"zxcv" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
If a ship was described as say "88 gun" did that mean 88 guns per side or
44
guns per side?

With 88 guns,
44 at port, 44 at starboard side. 88 guns is quite a lot for one ship.

And would a ship have enough crew to operate both broadsides
at once or was there only enough gunners for one side to fire at a time?

A related question, did any ships ever have only enough guns for one side
of
the ship at a time and roll them to whatever side they were needed for?


LOL - a gun rollover, never heard of such an idea , but OK, how should one
know ...

No, port and starboard were equipped equally, so one full brideside was 44
guns firing, while
the other side was reloading, depending on the winds for sail manoevres at
battle time.
You know, balance is *very* essential for keeping a ship afloat ...

And BTW even without "rolling the guns over", it was very hard work to fire
and reload one side ...
they had to do it as fast as they could, e.g. "USS Constitution" could
reload its guns faster than
the British ships that were defeated by her; this was one reason for her
victories.
The other reason were her thick "Iron Sides" to keep herself unhurt.

I still imagine a rollover on a one-side equipped ship, concerning to weight
of the guns !
That would have been an incredible list (inclination) to the firing side ...
and alternating that condition when going from port to starboard ... ROTFL !
You made my day.

hth, Jan