Need help on storage of cannon balls on deck of a 74 gun 3rd rate

[Nearshore]

Hello,

I am currenty building the HMS Bellona at a 100 scale from Corel. I can not find any referance of how the cannon balls were stored on deck. The plans do not show any provisions for there storage and none of the books I have explain where or how they were stored. I am hoping that the experts here can explain how they stored the cannon balls on deck or direct me to a resource that can show me how they stored the cannon balls and there positioning on deck. It seems strange to me that they would not of had any storage for the cannon balls on deck. I have seen other builds that have included storage for them on deck, but i don't want to include this on my build if in fact there were no provisions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Nearshore

[Thukydides]

They would have been stored in shot garlands. There are lots of examples that you can find in build logs of ships all over the forums.

 

Many of them would have been stored below deck, but some would have been kept close at had for loading. There are three basic types of shot garlands that you will find:

 

First those on racks on the bulwarks (see the below contemporary drawing example from 1797):

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-145388

 

Second those around the hatches. I have seen some examples of these where there appears to be a lip under them such as the below one from 1820:

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-147286

 

Finally I have read about movable shot garlands. These could be carried around, but I have never seen any contemporary images of them. If anyone has seen any I would love to see an example.

Edited January 8 by Thukydides

[Kris Avonts]

This is what Brian Lavery has to say about the subject in 'The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1815'.

 

 

So for Bellona, I would go for the sides of the ship between the gun ports.

 

best regards,

   Kris

[georgeband]

I ran a Google search on HMS Victory shot garlands and found this https://modelshipworld.com/topic/10099-cannon-shot-storage-on-deck/#elControls_300274_menu . This earlier discussion agrees with what Kris and Thukydides say and my own recollections from Victory. 

• Large shot were typically in garlands around hatches. 
• Small shot were typically in long racks between gun ports. 

Shot were not stacked in pyramids, despite the 'explanation' given for the saying about freezing the balls off a brass monkey. 

 

To make a garland I use two strips of plastic card. One has regularly spaced holes, slightly smaller than the shot diameter. The other strip goes underneath and ensures a consistent depth for the holes. For the cannon balls themselves I buy ball bearings from engineering suppliers who sell them by the hundreds or thousands. A chemical blackening solution gives them a rougher texture and a good colour. This whole process becomes tedious so I use one garland as a master and then make resin castings. 

 

The smaller balls below are 1.5mm diameter. 

 

George

 

 

[Nearshore]

Thank you for the response to this topic. I am considering putting the garlands between the gun ports. I now just have to figure out the scaling of the shots which I will research. 

 

Nearshore 

[Lieste]

For a 'Common 74' of His Britannic Majesty's Navy - pre 1817
32pdr shot (LD guns, FC (later also QD) carronades) average 6.156", with low and high gauges at 6.105" and 6.207"
18pdr shot (UD guns, RH carronades) average 5.082", with low and high gauges at 5.04" and 5.124"
9pdr shot average 4.0333", low and high gauges, 4" and 4.0667"

Very late 74s get 12pdr guns in small proportion alongside a majority 32pdr carronade castles loadout, but an Early example like Bellona would only have the establishments of 1778 or 1794 or a variation by order on these.
A very small number were armed experimentally with a 'uniform' 24 pdr gun, 24pdr 'Gover' medium gun and 24 pdr carronades - but Bellona isn't in this group, nor the other alternative 'carronades' group which existed as experiments in the early 1780s.
The very large 'French' 74s get quite variable armaments, some including 24pdr on the UD - but again, Bellona is a common or 'small' 74 of British construction.


At 1:100 these are 1.56mm, 1.29mm, 1.02mm rounded to nearest 0.1mm - 1.6mm/1.3mm/1mm unsure what sizes are trivially available.

Edited January 24 by Lieste