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The
Crew -
In the right place at the right time
From
as early as the 16th century, gun crews were allocated
certain jobs to perform, working under the watchful eye of a Gun
Captain.
Although the size of crew varied by size of gun, available
crew and whether the ship was a warship or not, the basic division
of labor remained the same for centuries.
While a small gun such as a 6-pounder (or “saker”) could
be fired with a crew of four or five, larger guns needed larger
crews.
In the 16th and early 17th centuries,
it was common for ships carrying soldiers to allocate soldiers to
gun crews.
In 1622, a Spanish galleon gun crew consisted of a gun
captain and six soldiers.
All the sailors did was to supply powder, and to sail the
ship.
This practice fell from favor and marines (or “sea
soldiers” concentrated on firing small arms at the enemy, while
the sailors manned the guns.
The following list of people and duties comes from the early
19th century, reflecting the crew of an 18-pounder gun on
a United States Naval warship during the War of 1812 (1812-15).
Whatever the size of the crew, the basic roles were the Gun
Captain, Sponger, and Loader (Rammer).
| Post |
Duty
|
| Captain
of the Gun |
Commands
the gun, aims it and fires it |
| Second
Captain |
Assists
the Captain, and runs out the gun |
| Loader |
Loads
and rams home the shot, and helps to run out and train the gun |
| Sponger |
Sponges
and worms the gun, assists the rammer, and helps to run out
and train the gun |
| Loader’s
Assistant |
Passes
the powder, shot and wad to the loader, and helps to run out
and train the gun |
| Sponger’s
Assistant |
Passes
the Sponge, Rammer and Worm to the Loader and Sponger,
and
helps to run out and train the gun. |
| Auxiliaries
(3 of them) |
Man
the tackles for running the gun out, train and elevate the gun
using handspikes under the direction of the Gun Captain, and
bring powder up
from the powder store. |
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