Elizabethan cannon techonology
Last June we posted a story about an Elizabethan warship that had been found off Alderney dating from around 1592. Further research seems to be confirming some of the initial findings, that Elizabeth I’s navy was becoming more professional and effective. Tests seem to show that was carrying powerful cast iron guns of a uniform size, firing standard ammunition. This was in stark contrast to the Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, which carried a wide variety of different weapons, many of which had been designed for land warfare.
The Alderney wreck was a pinnace, which would have carried 12 cannon, two of which have been recovered. Using these, replicas have been built and tested, which seem to show that they were capable of throwing shot at almost the speed of sound. While the guns are relatively small, theywere powerful enough to hit a target up to a mile away. Although whether they were accurate enough is another question. However, at a more typical fighting distance of around 100 yards, they packed enough of a punch to have been able to penetrate the oak planks of a ship and go out the other side.
Elizabeth’s navy seems to have worked out that a lot of smaller guns all firing at once, was more effective than a few larger guns. Presumably there would also have been a significant benefit in standardising gun sizes and ammunition. Although drawing the conclusions about standardisation when they have only recovered 2 of the cannons, is perhaps a bit of a stretch.
There is a good article on this from the BBC website, along with video of the tests they carried out on one of the replica cannon.
