Cool Pirate Math: How to Aim a Cannon | Pirate Weaponry

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  • Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
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    At first, I was going to cover cannons in one video. Then it became two. Then it became three, and here we are: hopefully, this is the fourth and final video. When I first started researching cannons, I only skimmed the instructions on how to aim 'em, and found them to be rather arcane. But after receiving requests about it, I couldn't quite shake the itch. So I decided to dig into the period manuals, both the English and French, and it doesn't seem quite as complicated as I made it out to be.
    Modern sources:
    www.thepirateking.com/histori...
    The Sea-Rover's Practice - Benerson Little
    Period Sources:
    The Sea-Gunner - John Seller
    Seaman's Grammar - John Smith
    Elements of War - Guillaume le Blond
    Les Travaux de Mars - Alain Manesson Mallet
    0:00 Introduction
    1:13 Ranges
    3:24 Parts
    4:02 Aiming at point blank
    8:08 Aiming beyond point blank
    11:45 Aiming tactics and conclusion
    13:25 Outro
    #history #cannons #pirates #privateers #goldandgunpowder

КОМЕНТАРІ • 351

  • @GoldandGunpowder
    @GoldandGunpowder  11 місяців тому +241

    Note that this video is an explanation of the methods which Sea-Gunners in the Age of Sail learned from contemporary manuals to operate their artillery. It is not a modern ballistics video, which means some things will be wrong when compared to the science we have available today. Nothing of what I presented in this video are "my opinions". I condense and relay information from period documents and modern historical books into a more digestible format.

    • @teotosgaming6663
      @teotosgaming6663 10 місяців тому

      😊😊😊😊

    • @zacablaster
      @zacablaster 10 місяців тому +7

      That's like the best part of your format. Your videos are essentially what pirate HR would have produced had they been able to

    • @horehoundbasedcandy8736
      @horehoundbasedcandy8736 10 місяців тому +1

      @@zacablaster”One-Eye-Billy was it? Yes, we’re having this meeting today because your coworker claims you called her a “beautiful lady”, this type of language will not be tolerated here on the Devils Revenge. Esmerelda has asked us to speak with you to explain that she is a professional prostitute with certain standards. If this happens again, you may be looking at a standard plank walk.”

    • @TheGoodCrusader
      @TheGoodCrusader 9 місяців тому +1

      I've been playing assassin's Creed black flag and it's a very fun game, I think some of the ship "Upgrades" are kinda goofy. So I'd like to know what you think of them, their version of forward facing cannons, a reinforced ram on the front of the ship and a few other things like that. And if not, then I'd like to know what you think of the british and Spanish ships, naval forts and weapons that are shown in the game.

    • @shaynewheeler9249
      @shaynewheeler9249 9 місяців тому

      Pirate cannon 😊

  • @joaog.9497
    @joaog.9497 11 місяців тому +824

    These thumbnails lmao

    • @sponjbob911
      @sponjbob911 11 місяців тому +31

      SAY MY NAME!

    • @joaog.9497
      @joaog.9497 11 місяців тому +108

      @@sponjbob911 JESSE WE NEED TO FIRE THE 12 POUNDERS JESSE

    • @Sniper_XPEHOB
      @Sniper_XPEHOB 11 місяців тому +37

      Walter, we need to sail thy seven seas

    • @MrSheep2796
      @MrSheep2796 11 місяців тому +44

      Jesse, we need to plunder.

    • @ludvig4752
      @ludvig4752 11 місяців тому

      Pirate science, bitch!

  • @gra4279
    @gra4279 11 місяців тому +517

    When you're using a sight, you want the front post to be thin so you can see more of what you're shooting at

    • @rachdarastrix5251
      @rachdarastrix5251 11 місяців тому +17

      Hey I just noticed, most cannons don't have an aiming sight. Now isn't that odd?

    • @ianbelletti6241
      @ianbelletti6241 11 місяців тому +13

      ​@@tatumergo3931that's why you find many of them having the barrel filled with concrete/mortar.

    • @austinwilson1765
      @austinwilson1765 10 місяців тому +4

      Not necessarily. This is an artillery weapon. The larger sight allows for marking on drift (not every cannon was of a straight and perfect quality when cast) and when covering a target allows for the knowing maximum affect of the shot (not every cannonball was full iron, some were explosive shell, some were case or grape shot).

    • @gra4279
      @gra4279 10 місяців тому +1

      @austinwilson1765 They had charts on the gun rails that the main gunner was responsible for double checking every cannon before firing. They had all of the values available so there was minimal guess work. While you are partially correct, the distance values you are referring to were already charted and in use to make firing broadside a more smooth and efficient maneuver.

    • @david52875
      @david52875 10 місяців тому +4

      Aim small miss small

  • @Nero_Karel
    @Nero_Karel 11 місяців тому +268

    I imagine some gunner's quadrants were made with six instead of ten marks because six is (obviously) half a dozen and back then there were still a lot more people who preferred the duodecimal over the decimal system for everyday use

    • @onik7000
      @onik7000 10 місяців тому +21

      And it's much easier to repair. Or to make new one. It's really hard to divide 1/8 th of circle 10 times without proper tools. And it's pretty easy to divide it 6 (or 8 times).

    • @mrfancypanzer549
      @mrfancypanzer549 10 місяців тому +9

      Its kind of odd that they used decimal for calibers but pretty much nowhere else until much later, the Brits didnt use decimal currency until like the 70s.

    • @LawrenceTimme
      @LawrenceTimme 10 місяців тому +16

      And there are 360 degrees in a circle which is easier to divide by 6 rather than 10.

    • @formdoggie5
      @formdoggie5 10 місяців тому +4

      ​@@LawrenceTimme this is the real reason why

    • @CrizzyEyes
      @CrizzyEyes 9 місяців тому +3

      @@mrfancypanzer549 The Brits preferred an accounting system based on 12 for a very long time because it has many factors. 2, 3, 4 and 6. 10 only has 2 and 5.

  • @Kav82a
    @Kav82a 11 місяців тому +109

    As a former artillery officer I can confirm that the information given about the basics of aiming is very accurate. I would also like to add two more factors that made aiming hard. 1. the material ( Iron lead) and type of the projectile. ( ball,grapeshot etc.)
    2. The quality of the gunpowder as different mixtures give different results.

    • @GoldandGunpowder
      @GoldandGunpowder  11 місяців тому +9

      I've discussed ammunition in the previous episode: ua-cam.com/video/qmwzlP5rx7s/v-deo.html

    • @Kav82a
      @Kav82a 10 місяців тому +6

      @@GoldandGunpowder And I also liked that video. I am mentioning ammunition here as one of the factors that made aiming process difficult. Firing different types of ammunition from a gun with rudimentary sights requires a lot of practice.

    • @SL4PSH0CK
      @SL4PSH0CK 8 місяців тому

      me guessing and assuming that those gunpowder at the time got some sea water

  • @Alex-cw3rz
    @Alex-cw3rz 11 місяців тому +207

    Although after the golden of piracy, when talking about aiming the cannon it reminds me of Captain Philip Brokes who made some fascintng innovations to his ship HMS Shannon. Such as having adjustable tangent sights that would give accuracy at different ranges. He had the elevating 'quoins' (wedge-shaped pieces of wood placed under the breech) of his long guns grooved to mark various degrees of elevation so that his guns could be reliably elevated. As the decks of ships back then curved upwards towards the stern and bows, he cut down the wheels on the "up-slope" side of each cannon's carriage in order that all guns were level with the horizon. He also introduced a system where bearings were incised into the deck next to each gun; fire could then be directed to any bearing independent of the ability of any particular gun crew to see the target. Fire from the whole battery could also be focused on any part of an enemy ship. Broke also drilled his crew to an extremely high standard of naval gunnery, he regularly had them fire at targets, such as floating barrels. He even had his gun crews fire at targets without them being allowed to look at the target, they were only given the bearing to lay their gun on without being allowed to sight the gun on the target themselves. This constituted a very early example of director fire control. He would also use one of his long 9 pounder guns as a short of giant sniper rifle that would be aimed at specific parts of the ship such as the Helm to blast anyway anyone who tried to use it and blast away the wheel itself. All this meant that when HMS Shannon fought USS Cheaspeake in an exceptionally short gunnery duel, Shannon handly beat her opponent and landed 4 times as many rounds on the opponent.

    • @IDNeon357
      @IDNeon357 11 місяців тому

      The Chesapeake was engaged at such close range that none of this probably mattered...and while his imagination was i n the future of gunnery the actual results were probably more haphazard due to so many factors.
      One that stands out is the idea of bearing. While a good concept, firecontrol has to have a separate bearing for each position because bearing does change quite a lot at range across the length of a football field

    • @Alex-cw3rz
      @Alex-cw3rz 10 місяців тому +18

      ​​​@@IDNeon357hy would you make a comment when you know nothing about the Battle. All accounts show that the training made a huge difference, two of the reasons for hitting the cheaspeake 4 times, was faster reload times and the fact the Americans who were also well drilled but nowhere close to the Shannon were hitting the water not Shannon more often than the Shannon's crew did that to Cheasepeake. The reason the gunnery duel was so short was because Cheasepeake had totally lost control due to the 9 pounder destroying the wheel. In fact this battle was a prime example of how great his innovations were. There is so much more the wiki page which is all sourced is actually a very good account of the Battle that you should look up.
      You don't understand how the bearings worked. The captain didn't say bearing 180 degrees, they would say directions in reaction to the ship as a whole I.e. something like 200 yards and 6 points off standard bow and the crew at each gun would move it to their specific bearings. I do find it baffling and quite risible that you sitting in your bedroom think you know better and noticed this flaw, but non of the crew who actually trained using the system did. Next time maybe wonder have you not understood correctly rather than presuming the people who drilled it 100s of times and used it in Battle where it inflicted huge loses on the enemy in the specific parts they aimed got it wrong.

    • @AllisterCaine
      @AllisterCaine 10 місяців тому +4

      ​@@Alex-cw3rzI wonder if he thought of something like convergence, but I guess you wanted to hit the ship in many places not just one.
      Concentration of fire would have been a concept when those ships came so close to each other.
      But the guns may have kept firing even if the bridge is nothing but a stack of split wood.

    • @Alex-cw3rz
      @Alex-cw3rz 10 місяців тому +6

      @@AllisterCaine that would only be an issue if they didn't take that into account, which they did, that's why distance as well as position in relation to the ship was relayed to the men.
      Yes but how Shannon did it was aiming at specific gun ports then working down the ship so that the concentration of fire would be more likely to dislodge a cannon and it meant guns on the enemy ship at poor angles to get a shot at Shannon were not having wasted fire upon them.
      The guns would keep firing but because the cheaspeake had lost control it was easy for Shannon to move in position outside of the field of fire of those guns. It doesn't matter that much but, just an interesting fact they didn't have bridges back then.

    • @freedomofpeach9790
      @freedomofpeach9790 9 місяців тому +1

      @@AllisterCaine Yes that is really something I am used to in fighter aircraft and flight sims and mech combat games. Would be cool to use that on pirate ships to have more lead on specific targets, like helm or masts. More concentrated firepower. Though since the firing line is perpendicular to the direction the ship is moving im not sure if it would be useful for more than one volley if both ships were moving at different headings. for broadside duals with ships going the same direction convergence could be very useful. Ill see if I can train my pirate crew on Sea of Thieves to use this. As captain I just kinda call out what I want the gunners to aim at during battle in any given situation. Like enemy masts or enemy cannon lines to knock them off guns or kill the enemy gunners with balls to the face.

  • @juncheok8579
    @juncheok8579 11 місяців тому +82

    10:10 unless there's something I'm missing, 180 is correct. If 45° elevation gives an increase of 1800 (200+1800=2000) then 1 quadrant would be 180

  • @wayrrior
    @wayrrior 11 місяців тому +63

    One thing I'm looking forward to is general pirate strategy/course of action, or maybe how to defend against them. Awesome video as always.

    • @GoldandGunpowder
      @GoldandGunpowder  11 місяців тому +40

      I intend to make a series on both topics but I want to tackle all the weapon systems first. Since the artillery series has performed so well I intend to make similar series on the other weapons, so an entire month dedicated to small arms, one for melee weapons, etc

    • @allamasadi7970
      @allamasadi7970 11 місяців тому +7

      ​@@GoldandGunpowderlooking forward to it😊

  • @guidokorber2866
    @guidokorber2866 10 місяців тому +29

    A cannonball never goes straight, it starts to drop the moment it leaves the muzzle. But since the drop is an accelerated movement initially that does not make much of a difference.

  • @Dataism
    @Dataism 11 місяців тому +115

    Unironically one of the best videos on naval artillery.

  • @merafirewing6591
    @merafirewing6591 11 місяців тому +17

    I did read one of the Destroyermen books, even though it's an alternate history book. It does give very good details of what a cannonball can do to very thin steel and especially what it does when it strikes humans. Definitely a very brutal way to go.

    • @thecocktailian2091
      @thecocktailian2091 11 місяців тому +1

      Of course the vast majority of casualties came from the shrapnel when the ball hit the hull.

    • @beshkodiak
      @beshkodiak 11 місяців тому +6

      Sir, any way to go that does not include sex, wine, and a soft bed is brutal. At 72, i have learned this by hard lessons.

  • @insertyournamehere4328
    @insertyournamehere4328 11 місяців тому +8

    Ballistics in Renaissance was surprisingly sophisticated considering the oldness of time.
    Nicolo Fontana ‘Tartaglia’ even already knew a trajectory of cannonball isn’t utterly depicting parabola in the air, but composited from linear and curve.
    His method wasn’t a formula which considered the drag of air and gravity acceleration as the parts of equation but a geometric approximation, though it could give projectiles’ trajectories which were quite similar to real those by calculations on papers

    • @kovona
      @kovona 10 місяців тому +3

      Even going back to antiquity, the Romans and Greeks were using formulas with root cubes to design their torsion weapons. Artillery has always been a military field a step ahead of the rest.

    • @naverilllang
      @naverilllang 10 місяців тому +1

      The progress of science and warfare have always gone hand in hand

  • @ged1798
    @ged1798 11 місяців тому +3

    Jesse… we have to calculate ((AR/10) -(MIR/100))°7+FBR
    & Currset mark on the quadrant
    Culverin esample:
    MR. 2000 X: 2 PBR 200
    (2000/10) = 200 - 20 (2000/100)
    = 180°2 = 360+200 = 560 yards

  • @pboogie3472
    @pboogie3472 10 місяців тому +2

    I’ll happen upon channels and vids like this every once in a while… ugh. I love this stuff. Creators just making content about the things they have knowledge on and find interesting. No begging for subscribers, no clickbait, no nothin. Thank you 🙏

  • @darbyl3872
    @darbyl3872 10 місяців тому +6

    This video has several of my favorite elements in a video. There is an instructional quote, a math formula, scientific concepts that can be applied to real life, graphics that help explain the concepts, and interesting historical examples. I could watch these for hours.

  • @simba4805
    @simba4805 11 місяців тому +5

    Bit iffy on the math notation there, but generally close enough to use. If a cannon shoots 2000 yards at 45° (max range) and 200 yards at 0° (point blank), the total difference elevating the gun does is 1800 yards. If you divide the angle from 0° to 45° into ten sections, each of them is going to add about one tenth (180 yards) of distance. (It's actually a bit more complicated than that, but I'm not sure you'd actually notice much of a difference with wooden tools on a moving ship shooting at a moving target both affected by the swell of the sea.)
    So, to figure out how far the gun will shoot at what mark you'd calculate d (the total distance) = 200 yards (PBR) + x*180 yards (one tenth of the difference between MR and PBR), with x being the number of marks your quadrant shows (with a maximum of ten at 45°). Or, more generally, d = PBR + x * ((MR-PBR)/10), which you could simplify by assuming that PBR = MR/10, leading to d = MR/10 + x * 9MR/100. This is also where you can see that dividing the space from 0° to 45° into 9 equal pieces would've resulted in a little friendlier calculations as each new mark would just add a tenth of MR (200 yards) instead of nine hundredths (180 yards) but that only works if the max range really is ten times the point blank range.
    However, I would assume the real question a gunner was trying to solve was how to aim their gun to hit a target at a given distance. So, you'd try to solve the above equation for x, leading to: x = 10* (d - PBR)/(MR-PBR) - or in your example: x = 10 * (560 yards - 200 yards)/(2000 yards - 200 yards) = 10 * 360yards / 1800 yards = 2. (Obviously, in a real world example the distance wouldn't line up so neatly and you'd get an answer as a fraction between two marks.)
    Cheers, Dreadbeard

  • @irisallender6796
    @irisallender6796 11 місяців тому +18

    i'm so shocked this channel isn't larger. very educational!

  • @michaelleblanc7283
    @michaelleblanc7283 11 місяців тому +2

    Who ever you are 'Gold & Gunpowder' I like your style and have been binging on you since I boarded your Pirate ship.
    For your demo stats I'm from the Davy Crockett /Treasure Island boomer age & got much of my education from 'Mark Twain' who once said of his youth, " Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. "

  • @michaelnoland2017
    @michaelnoland2017 11 місяців тому +16

    Love the video, definitely learned something I’d never thought of before. I think a video on pirate discipline and punishment on the ship would be a cool video for the future.

  • @jasonmeldon3229
    @jasonmeldon3229 11 місяців тому +7

    I own replica 17th century cannons and do a lot of historical talks about them, and yes they are live, must say your videos are very informative and factual, keep up the good work,

    • @jasonmeldon3229
      @jasonmeldon3229 10 місяців тому

      @Drekken-ow4kn yes I fire them on a regular basis, small hole on the out side and large hole on the inside splintering the wood

  • @jameswatson5011
    @jameswatson5011 11 місяців тому +3

    The ART of ballistics. You have to KNOW the velocity of your projectile, the range drop of rate , and add in the rise fall and lateral movement of the ship platform. Ideally you want to have two of best three cannon hitting roughly the same spot at the same time for maximum impact. (The force is not doubling it's exponential and maxes out at three.) There are three words that make the most of your gunnery. Practice, practice and practice.

  • @joeerickson516
    @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +1

    "Bearing on zero, zero,0⃣ nine,9⃣ hundred, 💯 yards, on the iron cannonball's trajectory?" "Long range?"

  • @joshuab4586
    @joshuab4586 11 місяців тому +2

    I find the last guys advice fitting, I play a lot of Sea of Thieves, a pirate game where you have to fight other people, and I always get asked how to aim cannons well and I always say it just takes instinct and practice to learn how to aim them properly cuz of all the variables.

  • @blackhawkdown342
    @blackhawkdown342 11 місяців тому +8

    Great video! I always hated math growing up but I feel like including this would have massively boosted my interest in the subject.

    • @bruhman5829
      @bruhman5829 9 місяців тому

      imagine if all the math questions for kids were about shit like this. “Blackbeard has sighted a Royal Navy ship 100 meters away. If his cannon fires in a 30° arc, at what angle should Blackbeard fire?”

  • @DaveSwart
    @DaveSwart 4 місяці тому +1

    Wow 12:30 what an eloquent instruction.

  • @willmcclard206
    @willmcclard206 10 місяців тому +2

    As a pirate, I can confirm this is how we shoot cannons.

  • @zacharyreid7557
    @zacharyreid7557 10 місяців тому +1

    seeing ballistic table charts for cannons from several hundred years ago was something i never expected. That is facinating

  • @woahdudeitsme9742
    @woahdudeitsme9742 10 місяців тому +1

    As someone who has recreationally studied mathematics it is indeed magic.

  • @tristanknowlton3903
    @tristanknowlton3903 11 місяців тому +5

    Just recently became a fan and I can’t stop watching these videos. You should do a video on marooning and other punishments of age of piracy. That would be fascinating!

  • @elischultes6587
    @elischultes6587 11 місяців тому +1

    Having tinkered with some bowling ball mortars on 24 lbs land based limbers shot fit is important. Same charge with a slightly loose ball changes a lot.

  • @joaovs580
    @joaovs580 11 місяців тому +2

    Because you never know when this will become useful

  • @dennistate5953
    @dennistate5953 11 місяців тому +1

    What a cask of shot! Well gunned Sir!

  • @molochi
    @molochi 11 місяців тому +1

    I have read and heard in several videos recently that muskets were only "effective" out to about 50 or100 or 150 yards, but for anyone firing one today, they should know that a musket ball fired over black powder (even homemade medieval repro powder) with only a ~1000fps or ~300Mps muzzle velocity, can be lethal at a much greater distance for anyone who happens to be in its path. Lead round ball has a much lower ballistic coefficient than modern cylindrical bullet shapes but at .69 caliber a 1 ounce lead ball will still be traveling at several hundred feet per second (and more than 100Mps) at 400 meters and retaining like 185 joules of energy. If someone's head or heart happens to intersect that path they are probably gonna die. So make sure you have a backstop or a hill to shoot into.

  • @thezachlambert
    @thezachlambert 10 місяців тому

    One of the best video titles I've ever seen. Well done matey.

  • @unknowntrooper_2791
    @unknowntrooper_2791 11 місяців тому +1

    Wonderful video once more! I like these detailed looks into period technology and innovations. Cheers! 🏴‍☠

  • @Lyoishi
    @Lyoishi 11 місяців тому

    Finally, the real content I need on the internet, basic piracy education.

  • @pat6091
    @pat6091 11 місяців тому +1

    Recently found out cannons are legal to buy, this comes in handy

  • @paulsteele8614
    @paulsteele8614 11 місяців тому +1

    Excellent video, thanks for taking the effort I really enjoyed it

  • @ricknerinfantry
    @ricknerinfantry 10 місяців тому +2

    Here's all the math to fire your weapon and keep us alive....but there is so much going on, most of the math won't work quite like you want, just fire the thing and get some experience. And don't miss; our lives, but mostly yours, depend on it. No pressure.
    Edward teach

  • @jasonck9635
    @jasonck9635 10 місяців тому

    I like seeing the devices they used for measurement , but it worked exactly as I thought it did !

  • @TheGrenadier97
    @TheGrenadier97 10 місяців тому +1

    The thumbnail has a scene from the Treasure Island of 1990, starred by a younger Christian Bale. It's a very entertaining little gem that flies under the radar; i highly recommend it.

  • @everflores8252
    @everflores8252 11 місяців тому +4

    Looking forward to it! Love your channel always makes me happy to see another passionate fan of Pirates! 😁

    • @joeerickson516
      @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +3

      "15 and a dead,☠️ man's,👨chest!"🌰 "Yo ho ho, and a bottle,🍾 of rum!"🥃 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

    • @joeerickson516
      @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +1

      "Drink,🍻 and the devil,👿 will done the rest!"🍴 "Yo ho ho, and a bottle, 🍾 of rum!"🥃 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

    • @joeerickson516
      @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +1

      "We're devils,👿 black,🖤 sheep,🐑 and really bad,🤮 eggs!"🥚 "Drink,🍻 up,👆 me hearties,❤ yo ho!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

    • @joeerickson516
      @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +1

      "You are a pirate!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

    • @joeerickson516
      @joeerickson516 11 місяців тому +2

      "Arrgh!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

  • @HEKVT
    @HEKVT 9 місяців тому

    I'm just glad UA-cam recommended this to me, this is awesome.

  • @lowercase3635
    @lowercase3635 9 місяців тому

    I never thought I needed this channel but I subbed anyways. This content is awesome 🏴‍☠️

  • @allamasadi7970
    @allamasadi7970 11 місяців тому +2

    Hopefully it's not the last video on cannons as it was such a good video 😊

  • @erict3728
    @erict3728 11 місяців тому

    Impressed. Nice work

  • @ClashBluelight
    @ClashBluelight 9 місяців тому

    John Seller just hit us with the hardest "get good" fused with the longest "skill issue" in history.

  • @cesaravegah3787
    @cesaravegah3787 11 місяців тому

    Reminds me of how the use of an almost instantaneous firing mechanism copied from infantry guns replacing the lit of early cannons gave the brithish sailors massive precision advantage over the spaniards just because it made it easier to compensate for the ship movement.

  • @DivineDawn
    @DivineDawn 11 місяців тому

    Just what me and the boys needed! now well be proply prepared when them landlubbers come round again!

  • @griffithguns1776
    @griffithguns1776 11 місяців тому

    Awesome video, ive wondered about this many times

  • @johnbattista9519
    @johnbattista9519 11 місяців тому

    Excellent video

  • @Twisted_Logic
    @Twisted_Logic 11 місяців тому +2

    I can't imagine that ground-based artillery is principally all that different in operation, and it really brings into focus just how skilled Napoleonic era horse artillerymen were. They could reportedly dismount, load, aim, fire, and be off in a matter of minutes. All while on an active battlefield

  • @andybreadley429
    @andybreadley429 11 місяців тому

    Now that's what I've been wondering about. Thanks a lot.

  • @dondouglass6415
    @dondouglass6415 11 місяців тому

    Absolutely fascinating

  • @bentramer682
    @bentramer682 11 місяців тому +1

    Now I'm ready to ignite a cannon with my cigar

  • @GeebusCrust
    @GeebusCrust 10 місяців тому

    Opening quote translation: "Ocean's unpredictable, sometimes you just miss. You'll get it with practice"

  • @GoldenMinotaur
    @GoldenMinotaur 11 місяців тому

    Congratulations, that is officially the fastest I've ever been sent back to the beginning of a series without watching the entire video that I landed on. Great introduction haha

  • @omerk8403
    @omerk8403 11 місяців тому

    quite informative i would say, it's basically the same rules or principles that apply to any firearm or artillery, even composite and crossbows; physics.

  • @StoicHistorian
    @StoicHistorian 11 місяців тому +1

    Love the title for this one. Had me cackling

  • @kinggerr7093
    @kinggerr7093 10 місяців тому +5

    This honestly sounds like kinetics but in a fantasy world. It really does seem magical when you take away all the modern understandings. It works, kinda, but works without understanding the very very fundamentals. Interesting that the man that became newton wasnt a gunner that felt there was more to what he saw

  • @luiscastro2918
    @luiscastro2918 9 місяців тому

    A very interesting video, it is always good to know how things were done in other countries. I have only read Spanish manuals from the 16th and 17th century. In them, compensating for the dispart was called "matar el vivo", and it was calculated in the same way, but instead of putting the stick in the muzzle ring, a wedge was made of that thickness, and after aiming the cannon, it was placed between the gun carriage and the base ring to compensate.
    Also, apart from the quadrant, you could use the gunners level (if you are American, you can find a very nice replica made by Franklin Mint) that allowed to also find the "jewels" (which are the center of the cannon's barrel I don't know the proper english term).

  • @1988dgs
    @1988dgs 10 місяців тому

    Don’t forget this heralds from a time when archery was still recent memory, having played some archery games at the club, aim, trajectory, arrow drop and windage were very well known so would have easily transposed to modern weapons.

  • @vinayakonimani7628
    @vinayakonimani7628 10 місяців тому

    Indeed everyone must know how to aim a canon just in case. Great tutorial.

  • @richardcranium2581
    @richardcranium2581 9 місяців тому

    Your video was great. Now my blackpowder golfball cannon is accurate. Thank you!

  • @malcolmliang
    @malcolmliang 10 місяців тому +1

    Thanks, if I ever have to operate cannons on a pirate ship I am adequately ready to operate the cannon safely with efficiency.

  • @MacElMasMancoDeTodos
    @MacElMasMancoDeTodos 9 місяців тому +1

    New knowledge archived

  • @Kyoptic
    @Kyoptic 10 місяців тому

    How is this channel not so much bigger!?

  • @antonisauren8998
    @antonisauren8998 10 місяців тому

    Outside of the US, even if we can't easly own a gun, we still can go to range from street, rent AK and have some fun with just personal ID. It probably differs from country to country, but just them have to get all licences and takes resposibility for guests behavior. Cannons are a bit more complicated as nobody will allow you to load solid shot into historical piece for safety reasons, but you can get to fire blank form napoleonic 3pdr or something similarly small on reanaction events.

  • @Chris-mt4yq
    @Chris-mt4yq 11 місяців тому

    The thumbnails are on point brother 😂

  • @PotatoeJoe69
    @PotatoeJoe69 3 місяці тому +1

    Consider the fact that the ocean isn't flat. Even on a calm day, the ship will be moving and rolling on 4 axis!

  • @richardmiller1345
    @richardmiller1345 10 місяців тому

    Love your stuff…We have one and are having a second railgun cast.

  • @IceBug1337
    @IceBug1337 10 місяців тому +1

    1:40 every bullet from every gun starts dropping right at the moment it leaves the barrel

  • @Ieno
    @Ieno 11 місяців тому

    thanks for the Tutorial
    Was very helpful! 👍

  • @thxobama
    @thxobama 11 місяців тому +1

    How to aim a cannon: "if you're shooting too low, shoot higher"

  • @widgren87
    @widgren87 11 місяців тому +1

    I will be honest and say that I only watched this because I saw Michael Halsey's Israel Hands in the thumbnail and I was smiling when I saw the clip :-)

    • @GoldandGunpowder
      @GoldandGunpowder  11 місяців тому +1

      i use all manners of dirty trickz to lure you in

    • @widgren87
      @widgren87 11 місяців тому +1

      @@GoldandGunpowder If it works, it works ;-)

  • @Ironbattlemace
    @Ironbattlemace 10 місяців тому

    Thanks mate. Coast of Somalia will never be the same when we get through the Suez.

  • @slorbsdasit2586
    @slorbsdasit2586 10 місяців тому

    Ah yes, I was missing this from my library of useful knowledge

  • @Geliott
    @Geliott 10 місяців тому

    Already launching my DeLorean to become most experienced and expensive cannoneer in Caribbean!

  • @TiocfaidhArLa34
    @TiocfaidhArLa34 9 місяців тому

    if you could forge a rifled cannon with a slot on the side at the breach end for permanently affixing a gunners quadrant you would not have to stick it down the bore. in addition you could serrate the other side of the breach to use a rack and pinion system for elevating the gun with a crank on the gear that has holes flush with the carriage and tuned to the quadrant for inserting a locking dowel once you get the desired angle. designing a two piece carriage with an upper and a lower would let you place the lower carriage wheels into channels dug into the ships deck. on the lower carriage you would have a flat top with a serrated rack in the center. the bottom surface of the upper carriage would have a gear that engages with the rack allowing for windage adjustment. the gun would be prohibitively expensive but very accurate for a ship gun.

  • @seth468
    @seth468 8 місяців тому

    Interesting that such mathematical methods existed in the age of sail. I imagine only an officer, or perhaps a gun captain with training, would be able to do any of this. The average sailor wouldn't be doing any gun math. If I had to guess (without looking it up, as a thought experiment), I'd say the captain would have an idea of what range they wanted to engage the enemy at, and given the glacial pace of sailing ships they would have had a lot of time--hours--to maneuver into position. While they are getting into position, an officer can take the expected engagement range and pass that along to the gun captains, telling them to aim the guns at such and such mark on the gunner's quadrant whenever the signal to fire is given.

  • @SeaDog337
    @SeaDog337 7 місяців тому +1

    Early naval gunnery is pretty interesting, but I think I'll be sticking with ye olde fire control radar :P

  • @MrMacavity
    @MrMacavity 11 місяців тому +2

    One thing that some people seem to overlook: the ocean moves, it is not a stable ground.

  • @d.b.1176
    @d.b.1176 10 місяців тому

    Arrrrr, it’s drivin’ me nuts!!!

  • @AmanoJack
    @AmanoJack 10 місяців тому

    It's fascinating to realize that modern battle computers do exactly the same things.

  • @Matthew-oj7hg
    @Matthew-oj7hg 11 місяців тому

    Another ace video

  • @hughgrection3052
    @hughgrection3052 11 місяців тому +2

    I ran across something ya may find interesting. They're 4 sided daggers used by gunners. They have graduated markings and numbers on them. In theory it's for many uses. First to prick the powder charge. Then to possibly help aim the cannon. Plus it gave the gunner a way to also defende himself.
    They're called gunners stilletos, or gunners daggers. I'm sure a guy like you can tell ehat it actually does by the numbers on it and say how it was used exactly.
    In naval warfare in the WW2 era there was a neat way I found that teams of battleships would help each other aim better. They had large analog looking clocks on their towers. Many assumed they told the time. But the numerals was all crazy. Turns out it was for when each ship fired, they showed the guns evelevation and data. This way if one ship was lucky and got a hit on the enemy's ship or fortification on the shore, their buddy should should look immediately over at a glance and give commands to his gunners to adjust to the settings of the ship that just hit the target. This shaved tons of time off of each ship needing to dial it in on the mark. I think actually each ship aimed a good bit differently on purpose. Then they would again check to see who hit the closest, adjust, repeat, and be on target far faster.
    I always found that to be brilliant

  • @JohanFasth
    @JohanFasth 11 місяців тому +17

    Hmm, but surely the ball starts to drop directly after it leaves the cannon, not after some distance. It just seems like the ball "starts" to drop since the speed is lower.

    • @heatshield
      @heatshield 10 місяців тому +1

      The way I got around that in my mind, just to get past it and continue enjoying the video, I temporarily assumed that it meant it would not hit a target it’s own size.
      What I mean by that is: Let’s say you were aiming at another cannon ball of the same size. Sure it would drop some but you would still at least hit it a little bit, until you don’t. Then it’s no longer “point blank”. You now have to elevate the aim by some degree when before, you could leave that area of the equation blank.

    • @mrfancypanzer549
      @mrfancypanzer549 10 місяців тому +1

      I think about it like the furthest range you can still reasonably hit a ship without elevating the gun.

    • @JohanFasth
      @JohanFasth 10 місяців тому

      @@mrfancypanzer549 Yes, of course. But to claim that the ball starts to drop after some time is just wrong. Nothing changes by sticking to the correct physics.

  • @galacticnightmare
    @galacticnightmare 2 місяці тому

    also heisenberg with the pi tattoo goes hard

  • @MrNick-og4qm
    @MrNick-og4qm 11 місяців тому

    Video: “ then You’ll know you have to stare down the barrel….”
    Me: OF A FOURTY-FIVE!!

  • @ancarung8461
    @ancarung8461 10 місяців тому

    Hey there, I really enjoy these vids and I am looking forward for more to come!
    However, I do have a question: What is the difference between the SPB and the PBR exactly? I didn‘t quite get that because I am not a native english speaker as well. 😅

  • @sushimuncher282
    @sushimuncher282 9 місяців тому

    Me: I got work in two hours, I need sleep fast.
    Also me: Well, you never know when you might need to aim and fire a cannon on your way to work!

  • @livingit8425
    @livingit8425 10 місяців тому +1

    I liked the aiming animations of this video. But if I remember correctly firearms do not shoot the furthest when the bore is angled 45 degrees, rather 30-35 degrees, at least for small arms. I think its because the projectile slows down the farther it travels.

    • @KevinsArmory
      @KevinsArmory 10 місяців тому

      you need more of an angle for larger projectiles since large bullets fall off faster. Its a bit of a spectrum.

    • @livingit8425
      @livingit8425 10 місяців тому

      @@KevinsArmory yes, id assume its more around 40 degrees

    • @inyobill
      @inyobill 9 місяців тому +1

      Due to wind resistance. It causes the parabolic trajectory to slant down.

  • @The_Wandering_Nerd
    @The_Wandering_Nerd 17 днів тому

    Imagine having to do all this math in your head and having to account for all the environmental factors while at the same time having to command a gunnery crew to precisely aim the cannon on a loud, crowded gunnery deck while the other ship is firing at you too... it should stand without reason that the gunnery officers should get a larger share than the other crewmen.

  • @steveschmitt6933
    @steveschmitt6933 9 місяців тому

    Good dimension graph

  • @alexrexaros9837
    @alexrexaros9837 11 місяців тому +2

    If my math teacher told me pirates uses math to shoot a cannon, I would've been more invested in his classes.

  • @jsthecanuck6804
    @jsthecanuck6804 10 місяців тому

    “Arrgh landlubbers wanna be swashbucklers till they be realizin how ‘ard swashbuckling be” -Captain Lil beard

  • @i3olverkr622
    @i3olverkr622 11 місяців тому +1

    "Jesse, we need to plunder"

  • @abnerdoon4902
    @abnerdoon4902 11 місяців тому

    I now imagine Captain Heisenberg rigging a swivel gun at the back of his rowboat to automatically fire, load itself and turn side to side.

  • @grim7965
    @grim7965 11 місяців тому +2

    I love your channel!!!! Thank you for your time and effort.

  • @thecreweofthefancy
    @thecreweofthefancy 11 місяців тому +1

    .....we will literally be doing that as the video comes on. :P Weather permitting.