110 Observations on the 



. In the earlier periods of the application of ordnance to naval 

 warfare, it was usual to carry, not only various calibres on 

 board the same ship, but even to have two or three different 

 natures on the same deck. Much inconvenience and confusion 

 must have unavoidably arisen on this account; but we find 

 that it was not until the latter part of the reign of Charles I. 

 that any attempts were made to remedy the serious evils inhe- 

 rent in such a disregard of system. The first regular establish- 

 ment of guns for the various classes of ships of the royal navy 

 is, we believe, that given by Derrick, in his Memoirs, and was 

 made in the year 1677. We find in it an uniformity of calibre 

 established for each respective deck ; for instance, the lower 

 deck of a three-decked ship of 100 guns was armed entirely with 

 42 pounders, or (as they were then called) cannon of 7 * ; the 

 middle deck with 18-pounders, or culverins ; and the upper 

 deck with 6-pounders, or sakers. 



As may be naturally supposed, repeated attempts have been 

 made to increase the force of our ships of war ; not only by 

 increasing the number, but also by increasing the calibre, of 

 their ordnance ; but the former alternative has, from the diffi- 

 culties and expense attending it, (by requiring much larger 

 ships,) been comparatively little resorted to ; indeed, we find 

 that our present largest first rates carry only twenty guns more 

 than the first rates in 1677 ; and our largest two-decked ships 

 of the line mount only fourteen more than the two-deckers of 

 the same period. Hence it has been principally in the general 

 increase of calibre of naval ordnance that the present superior 

 force of our floating batteries consists. 



In treating of cannon with relation to the qualities and capa- 

 bilities required in them, as forming the armament of a ship, 

 it will appear, on a due consideration, that there are two prin- 

 cipal objects which should be attended to in the construc- 

 tion of a piece of sea-service ordnance, viz., facility of its 

 service in time of action, and the influence which the guns 

 possess over the sailing qualities of the ship : both these desi- 

 derata are dependent on the weight of the gun. This element 

 not only governs the celerity of its service, but also has a great 



* That is, cannon of seven inches, or whose bore was seven inches in 

 diameter. 



