firing a cannon was to apply a linstock—a wooden staff holding a length of smoldering match at the end—to the touch-hole of the gun.

The linstock slow match or the spark from the flintlock ignited the priming powder, which in turn set off the main charge, which propelled the shot out of the barrel.

[citation needed] A complete and accurate listing of the types of naval guns requires analysis both by nation and by time period.

Some types include: In 1712, Colonel Albert Borgard was appointed to the head of the British Royal Ordnance, and introduced a new method of classification by which guns were defined by their pound rating — theoretically, the weight of a single solid iron shot fired by that bore of cannon.

It was typically mounted as a bow or stern chaser where it was not perpendicular to the keel, and this also allowed room to operate this longer weapon.

However, the desire to reduce weight in the ends of the ship and the relative fragility of the bow and stern portions of the hull limited this role to a 9-pounder, rather than one which used a 12- or 24-pound shot.

It fired an extremely heavy shot but, to keep down the weight of the gun, it had a very short barrel, giving it shorter range and lesser accuracy.

It was developed by French general Henri-Joseph Paixhans in 1822–1823 by combining the flat trajectory of a gun with an explosive shell that could rip apart and set on fire the bulkheads of enemy warships.