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In
its simplest form a naval gun carriage supported the weight of the
gun, acting as a cradle that could be moved around.
In most cases the gun was fitted with trunnions, the
supporting stubs which stuck out from the barrel at right angles. These were designed to act as the pivotal points for the gun,
allowing the gun to be aimed up or down as required.
In
almost every gun carriage, the gun rested on its trunnions, sitting
semi-circular cut-outs in the carriage itself.
The gun was then held securely in place in place by metal
bands known as “cap squares” which passed around the top of the
trunnions
The
only other place a gun rested on its carriage was near its base.
Although carriage designs varied widely, most used a system
where the end of the barrel was kept off the floor of the carriage
by a series of wooden wedges, called “quoins”.
By sliding these coins forward or back, the gun could be
elevated or depressed.
To
work effectively, a gun carriage needed two other features.
First it needed wheels of some kind, so it could be wheeled
forward and back during the reloading and firing process.
Secondly, it needed a method of securing the gun to the side
of the ship, to prevent it careering across the deck when the gun
recoiled after firing. In
most cases, these basic features were augmented by a system of
blocks and tackles, which were used to roll the gun forward or back
as required.
So
much for the basic mechanics of a gun carriage . As we’ve already said, carriage designs varied widely.
The first carriages for wrought-iron breech-loading guns such
as the weapons carried on the St. John’s Wreck
have already been described (see Gunfounding
101 for details).
Bronze muzzleloading guns first appeared on ships during the
early 16th century.
The first carriages for these resembled the ones used for
guns on land; a simple bed, two large cart-wheel type affairs and a
few securing ropes and bolts. By
the time the Mary Rose
sank in 1545, the English had developed the “truck carriage”.
Instead
of large spoked or solid wheels, a truck carriage used four small
solid wooden “truck” wheels, one on each corner of the carriage. The advantage of this over the earlier two-wheeled design was
that the weight of the gun and carriage was more evenly distributed,
it could be rolled right up to the gunport, and it was easier to
train to the left or right using levers known as “trailspikes”.
Although the Spanish still used two-wheeled sea carriages
until the early 17th century, the four-wheeled truck
carriage became the standard form of maritime gun carriage, and
remained in use throughout the black powder muzzle-loading era.
Certain variants were introduced in the centuries
following 1545. Before
1700, gun carriages had a solid flat bed, but subsequently most
carriages consisted of two thick side pieces (known as
“cheeks”), two or more stout baulks of timber joining the two
halves together (known as “axle trees” or “transoms”) and
metal reinforcing bolts holding everything together.
From as early as the Mary
Rose, carriages were stepped from front to back. These provided
a point of purchase when the gunners were elevating the barrel of
the gun using trailspikes. The
quoins were supported by a “stool bed”; a shelf which usually
sat between the reinforcing bolt in the middle of the carriage and
the rear axle tree
How did a gun carriage help when you were aiming a gun?
Well,
the guns and carriages should be seen as complete entities,
unless you want to elevate or depress the barrel. If you
really wanted, you could elevate or depress the gun by moving
the quoins in or out. To
do this a gunner would stick his trailspike on one of the
carriage steps, hook the spike under the barrel and press
down. This lifted
the guns off the quoins, allowing someone else to position
them where they were wanted. This wasn’t so important at
sea, as the ships rolled up and down anyway.
It was a matter of gauging the right moment to fire the
gun as the ship rolled rather than any accurate calculation of
elevation.
So,
if the gun and carriage were one big lump, the important
aiming method was to train the guns to the left or right.
Trailspikes came in handy again, and by sticking them
between the carriage and the deck and lifting, the gun could
be inched to one side or the other.
Another handy tool were the “side tackles”, used to
run the gun forward or back.
These could be repositioned to drag the gun round to
the lest or right. |
Later modifications did away with quoins
altogether, and they were replaced with a screw mechanism, which
could be turned by hand, elevating and depressing the barrel as it
rose up or down against the underside of the gun barrel.
In some cases, wheels were done away with altogether, and the
gun and carriage was mounted on a slide.
By the mid to late 19th century this became the
standard form of mounting a gun on a warship, and often separate
tracers and rails were added to assist training the gun around.
These non-wheeled carriages had been used on galleys from the
16th century, but their use on sailing ship remained
limited to small one-gun gunboats and other special craft for
another two centuries or more.
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