Guns, run out or not

[yamay]

Would a ship-of-the-line have all of her guns run out when entering battle or just some of them? I am building an USS Constitution and am considering leaving some of her guns behind the ports! Any suggestions ar appreciated.

[juhu]

IMHO, although period ship kit with all guns out like an angry hedgehog is the most typical way how to build the kit, in reality I think the ship did not have enough crew to control the guns on the both sides at once, so I would assume even in ideal position, just before the shot, only one side would be out. Also, in the heat of battle I assume it may well happen that only some guns are out: the gun, if barrel loaded from the front needs to be in, then moved to the outer positien just before the shot. I think if you keep the lids closed or opened and just left a pair of guns out, cannot be an issue. But let's see what will others suggest...

[Matrim]

I quite like the idea of, one day, doing a ship with all the gun ports closed and the guns secured against movement as that is unusual (for a model) and not unusual for the ship.

 

If seas were heavy and gun ports were low then you could easily see some ports closed to simply protect the ship.

If time and crew and weather  were not an issue then both sides would probably be prepared so that you would not have too suddenly arm and run out a ships side if the ship fell off unexpectedly, or someone else arrived etc etc. 

Several historical engagements had ports shut due to weather and several more (the Nile) had one side of the ship blocked up with various ship debris as the captain never thought a ship could move between them and the shore.

 

So all in all whatever you want!

[boatswain100]

There would be so many considerations to even mention here.  But yes sometimes all guns would be rolled out and sometimes not.  It would all depend on the situation at the time.