jud

Thought some might find this link interesting, near the end you can see clearly the delay after the shot leaves the bore and the remaing energy after overcoming the mass of the gun and carriage results in movement.  https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FWSXaCkQ9sF8%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2_jageataBz8xSUo-6A9s3GRBT-1LH8659E9XbNK-fB-x5g0jO0eX5lIQ&h=AT0xInmSvJNLmqPpMy3aL6CFU_BmCU3pC7zvwp-lWxUNzSNCDhbVqM9SoUkWqutvh8VyafbMhELs9fNC5jEpZRwRRQzvuKBR73Gs__Nf3hMiVquWh4uMvlaDv9uw43oQytiMUXgHI2FSB4BJJa0&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT052FpwOe6xVjYlypq6Ix-aaIks1ECHaDlMSPOZiX1_jjKG4aVjZ_uS5uqwNg46qGNIiOWxzJTWGxJeWHFJ7hVUe05XqacKDLDg9ckKtOrVKAB1XlqVH1pU3woLIJlYN8F-kbv-hZi11V8iUOsHldNT37ss40MGYNuvZ3W13aIc2bLgt-f7hWYF-xFNg7-5jcADAnbX7IJJBtyX45c 

Your link kicked me to Youtube....  here it is to avoid the middleman...    Also,  the Youtube sideboard has a lot of related links on cannon fire.
 

Naval ordnance tends to have modest recoil, by design - with the exception of carronades, where projectile velocity is sacrificed for low deployed mass, and heavier than 'battery' shot.

A field gun in 12pdr size is below 21cwt, while the upper deck battery of a ship of the line used much heavier guns of 34cwt with the same charges. Getting slightly more velocity (but not that much) and significantly lower recoil velocity and energy. Larger guns tend to a slightly lighter weight of metal per pound of shot, smaller calibre guns to be rather heavier.

A 32pdr carronade, by comparison, gets more than 2.5 times the recoil energy - while penetrating only about 80% as well at the near muzzle range (and somewhat better at random fire ranges). (Recoil energy of the carronade is nearly exactly that of the middle charge of the 32pdr gun of 56cwt, though it provides less than 1/2 the shot energy and ~2/3 the penetration at the muzzle and range at 5 degrees)

The 'excessive' weight of naval guns was often criticised, but the extra mass was seldom a significant proportion of the entire installed weight of shot, powder, stores, ordnance, crew and carriages, and the benefits of a 'ponderous' recoil were clear to most who actually designed and used the guns.

The use of larger shot for better penetration with extended ranges even with lower muzzle velocity were seen in the C19th, with the use of all 24pdr batteries first employed by the RN, with 'all 32pdr' and 'all 30 livre' armaments having a brief period before being supplemented by larger shell guns in small numbers. These sacrificed some controllability for common ammunition supply, greater long range effectiveness and (in theory) simplification of the supply of ordnance - though the RN ended up with 15 different '32 pdrs' (albeit that most were only one of 4 types).

Dan Snows comment on the noise and shock wave makes me wonder what it would have actually been like on a ship, with the muzzle outboard, the gun port would have restricted the amount of the external noise and shock wave traveling back inboard.
 
None of the re-enactments I've seen on youtube have attempted to simulate this nor, for that matter, have any used a realistic ship sized mass of timber to shoot into even though they present it as such. They seem to think the scantlings of a thin palisade are representative of a ship of the lines hull 😕
 
Despite this they still draw conclusions about the noise, shock and damage.
 
I'd love to have access to that gun and do the experiment properly. Even better, half a dozen of those guns 😁

From; ' LST ROUGH RIDERS SITE '.
 
Dave LaBar
11 hrs Now me and a buddy and a guy named Joe
took off on a can from Sasebo,
The chow was poor and the fuel was low,
but that doggone can could really go.
Now along about the middle of the night,
we were steaming along with all our might,
When a cruiser behind us blinked his lights,
blew his whistle and pulled into sight.
We had twin screws on that little old can,
which might have you think we were in a jam,
But to you swabbies who don’t dig that jive
that’s 16 boilers and an overdrive.
Now we were men who likely knew
we could race all night until something blew.
That fantail was deep from the turn of the screws,
but through the waves we flew and flew.
Over the ocean we did glide,
flying along with the throttles wide.
The skipper screamed and the crew they cried,
but we and that cruiser stayed side by side.
We looked o’er the fantail ‘cause we heard something coming:
sounded like a jet the way it was humming.
It was coming along at a terrible pace,
and we knew right then it was the end of the race.
As it streaked by our side, we looked the other way,
but, the crew of the cruiser had nothing to say.
For there going by was a Reserve JG,
pushing a hopped up LST !
           

Only one way to adhere to a lift per step standard without having an odd step at the top or bottom is to adjust the length of the slope. Many times that option is not available and step height must be adjusted, not a problem for an experienced seaman to adjust to, it is the odd height at the top or bottom that causes problems, so keep them all the same, those using them will adjust.
 

In modern US ships the number of treads in a ladder (vertical or angled) depends upon the vertical length. This is divided to give a number of equal spaces between the treads (top of treads) somewhere around a foot (12 inches). This can vary between about 10" to 13" between treads, with the bottom tread on vertical ladders as much as 18" above the deck. Angled ladders tend to have the same spacing from the deck to the top of the lowest tread as the rest of the treads. Blueprints usually don't actually give the spacing, but just give the height of the bottom step from the deck and the distance from the top step to the deck above, and show some number of treads and say "Equal Spacing." The rest is left up to the shipyard.
 
I suspect ladders have always been made this way. You have a space to fill with steps and you want them spaced in a reasonably familiar way. The fact that the spacing differs from ladder to ladder doesn't matter. Take my word for it - I climbed all over ships at sea with varying tread spacing and never had a problem missing steps. But it is important for the spacing to be equal on a given ladder. Also, the lowest tread should not be too close to the deck - that can cause tripping. And the top tread should be about the same spacing below the upper deck as the tread spacing in the ladder, but often is shorter if necessary to get appropriate spacing between the other treads.  You don't have trouble finding the deck above the ladder when climbing - it is wherever your foot lands. - again, I speak from experience!
 
Well, if you are climbing a ladder in the bow while the ship is pitching in high seas you may find yourself catapulted into the air just as you reach the top step with the ship dropping out from under you and then have momentary difficulty finding the deck, but gravity quickly remedies that!

Have to admire the Auxiliary Fleet, they got little glory but worked about 24, 7s.
GM 2, 7 years active. 4 year hitch + a 2 year hitch with a 1 year extension.
Have a good one 'Boats'.
jud

Built the Revell Cutty in 64, only did the standing rigging, damaged during dusting and gave it away, not near the job you have done with yours, a keeper.. The Navy granted all of us at NTC San Diego  weeks Christmas Leave in 1959 so spent Christmas leave at home. Company 537, orders to DD 527 after graduation, born on the 27th, lots of 7s .
jud
 
 

Brunelrussell here in carmudgeon mode:  I'm always interested in Civil War blockade runners and there is an article out about the Denbigh, which is being studied off the coast of Galveston, Texas by three of the people involved, but I can't even read it because, for reasons unknown, you have to list an institution in order to be allowed the privilege.  What's wrong with being a private  individual?  The company which owns the publication   is Elsevier, who are bad 
about paywalling their articles; I've had the same problem with them concerning paleontological journals.  Unless it's proprietary or otherwise 'sensitive' I believe that information should be freely available to all and not just another marketable commodity.  So there.
 
 

Before moving on I thought it prudent to see if the framing really allowed a better view of the gun deck - after all, if it didn't what's the point? So I hooked up the temporary light source, turned off the lights and result was very positive. The photos show with the natural light in pic 1 the eye is sort of drawn to the frame itself. But with the natural light off and the lanterns only the eye is drawn to the gun deck. I threw in a blurry pic of the captains quarters which looked really cool - the photo did not do it justice though.
 
Dave
 

I dry fit the Spar Deck today after trimming the partially complete deck beams to make them fit to the bulwarks. The camboose is about as snug as it can be and in fact, the frames are holding it down and the camboose top is giving the deck some needed camber. It will probably have to be lowered or I will have to correct the beams at this area. The Gun Deck can now be completed - manger, anchor cable with messenger to the capstan and canon balls. I am still not sure of what colors to put on the beams. They are a bit glaring right now. I would like to match the color of the inner bulwarks for the beams bottom and sides but a neutral grey or contrasting brown color for the tops would look nice - like exposed aged wood. That is still in thought.
 

The sheave on deck permits a gang of seamen to haul on the line as it extends across the deck. Obviously, only one or two men at a time can pull a line down without a sheave because there isn't room for more to get a hold on the line. 
 
When the line is hauled through a deck sheave or turning block, the line is brought up to the front of pin rail and a half-twist is made in the line and cast over the pin and pulled tight. The remaining bitter end is coiled with the coil held in the left hand. When coiled, the right hand reaches through the middle of the coil and grasps the bitter end of the line where it comes off the pin and a a suitable length of line being made between the coil and the right hand, that length is pulled through the center of the coil and a half-twist made in it, which is thrown over the pin so that the coil is hung neatly from the pin. 
 
When line is let go, it is a simple matter to lift the hitch off the top of the pin and lay the coil on deck, then cast off the first half hitch on the pin, and the line will pay out neatly from the without kinking or fouling.
 
Many books and manuals will depict a method of taking multiple turns around a belaying pin before hitching the line to the pin. While there is a method of taking an initial turn before hitching in cases where it is feared the weight of the load may make it difficult to cast off a single hitch on the pin, in practice, it's not a problem that's often encountered, as a horizontal pull of the fall, (called "sweating the line") will make losening the single hitch easy enough if the size of the line and the size of the pin are properly matched. Unnecessary turns around pins, cleat, cavels, and posts are the hallmarks of sloppy seamanship. All belaying should be done in a uniform fashion, as well, since one crewmember may tie off and another let go. In a blow and a heavy sea in the middle of the night is no place to be trying to untie "black" knots tied by some lubber!

found on net.

'Red ochre' is iron-oxyhydroxide (FeOOH), depending on the amount of crystal water and the purity of the material, it can be actually anything from a pretty bright red to a dark brown. Dark brown would be ok (in some navies the cast-iron guns were made to corrode with vinegar and the resulting mixture of iron-acetate and iron-oxyhydroxide solidified in situ by rubbing the gun with line-seed oil), but a red gun would show stains from powder-smoke and the powder-slime from washing out the guns all over. There is a good reason, why guns were painted dark.

Rope ladders, even one's with wood or iron rungs have a terrible characteristic of when hanging freely to put your feet somewhere at or over your head level when climbing them. Several methods to avoid that, one is securing both ends of the ladder so it remains taught when being used. Another is to let it rest on a bulkhead or other fixture, restricting it's movement, problem is your toes have nowhere to go to purchase the rungs, no matter what they are made from, so spacers are used in those situations, oversized spools on the ends of the rungs are common. The free hanging ladders are used by climbing the sides to keep your feet under you. Photo, me 1960 climbing out of the Whaleboat of the USS Ammen DD 527 when the Squadron was swinging on a buoy in San Diego, was the bow hook until I wiggled my way into the Gun Gang, the boat was sheltered between the bows when not in use. Throwing a rope ladder at a choke point, be it a hatch or as access to another weather deck will work, but it requires thought about how fast and how many men you need to move or you will not have those men where you wanted them quickly.
 

Rope ladders, even one's with wood or iron rungs have a terrible characteristic of when hanging freely to put your feet somewhere at or over your head level when climbing them. Several methods to avoid that, one is securing both ends of the ladder so it remains taught when being used. Another is to let it rest on a bulkhead or other fixture, restricting it's movement, problem is your toes have nowhere to go to purchase the rungs, no matter what they are made from, so spacers are used in those situations, oversized spools on the ends of the rungs are common. The free hanging ladders are used by climbing the sides to keep your feet under you. Photo, me 1960 climbing out of the Whaleboat of the USS Ammen DD 527 when the Squadron was swinging on a buoy in San Diego, was the bow hook until I wiggled my way into the Gun Gang, the boat was sheltered between the bows when not in use. Throwing a rope ladder at a choke point, be it a hatch or as access to another weather deck will work, but it requires thought about how fast and how many men you need to move or you will not have those men where you wanted them quickly.
 

found on net.

Having been around large guns on ships and seen the damage shock waves from Muzzle Blast can do, my guess would be that those with experience would secure them up against a stopper or held hard against the hull so they could not move when the guns were fired. Suspect most will tell you to leave them out because that is what they have seen in models for years. Hard against the hull or against a stopper will get you more disagreements than leaving them to flap in the wind as is the norm in the modeling world when they are modeled on the hull. Seems like those upper covers were removed and stored below when exercising the guns, probably experience dictated that solution.
 

found on net.

found on net.

found on net.

Having been around large guns on ships and seen the damage shock waves from Muzzle Blast can do, my guess would be that those with experience would secure them up against a stopper or held hard against the hull so they could not move when the guns were fired. Suspect most will tell you to leave them out because that is what they have seen in models for years. Hard against the hull or against a stopper will get you more disagreements than leaving them to flap in the wind as is the norm in the modeling world when they are modeled on the hull. Seems like those upper covers were removed and stored below when exercising the guns, probably experience dictated that solution.
 

Having been around large guns on ships and seen the damage shock waves from Muzzle Blast can do, my guess would be that those with experience would secure them up against a stopper or held hard against the hull so they could not move when the guns were fired. Suspect most will tell you to leave them out because that is what they have seen in models for years. Hard against the hull or against a stopper will get you more disagreements than leaving them to flap in the wind as is the norm in the modeling world when they are modeled on the hull. Seems like those upper covers were removed and stored below when exercising the guns, probably experience dictated that solution.
 

found on net.