The worm, of which there are also different kinds, fig. 6. and 9. is used to draw the charge when necessary.
The bit, or priming-iron, is a kind of large needle, whose lower end is formed into a gimblet, serving to clear the inside of the touch-hole, and render it fit to receive the prime.
The lint-stock is a kind of staff about three feet long, to the end of which a match is occasionally fastened to fire the piece.
The fluctuating motion of the sea renders it necessary to secure and confine the artillery in vessels of war, by several ropes and pullies, which are called the gun-tackles and breechings, without which they could never be managed in a naval engagement. The breeching has been already explained, as employed to restrain the recoil. The tackles * fig. 18, are hooked to ring-bolts in the sides of the carriage, and to other ring-bolts in the side of the ship, near the edges of the gun-ports, and are used to draw the piece out into its place after it is loaded. Besides these, there is another tackle hooked to the rear or train of the carriage, to prevent the cannon from rolling into its place till it is charged: this is called the train-tackle, and is exhibited in fig. 17.
In ships of war, the cannon of the lower-decks are usually drawn into the ship during the course of an expedition at sea, unless when they are used in battle. They are secured by lowering the breech so as that the muzzle shall bear against the upper-edge of the port, after which the two parts of the breeching are firmly braced together by a rope which crosses them between the front of the carriage and the port; which operation is called frapping the breeching. The tackles are then securely fastened about it with several turns of the rope extended from the tackle and breeching, over the chace of the cannon, as represented in fig. 19.
The service of the artillery, or the method of employing it in a naval action, is explained in the articles Engagement and Exercise. The manner of pointing, or directing them to different objects; the effects of different quantities of powder upon the cannonball; and the different lines described by its flight, are also treated at large in the article Range.
We shall here subjoin a table of the length and weight of different cannon, for the information of those who may be entirely unacquainted therewith; and particularly our sea-gunners.
| Length and weight of brass cannon according to the mensuration in 1753. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pounders. | Length. | Weight. | |||
| Feet. | Inches. | 100lb. | Quarters. | lb. | |
| 42 | 9 | 6 | 61 | 2 | 10 |
| 32 | 9 | 5 | 55 | 2 | 7 |
| 24 | 9 | 5 | 51 | 1 | 12 |
| 18 | 9 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 9 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 8 | 5 | |||
| 6 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Length and weight of iron guns used in the sea-service, according to the mensuration in 1753. | |||||
| Pounders. | Length. | Weight. | |||
| Feet. | Inches. | 100lb. | Quarters. | lb. | |
| 42 | 10 | 0 | 55 | 1 | 12 |
| 32 | 9 | 6 | 53 | 3 | 23 |
| 24 | 9 | 5 | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 9 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 8 |
| 12 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 14 |
| 4 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 13 |
| 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 7 |
For an account of the particular number of men appointed to manage the different degrees of cannon, and the arrangement or distribution of the cannon according to the several classes of ships, see Quarters and Rate.
The following judicious remarks for increasing the strength of the British navy, by changing the cannon used in ships of war into others of equal weight but of greater bore, have been selected from the proposal of the late ingenious Mr. Robins.