having what they called the "weather gage" ( upwind with room to
maneuver" allowed you to determine when, where, or even whether you
would fight. very advantageous in a duel at sea. it didn't necessarily
allow you the first shot but it allowed you to observe your enemy at
your leisure to determine any weaknesses. plus if your ship was bigger
than the opposing ship, this generally meant a longer waterline and
more sail therefore more downwind speed and you would be able to
overtake your enemy. if you were smaller, you were usually less beamy
and carried closer set sails (better in coastal work) and therefore
could point higher than the larger ship which would allow you to walk
away if you had searoom.

hitting the rudder, like hitting the mast or spars was like a modern
royal navy saying. most captains can put salvo on target but only god
can give you a direct hit. aiming several tons of cannon from the deck
of a rolling ship with the delay of the powder at the touch hole and
the generally slowburning powder was more of an art than a science.
as afore mentioned if you were lucky enough to manuever for a
broadside to stern shot, the salvo would rake the gun deck from aft to
bow maximizing the damage.

almost all fighting ships had bow and stern "chasers". these were
lighter cannon (not being desirous of having a lot of weight in the
bow or stern plus the unavailable space). however they were longer
cannon so while not throwing as much ball weight they did have more
range, with the off chance that you could carry away some of your
enemy's rigging and forcing him to battle or allowing you to get away.

whew, a bit too wordy

steve scheiding




WARNING: There might be a very small SPOILER in this post.
If you have not seen the movie and can't stand knowing anything
about it until you see it, please stop reading this post.

I watched Master & Commander last night. It's about a British
sailing war-ship fighting it out with a French one. At one point
the French ship is chasing behind the English one. Out heros in
the movie (the English) use some interesting methods to get
around so that they are the ones behind the French.

I understnad that on these ships the stern is their week point
both in construction and because if you can shoot out the
other's rudder they are in a very bad poistion. But I thought
that these ships could only fire to their sides. If that's the case
I don't see how being either the lead ship or the following
one is much of any advantage.

Anyone understand this?





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