Types of 32 lb Carronade on late 1700s frigate

[DaveBaxt]

According to Brian Lavery book 'The Arming and fitting of English Ships of war 1600 to 1815' The Sliding bed of a Carronades where secured either on the inside of the bulwark or the outside but I am unsure which way is likely to be the case on the HMS Diana 1794. Here is a photo of an assembled  32lb Carronade which came with the kit

According to the book AOTS Diana the front of the carronade is secured by what is called the fighting bolt  through the iron bracket and a piece of wood on the outside of the bulwark and below the gun port. If this happens to be the case then unfortunately the gun ports for the are too high  and will require lowering. It will also be necessary to attach a piece of wood to the outside lower part of the gun port . This does not appear to be shown on any of the other drawings. Another way to get around this without taking any drastic measures would be to attach the brass bracket on top of the sliding bed rather than underneath as suggested in the instructions.This would then allow the bracket to slide over the sill of the gun port.  I know in my heart that this is probably incorrect but it would be a shame to alter the gun ports at this stage of my build. Any thoughts or suggestions as to the best way around this ,if in fact the fighting bolt is in fact fitted on the outside of the gun port  sill. Thank you once again for your help and patience. Best regards Dave

     

 

 

 

[druxey]

Only the early carronades in the 1780's were 'outside principle' mounted. By the 1790's they pivoted inside the ports and muzzle extensions added to direct muzzle flash away from rigging.

[DaveBaxt]

5 hours ago, druxey said:

Only the early carronades in the 1780's were 'outside principle' mounted. By the 1790's they pivoted inside the ports and muzzle extensions added to direct muzzle flash away from rigging.

Thank you Druxey for clearing that up for me. I didn't know about the muzzle extensions either, so appreciate that little gem too. 

[Thukydides]

Just to add to this the muzzle extension is modeled on your carronade you have there. It is the thin extension right at the end. Older versions of carronades looked more like this:

 

See below for a carronade plan dating from 1790, so just before your period.

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. ZAZ6989.

 

This one appears to be secured to the inside of the bulwark. That being said there is no indication of an extended metal bracket like you showed. I think in these cases the bracket was attached to the bottom of the carriage.

 

Another thing you might want to consider is that by this point the wheels were pretty common for the rear end of the carriage. As far as my research has found it was only the early versions of carronades (the trunnion ones) that had the simple wooden block to prop up the rear of the carriage.