Cannon History and Technology

For Centuries, gunnery was seen as a "black art", understood by nobody except a few experts, and despised by true soldiers and sailors as slightly un-chivalrous.  Although this was the case on land, guns had been widely accepted as battle winners at sea from the late 16^th century on. Although many sea captains still tried to win the day by boarding the enemy and fighting it out hand-to-hand, gunnery became the arbiter of victory, and boarding was relegated to a final act, when the enemy ship had been pounded to the verge of submission by firepower.

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Since the invention of gunpowder, mankind has found ways to harness its destructive forces. From the 14^th century on gunfounders have produced artillery, using it to blow away the last traces of feudalism and to usher in a new era where gunpowder weapons dominated warfare on both land and sea.

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Guns found on the wrecks of sailing ships were almost always made out of either iron or bronze.  Of these, wrought-iron guns are the most rare, coming from the earliest shipwrecks.  Bronze guns usually indicate an important ship, such as a galleon or warship, while cast-iron guns are far and away the most common. 

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