Weapons of the Pirates
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Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss was never used in large numbers, probably due to the way war was waged in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Such a small compact weapon had no real place on the battlefields of Europe. Where the blunderbuss excelled was in the line of personal security.
However, the battlefield of Europe had little in common with the tactics of a boarding party on the high seas. The blunderbuss was more like a hand held cannon than a rifle. The name blunderbuss is probably derived from the German donnerbusche which means thunder gun.
It ranged in size from 18 to about 30 inches. (Muskets of the time tended t be much longer, ranging around 60 inches long.) They were in use as a weapon as early as 1530 until at least 1840 when the Royal Mail coach service received an order for several flintlock blunderbusses. The blunderbuss was a large caliber weapon with a bore around 1 1/2 to 2 inches. It fired several small pellets, as with today's shot guns.
The purpose of the blunderbuss was to deliver a large amount of fire over a large area in an instant. For this reason, it was thought the barrel of the gun should be funnel shaped at the end to help spread the shot. In actuality this designi did little to improve the scatter of the shot, but it did make the blunderbuss a unique looking weapon.
Many blunderbusses had short stocks and were not designed to be fired from the shoulder like a musket. The purpose of the stock was to allow the weapon to braced against the hip or squeezed between the forearm and side of the body in order to help steady the enormous kick of the gun. The weapon usually had no sights so it would have been little use to even attempt to shoulder fire the gun. Some of the longer models could have been fired from the shoulder but due to the recoil, and short range it would have probably been wiser to brace the gun in some other manner.
At close range the weapon would have been quite deadly. The spread from the gun could quite easily be as much as a few feet about ten to twenty feet from the muzzle, perhaps as much as six to ten feet at a range of thirty or forty feet. However, the gun would have done little good at a distance much more than this.
But one must also realize that on a sloop or Man o War of the time this would have been more than an adequate range. The main down fall of the blunderbuss would have been it one shot capability and the fact that most men would need both hands in order to fire it. This means that after the first shot the weapon would be no more than a club, and a lousy club at that. It would have been quite difficult to wield a cutlass in the right hand while hold a blunderbuss in the left.
Some blunderbuss were fitted with a folding bayonet which ran along the top of the barrel, however this too was really ineffective. The blunderbuss short length was a major deficit when it came to using the weapon with a bayonet. Bayonets were attached to weapons in order for the rifle to be used as a pike. Rifles at best were a poor substitute for the pike, and attempting to use a blunderbuss as a pike was suicide.
Where the blunderbuss excelled was in its ability to repel boarders and the sheer psychological effect of its mighty roar, and tit ability to scatter shot all over the deck. There is no record of any pirate captain that favored the use of a blunderbuss but I'm sure that any captain who worried of mutiny, would have enjoyed the security offered by the blunderbuss in the closed quarters of his cabin. Furthermore I'm sure any man who was going to lead a boarding party would have preferred the mighty blast from a blunderbuss into his enemy before having to resort to his cutlass.
The Cutlass This was the sword of the seas. A cutlass was a short bladed (compared to other swords) singled edged sword. The blade was usually slightly curved and heavier than a usual sword blade. In appearance it resembles a sabre only the blade is slightly heavier and shorter. The reason the cutlass had a shorter heavier blade is because of what it was called upon to do. Besides having to run through your foe, the cutlass was also called upon to cut through heavy marlin lines, break down heavy oaken doors, and so on. A regular sword may not have always been up to the task.
Furthermore, the slightly shorter blade was not seen as a disadvantage when fighting aboard a ship, because there was rarely enough room to swing a cat let along a longer sword. The shorter blade allowed the blade to be sturdier without adding weight to the overall sword.
When fighting with a cutlass it was more often a man would attempt to hack his opponent to death rather than stab him. Stabbing took longer, and if you were not careful your blade could get stuck. Hacking meant that you could just as easily immobilize your opponent by chopping off his hand rather that stabbing him in the gut. This also explained the design of the blade. Curving the blade made it more easy to control while hacking, and the added thickness insured that it would cleave through bone and muscle. Of course it made it slightly less effective as a stabbing weapon.
The Marlinspike The marlinspike was really more of a tool than a weapon. It was quite similar to an ice pick. It has a round wooden handle a round blade with a sharp point. It was used to seperate strands in marlines. Marlines or Marlins are two lines of tarred rope that are loosely wrapped to gether in a left hand turn.
So much for the intended purpose. The Marlinspikes were also used as anchors for lines and just about every thing that involved securing lines. They were also one of the few weapons that a mutinous crew could easily get ahold of.
Most Captains locked weapons away unless a battle was pending. for fear of armed mutinies. However such things as the marlinspike had to remin available to the crew in order for the ship to function. For this reason the marlinspike became the favored weapon of mutineers.
Boarding Axe A boarding axe was pretty much your standard long handle axe. It was usued primarliy in cutting lines and knocking down cabin doors.
For example when being boarded, grappling hooks with lines would be tossed from ship to ship in order to pull the ships together. an axe was the most efective way to cut these lines and repel boarders.
Once a ship was boarded, the axe was sometimes used as a weapon but an axe was not nearly as effective as a cutlass. The axe could be used to cut the mast or yards on a ship plus it was effective for breaking open hatches and cabin doors.
Boarding axes were sized somewhere between a hatchet or tomahawk and a the double bladed axe, typically they had a handle around two feet (60cm) long and a two pound (1 Kilo) steel head, sharpened on one side and flattened for smashing on the other. They were not designed to be thrown
Gully A big knife. It was not a fighting knife but could be used as such in a pinch. Some gully's were folding knifes but for the most part they were similar to the butcher knife in your kitchen. (the folding knifes were smaller) In any case the gully was another tool that was commonplace among sailors and were quite often used in mutinies simply because nothing else could be had. The gully was better suited for hacking than stabbing. It had numerous legitimate uses on board a ship, being everything from the sailors eating utensil to his main tool for cutting fouled rigging and such.
Dagger A dagger was on of many kinds of fighting knifes. Daggers were designed to be thrusted at an opponent. They were not very effective when it came to slashing. Unlike the Gully, daggers have hilts or cross bars which prevent the hand from slipping forward on to the blade and helps protect the hand in the event another blade were to slide down the daggers blades. In some instances the dagger would be matched to a cutlass, possesing a similar, hilt and hand guard. Daggers were an intrumental part of fencing in that they were used to parry an attack and keep one's opponent off guard. Many daggers were specially designed to break an opponents blade. These were called parrying daggers or blade breakers.
The dagger was not, as often shown in movies, simply a poor back up in case one's sword was dropped or broken. It was an integral part of fencing. In many cases, the sword was used to make an opening or to push an opponent of balance, then with the opponent exposed, the dagger would be thrusted for the kill. This is why the sword was often parried using the dagger, thus keeping the more deadly cutlass ready for a counter blow.
Rarely would two men lock blades together with their faces inches apart as depicted in the movies. If one were to get that close, a dagger would most certainly have come into play.
The Pistol The pistol was the favored small arm of pirates. For this reason I have chosen to give a brief discription here, of how all firearms worked during the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean. I've also decided to give some detailed information about the variety of pistols that were encountered at this time.
Pistol evolution From Matchlock to Flintlock.
The Matchlock: We start with the matchlock which was rarely made in pistol form. The matchlock was mostly used in larger, shoulder fired weapons but a few pistols were made using this method. In most cases a wheel lock had a slow burning fuse was attached to a serpentine. This was cocked back and small pan was filled with priming powder. A trigger released the serpentine dropping the fuse to the priming pan and firing the weapon.
The Wheellock: Wheelocks eliminated the use of a fuse by inventing something similar to a fly wheel. A small wheel of pyrites or flint was attached to a spring which was wound up like a clock's spring. The serpentine now contained a small piece of metal instead of a fuse. When the trigger was pulled the spring was released, an the wheel spun around as the serpentine made contact. This produced sparks which fell into the priming pan and fired the weapon.
The Snaphaunce. The snaphaunce was an improvement over the Wheellock. It basically put the pyrites in the serpentine which is now referred to a Doghead or Hammer. The dog head is still wound up but now it strikes a steel plate(frizzen), which causes sparks to fall in the priming tray, and thus firing the weapon. In most case the primer pan still had a pan cover separate from the frizzen. The pan cover opened with the pull of the trigger or manually by the firer.
The Flintlock: The Flintlock was the weapon most likely encountered in the 17th-19th century. While a few Snap Haunces might have lingered, especially because of the wide use of this gun system in Scotland, it is doubtful that the Wheellocks would have been in use in this part of the world. The use of Wheellock would have still been encountered in the South Pacific in the late 17th century, however.
The flintlock used a doghead and frizzen similar to the snaphaunce. The sear was enclosed in a lock plate and consisted of a tumbler which allowed the weapon to half cocked and fully cocked. The half cocked position In the half cocked position the sear would drop into a deep groove which prevented the trigger from being pulled and the dog head from dropping. In effect this was a safety. At the fully cocked position the sear dropped into a shallow groove. The sear could be pushed out of this groove by pulling the trigger.
By now the frizzen and pan cover were combined into one spring loaded unit.
Before firing a pistol, the pistoleer, would pull the doghead back until it made a noticeable click. This was the half cocked position. placing the pistol on safe.. Priming powder would be poured down the barrel followed by regular gun powder, wadding, and finally the shot or ball(now called the bullet). Often to expedite the loading, loads were prepared ahead of time and wrapped in paper waddings. in this case, the powder end of the wadding was inserted first down the barrel, and then rammed with the ramrod. In every case a small amount of priming powder would be added to the priming pan, insuring that the touch hole to the barrel had been filled.
By pulling the doghead back another click, the pistol would be armed and ready to fire. A pull of the trigger would, most likely result in a discharge. Because the frizzen and priming pan were now one spring loaded unit, it was now possible to load a pistol before hand and still have it go off reliably later. The frizzen could be pulled back, primer added to the pan and then the frizzen was lowered back on top of the pan. When the trigger is pulled the doghead strikes the frizzen causing sparks and pushing open the pan at the same time, thus exposing the priming powder.
Basic parts: Frizzen
a piece of metal that was struck by pyrites to produce sparks doghead
What the hammer of the pistol was originally called. It was often shaped in the form of an animal with an open mouth, in which the pyrites were placed
ramrod or rammer
A long hard wood pole that was in a diameter slightly smaller than the barrel. It was used to ram powder and shot down the barrel of muzzle loaders. It was often attached to the bottom of the barrel by a swivel
priming pan
A small pan in which specially made priming powder was placed. The pan was just under the frizzen. The frizzen was often attached to a pan cover. When the frizzen was struck by the doghead, the pan was forced open and sparks would rain down on the powder discharging the weapon.
touch hole
A hole located at the bottom of a guns barrel. in early weapons powder was poured into the touch hole and a flame was touched against the hole causing the weapon to discharge. As weapons evolved the touch hole led from the priming pan to bottom of the barrel.
priming powder
Powder that was ground smaller and smoother than regular gun powder. quite often it contained more salt peter making more volatile. Often this was the powder contained in the powder horn. Cartridges made of gunpowder and shot wrapped in paper were often prepared ahead of time and carried in a special cartridge pouch. black or gunpowder
Black powder which was made from salt petre, charcoal and sulfur. There were many ways that it was made and in different strengths. Suffice it to say that if one were to use the high quality powder of today,s small arms in a flintlock of the 1700's the weapon could very well blow up. Black powder was weak compared to today's standards. ball or shot
The bullet used in a gun. butt and butt cap.
a metal cap on the bottom of a pistol's grip. On more expensive weapons, various designs were crafted in precious metals or jewels. It was the most ornate part of a pistol with the possible exception of the lock. barrel
The business part of a pistol, usually between 4 and ten inches long.
fore-end cap
A cap often made of brass at the front of the wood furniture of a pisotl. It was on the fore-end cap that the swivel for the rammer was often attached. It also acted as the front mount securing the barrel lock
The part of the pistol which includes the frizzen, doghead and the internal parts of the gun such as the sear and trigger assembly. in short it was the part that make the gun go bang.
Variety of Pistols. One shot muzzle loaders. this was the standard pistol. Muzzle loading involved shoving the powder and ball, along with paper wadding all the way down the barrel. Pistols loaded relatively easily due to the shortness of the barrel. A rifled barrel was harder to load than a smooth bore. many people tried to find ways of making breech loaders put until the development of a self contained cartridge most breech loading were marginal at best.
Muzzle loaders were loaded using a rammer or ram rod which pushed powder and ball down the barrel. In most cases the rammer was attached to the pistol with a swivel so that it could not be lost. The rammer was an integral part of the gun.
Multi-barreled pistols.
Multi-barreled pistols were guns that had more than one barrel that could fired separately. Two firing methods were popular. In most cases two separate locks were employed, on for each barrel. The locks were arranged on one side of the gun in the case of an over/under barrel arrangement or on both sides in the case of side by side barrels.
in this case both barrels would be loaded, the dogheads would be cocked and then fired either using one or two triggers. If one trigger was used a slight pull would fire the first barrel. A heavier pull would fire the second barrel. Or in some cases only one doghead would be cocked at a time and the trigger would be pulled normally.
In some case two triggers were employed.
A second popular method involved one lock and two or more rotating barrels. This was known as a turnover pistol. In this case each barrel had one lock but they were fired using a single doghead. The barrels were loaded, the doghead cocked and the first barrel was discharged. Then the barrel was turned over, the doghead again cocked and the second barrel was ready for firing.
Other methods allowed for rotating taps which would place involved turning a tap and thus exposing a different barrel's touch hole to the same priming pan. Multi-shot pistols were popular but also heavy and expensive to produce.
pocket pistol
Name says it all. it was the Saturday night special of the 19th century. The first was made by Deringer in 1850. The Deringer was a good effective little gun using most often percussion cap instead of a flintlock. The gun was ripped off and marketed by many as a derringer or Deeringre or several other spellings of the inventor's name.
The overcoat pistol was slight larger version of the pocket pistol. In every case the pocket pistol was designed to be concealed.
volley guns Volley pistols were similar to multi barreled pistols but worked differently. Where the multi barreled pistol was designed to fire one shot at a time, the volley pistol was designed to fire several barrels all at once. The idea was to spread out the shots in a pattern so many barrels would be attached to the same lock but at different angles on the same plain of fire. when the trigger was pulled all the barrels would fire at once. Volley guns often had four or more barrels. They were probably only effective at very close range and were difficult to fire and load.
pistol carbines
Pistol carbines were pistols that could have shoulder stocks added. In every other respect they were a normal pistol.
Turnout pistol
The turn out pistol was an early form of breech loading flintlock. The barrel of the pistol unscrewed, allowing the powder and shot to be loaded into the firing chamber. Once the shot was loaded the barrel was screwed back on. This allowed safer loading because the shot and powder did not have to be tapped all the way down the barrel. The wadding could also be dismissed for the same reason. There was no cartridge with the exception of the paper cartridge but this method allowed the powder and ball to be loaded without a rammer. The barrel could also be rifled or tapered allowing for a more accurate aim. The priming pan still needed to have powder added to it. In every other respect the turnout pistol worked in the same manner as a regular flintlock pistol.
Percussion Cap.
Did pirates value pistols.
Of all the weapons used by pirates, the pistols was probably their favorite. In fact pistols were so admired that Captains used their lure in forming boarding parties. On many ships it was a standing order, that the first man to board a plunder during a boarding party would get first choice on the arm of his choice. And this prize was above his share of the booty. (See boarding a ship)
Pistols came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Pistol making was an art Where long arms were made to supply armies, pistols were made to a lesser degree. Quite often they were made to order. Of course there was the run of the mill pistols made for cavalry soldiers and some naval personnel but these were not of the high quality that was consider a prize. Often a ships captain would have a pistol commissioned for him as a sign of his superiority. A gunsmith would decorate the stock with silver and gold or ornate carvings. The doghead would be carved in some ornate fashion or perhaps be shaped like a lion or a unicorn or some animal from the royal crest of the owner. In many ways a pistol in the eighteeth century would hold the same place of honor as a car would today.
Firearms became more common place in the new world due to the hostile natives. But even in the Americas the Rifle or long arm was favored in the colonies because it was more effective on land than the pistol. Even in the colonies where the pistol was more commonplace, it remained primarily a sign of nobility and a weapon of cut throats.
Boarding a ship under fire was quite dangerous. Being the first man of a boarding party was almost suicidal because ship being boarded knew full well that once boarded their chances of surviving were almost non existent. Therefore they would try prepare several ranks to fire in "volley" when it was inevitable that a boarding would be attempted. If the ship managed to prepare for boarding it was quite possible for the initial wave to be cut in half, meaning the first man to board would probably be killed. In the event that he wasn't killed he would still have to survive the fight that would follow and possible two to three more rounds of volley fire.
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder, I'm an over forty victim of fate, arriving too late...
The focus of this narrative will be the Naval artillery during the golden age of piracy, the eighteenth century. However, to get a better understanding of naval artillery and its employment I will briefly discuss its origins.
The Sixteenth Century, the birth of a naval artillery.
It is certain that missile throwing devices have been apart of naval vessels since recorded history. For instance, early Roman ships mounted small catapults that launched flaming pots of oil and stone at enemy vessels. However the cannon did not truly establish a foot hold aboard European ships until the Sixteenth Century, 200 years after its introduction in the armies on the continent. The main reason was the portability of cannons.
At around the time of Columbus' voyage to the New World, naval artillery consisted of the same heavy artillery use on land. The wheels had been removed and the gun had been lashed into flimsy frames. The guns were lashed down to the upper decks and there was no way to sight them, other than by trial and error.
By the end of the 16th Century, Naval artillery had been born. The guns were now mounted on small two or four wheel carriages, making them portable. The muzzle loading barrel was attached to the carriages using a trunnion and elevation was adjusted by driving in and out the quoin supporting the breech. Swivel guns were mounted on the poop deck and along the railing to repel boarders and the main guns had been strategically placed to provide all around security for the ship. Chase guns were placed at the bow and stern of the ship and on the larger ships as many as fifty guns may have been carried. the majority of the guns were placed on the side of a ship.
The main tactic for attacking another ship was to show the side of your ship to the foe and deliver a broadside attack, or fire all of your guns into their ship. The key to success was to do so with out allowing your enemy to get in position to do the same to you. England had managed to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588, partly due to their more maneuverable ships as well as the longer range of the English guns over those carried on the Spanish Galleons.
Seventeenth Century. The main changes in the 17th century involved sizes and numbers. European ships were now carrying as many as 100 guns on three separate decks. 42 pounder guns were often the standard gun on the bottom decks. Special "Shots" or artillery rounds were being developed especially for naval use. Among these were barshot, chain shot, used on rigging and bundle shot as well as canister and grape shot were also in wide use against personnel. Cluster rounds and Sangrenel rounded out the variety of shots fired from the Cannon.
The Eighteenth Century
Ships of Wars had improved dramatically by the opening of the 18th Century, It could be said that the Golden age of Piracy and sailing ships had blossomed at about the same time. Cast Iron muzzle loaders ranging from the small 6 pounders to the large 32 pounders were the general rule. Elevation was adjusted by a modified quoin under the breech and the general science of trajectory was better understood. Fixed loads of powder were calculated for the guns improving accuracy and the guns were secured to the sides of the ships by heave breech ropes passed through or around the casabels, limiting recoil and aiding in the reloading of the guns. side tackles were also added as well as small ramps behind the guns to aid in pulling them back into firing position.
The naval Artillery had unheard of range of about 2,000 yards (meters) by this time. Of course most engagements were fought at under 1,000 yards and sometimes with in pistol shot (25 to 50 yards) The only innovation in artillery rounds for this time period was the art of heating solid iron shot to a red hot condition before firing the round.It was a tricky affair, because the heat of the hot iron could cause a cook off, that is an early discharge of the cannon, thus killing your own cannoneers. The usual method for firing red hot iron was to swab the barrel with water then dry the inside, add the powder, followed by a plug of wood and then the loose fitting hot iron. The purpose of using the hot iron was to set the other ship on fire.
Contrary to popular belief, many of the cannons of this time used a flintlock mechanism for firing instead of the flaming torch that is used in so many movies. The torch could be used but the flintlock was more reliable and much safer. The mechanism worked the same way as with a rifle or pistol. A touch hole in the barrel led to a priming pan. Both were filled with a small amount of powder, The doghead or hammer was cocked and released by pulling a lanyard instead of a trigger. The doghead struck the frizzen which produced sparks igniting the powder.
Why were guns called 6 pounder and 24 pounder guns? Pounder refers to the size of a gun. A six pounder fired a solid shot of lead which weighed approximately 6 pounds. A 32 pounder fired a ball of lead that weighed approximately 32 pounds. This says little about the approximate weight of the cast iron gun.
For instance: type bore size gun weight shot weight powder weight 2 pounder 2.5 in 600 lbs 2 lbs 3 1/2 lbs 6 pounder 3 1,000-1,500 lbs 6 lbs 6 lbs 24 pounder 4.5 in 3,000-4,000 lbs 24 lbs 14 lbs 32 pounder 5 in 4,000-5,000 lbs 32 lbs 18 lbs
As you can see the weight of the cannon had to significantly increase as the size of the shot increased. However the weight ratio of powder to shot decrease as the shot get larger. Most of the weight of the gun is centered around the breech of the gun where the explosion takes place and most of the pressure is exerted. Guns wore out relatively fast, usually being good for 500 to 1,000 shots before being rendered unsafe to use anymore.
Bar Shot
Long metal bars that were fired into sails or at the side of ship. There purpose was to make large gaping holes.
Chain Shot
These were two or three cast iron balls that were attached together by a length of chain. They were loaded down the barrel one at a time. When fired they would fly through the air in a some what erratic behavior. However when they hit hit something solid they caused major damage, wrapping around masts and reducing them to splinters or breaking through a deck only for one of the balls to get snagged thus forcing the other ball to violently rip back thru in the opposite direction, or taking out hole sails by simply ripping them to shreds
Bundle Shot
This was similar to the Bar shot but especially designed for personnel. Several short iron bars would be bundled together with a length of rope. The bundles would be custom made to fit snugly down the bore of a cannon. Once fired, the rope would loosen and the iron bars would begin to spread apart. Once these bars hit anything they would begin tumbling, wreaking havoc to bone and flesh.
Canister or Case Shot
Similar to a bundle shot but in this case a large cask or metal container would be filled with small iron balls or stone.
grape shot
Very similar to canister. Iron balls approximately one inch in diameter. were packed down the barrels between to wooden discs. Case or canister round would release their deadly rain of steel on impact. Grape shot released it's hell at the bore of the gun. Very effective at close range. It was often used to repel boarders.
Sangrenel
This was probably the most deadly or feared of the anti-personnel rounds. Simply put, it was a cloth bag of jagged scrap iron. The bag disintegrated when the powder ignited and jagged bit of iron flew in all directions. The wounds it produced were hideous and there was little possibility of removing the jagged iron from a body with out causing grave danger, even if it were partially exposed.
Swivel GunsSwivel guns were small guns or sometimes multi barrel rifles that were mounted along the railing of a ship. Their mount allowed the gun to swivel in a full circle to allow reloading
The purpose of the swivel gun was to allow the sailors to repel boarders. The mounting on the rail gave a steady platform to insure accurate fire as well the ability to fire large caliber rifles or small guns with no recoil to the operator.
The guns would usually be loaded just before an engagement but not mounted until the enemy began to close. It was then a simple matter to lift the light weight cannon into its socket mount and let go with a mini broadside just as the enemy board. By not mounting the swivel guns to the last second, the enemy would be at a loss for where the weakest place to board might be. Also a ship would not need as many swivel guns if they remained unmounted because they could be moved to where they were needed. That is, if the enemy were preparing to board on port side all the guns would be mounted on the port side because there would be no need for them on the starboard side.
Swivel guns were relatively small and were not effective at extremely long range, but at close range against a man with a cutlass they were devastating.
Patateros were a type of naval mortar. It was muzzle loaded. Unlike the cannons of the time, the Patetero was a high angle fire weapon which would cause its ordinance to rain down on the crew of the enemy. They were usually filled with shot, stone, spikes, broken glass, and sometimes explosives. Where as cannons on board ships would try to punch holes in the side of ships, the Patateros would fire its round in a arch and cause it to land more or less vertically on the enemies deck thus causing terrible damage to the exposed crew, fighting top side.
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