A cannon chainshot

M ELEY · 31st May 2022, 03:31 PM

On a final note, forgot to mention that chainshot were always smaller than the muzzle of the cannon they were being fired from. The difference in size was reduced by wrapping the projectile in sailcloth. The cloth would shred on firing, allowing the chains to unfurl. Many types of chainshot pieced together to form a full 'ball', allowing for insertion into the cannon tube, but again would spread out like a net when fired. Both chain/bar/spike and spidershot were inaccurate at long range, but effective when closing in on the target. Judging for how long this ordenance was around, they must have been quite useful for taking out sails.

It is my personal oppinion that they probably ceased being manufactured shortly after the first quarter of the 19th century (official end of Age of Fighting Sail despite masted ships still seeing combat i.e. CW blockage runners,British merchant ships attacked in Malay islands, etc). Although used up until mid-late 19th, my suspicions is that those later uses were from surplus ordenance. With maritime weapons, this was an extremely common practice, seen with re-issued cutlass, boarding axes and pikes (the latter still seen on some WWI vessels!!)

31st May 2022, 03:31 PM	#7
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	On a final note, forgot to mention that chainshot were always smaller than the muzzle of the cannon they were being fired from. The difference in size was reduced by wrapping the projectile in sailcloth. The cloth would shred on firing, allowing the chains to unfurl. Many types of chainshot pieced together to form a full 'ball', allowing for insertion into the cannon tube, but again would spread out like a net when fired. Both chain/bar/spike and spidershot were inaccurate at long range, but effective when closing in on the target. Judging for how long this ordenance was around, they must have been quite useful for taking out sails. It is my personal oppinion that they probably ceased being manufactured shortly after the first quarter of the 19th century (official end of Age of Fighting Sail despite masted ships still seeing combat i.e. CW blockage runners,British merchant ships attacked in Malay islands, etc). Although used up until mid-late 19th, my suspicions is that those later uses were from surplus ordenance. With maritime weapons, this was an extremely common practice, seen with re-issued cutlass, boarding axes and pikes (the latter still seen on some WWI vessels!!)