18-pounder short gun

18-pounder short gun

1/4th Scale model of an 18-pounder short gun, model 1824. On display at the Musée national de la Marine, Paris.
Type naval gun
Place of origin France
Service history
Used by France, Spain, Great Britain, Netherlands, Sweden, United States
Specifications
Calibre 138.7 mm[1]

The 18-pounder short gun was an intermediary calibre piece of artillery mounted on warships and merchantmen of the Age of sail. It was a lighter version of the 18-pounder long gun, compromising power and range for weight.

In his discussion of the single-ship action in which the French frigate Piémontaise captured the East Indiaman Warren Hastings on 11 June 1805, the naval historian William James compared the 18-pounder medium guns on Warren Hastings with the 18-pounder long guns that the British Royal Navy used. The medium 18-pounder was 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and weighed 2634 Cwt (2,996 pounds (1,359 kg)); the Royal Navy's long 18-pounder was 9 feet (2.7 m) and weighed 4212 Cwt (4,760 pounds (2,160 kg)).[2]

Citations and references

Citations
  1. French naval regulation, 1786
  2. James (1837), Vol. 4, pp.239-44.
References

External links

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