What is the general size of gunports?

[SpencerC]

A better way to ask this would be how large is the average person next to a gunport? Should it only come up to thier knees?

 

A couple ships that actually happened to have a small role in the pirates of the caribean movies were in my local harbor giving free tours to those who would like to come aboard the ship. However it seemed like these ships were almost scaled down or something.. Everything seemed MUCH smaller than the size I had thought them to be. Especially the cannons and the gunports. Incredibly small, like I said possibly lower than my knees and I'm about 5'7. I wish I had gotten an actual picture of them but in this image you can get a glimpse of how small the gun was, that's impossible right? They can't possibly be that small? It's on the far center right, right next to those white stairs.

 

I've included an extra picture in case u wanted to see the whole ship. I will be opening another thread with all the pictures I took as well as pictures of the plans of the ships! I could build a model of these two small boats if I really wanted to, I have just about everything needed. Well let me know what you think of the cannons and if I should upload the remaining pictures. Cheers.

Edited November 5, 2013 by SpencerC

[trippwj]

While far from an expert opinion, it would seem that the size of a gunport is somewhat a function of the size of the cannon to be fired.  The ship shown here is not a true warship but rather a modern adaptation that can fill several roles.  The small cannon carried are for show - would be extremely un-stable if it were carrying a 24 pounder. 

 

As a couple of points of reference, the gunports on the US Frigate Constitution for a 24 pounder are about 1 meter x 1 meter, and those on the HMS Victory are about Main deck: 750mm x 750 mm, Second deck: 862.5 mm wide, 750 mm vertical, and Lower deck: 937.5 mm wide and 862.5 vertical.

[druxey]

And ports are much closer to the deck than you might imagine them.

[trippwj]

Here is a drawing from the Navy Heritage Command website.  http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/consitutiongundeck.htm

 

Caption:

 

A 24-pounder gun in the period of the Revolution and the War of 1812. The gun is in its recoil position for loading, and the man to the left is keeping a strain on the train tackle to hold the ponderous weapon in place while the man at the muzzle rams the load home. The man at the breech is piercing the powder cartridge with a priming wire before inserting the priming tube: in his left hand is a linstock, a wooden staff holding a piece of burning slowmatch. When the gun is ready to fire, the two side tackles will be used to run it out. The numbers in the drawing identify parts of the gun and its outfit.

 

[Patrick Haw]

Spencer,

 

I think what you're seeing in your first picture is a signal cannon, just used for signalling and salutes, not for actual combat firing.

 

Wayne,

 

I love the drawing but don't think the man would be piercing the powder cartidge and holding the slow match while the loader still has the rammer down the barrel and no ball in the cannon.  He's likely to be impaled on that rammer if the weapon goes off!

 

Patrick  

[jud]

Not intended to show the gun drill, just the positions and duty's of various members of the crew while loading. Does a fair job of that, a poor job of how to, because it was never intended for that.

jud

[trippwj]

I love the drawing but don't think the man would be piercing the powder cartidge and holding the slow match while the loader still has the rammer down the barrel and no ball in the cannon.  He's likely to be impaled on that rammer if the weapon goes off!

 

Patrick  

I had noticed that little concern...methinks the guy priming the gun would prefer to have that slow match some distance away!

 

Actually used it just to show the low height of the gunport sill. 

 

i think Gary also hit the nail on the head - no single size or set of dimensions would be correct all the time.  The size of the cannon, the design and era of the vessel, and the nuances of ship builders would all play into the size of the port.

[dafi]

If I am not mistaken, the establishment gave the gunport sizes according to the weight of shot intended at the time of construction.

 

This meant, if smaller guns were fitted later - often in the later years of a ship - the guns should have been too low in the port. 

 

Also Goodwin mentions, that in Victory there are (were?) some guns with land carriages that were too high situated in the port. Naval carriages were apparently lower in height.

 

Following the initial question too, is that those guns were 4 or 6 pounders on this small vessels, and these were "toy-guns" ...

 

(even though I still do not want to be standing in the way while being fired ...)

 

And coming to the drawing, if I understood well, while sponging and ramming in stuff, the gun captain should stop the vent hole with his finger to create a "air cushion" that avoids ambers to go into the hole and also to extinguish last glowing bits in there by cutting them off the fresh air.

 

 

XXXDAn

[SpencerC]

Yeah that's the size I thought they were, trippwj

[demonborger]

Amazing to think that the french trialled 48 pounder cannon on the bottom deck of the Royal Louis.

 

By the 1820's British warships we built as 2 deckers (e.g HMS Asia) with the bigger 32 pounders on both gun decks rather than the 32, 24, 12, 6 arrangement of the HMS Victory.