For the 36 pdr and lower calibers Paixhans claimed that it would be effective to use the highest caliber cannon of the ships of the line as the uniform caliber used by these ships. With regard to the upper calibers he thought that cannon over 36 (French) pounds were too slow and bulky. He proposed that in general, higher caliber guns were more effective than lower caliber guns, 'especially when firing at short ranges during the moments that decided a naval fight'. In 1822 the French engineer Paixhans described the general superiority of heavy-caliber guns over smaller caliber guns. Because of the lower weight of the piece, the recoil was worse and tended to shake the gun, lowering the chances of hitting the target.Īdvocates of a high uniform caliber It led to a lower muzzle velocity, lower range and less power of penetration.
A 32-pounder 25 cwt fired the same shot, but with less gunpowder. It had a long range, a high chance to hit the target and had a high power of penetration. A 32-pounder 56 cwt was a heavy gun for ships of the line. The Royal Navy kept its 32-pounders apart by noting the weight of the piece in hundredweight (cwt). These outranged and outpunched the much lighter 32-pounders of Rattler. The main armament of Sans Pareil consisted of dozens of heavy 32-pounders. To the casual observer these ships seem to be armed with the same guns, but this was not at all the case. The ship of the line Sans Pareil had 64 32-pounders, the screw sloop Rattler had 8 32-pounders. This was not quite true for the 32-pounders of the 1830s and later. Traditionally the caliber of a cannon was a good indication of the effectiveness of a gun.
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