Cannon questions

Matti,
Here are some answers:

1. No idea how the one-pounder was secured, the sources only say that it lacked a carriage and was stowed on deck, meaning it was not in use.
2. All of the original carriages for the orlop and gundecks were found, plus a few from the upper deck. The salvage records from the 1660s indicate that they lifted most of the upper deck light guns with their carriages. We have a total of 62 carriages plus one extra cheek. Among these are one three-pounder and I believe three or four for the stormstycken on the upper deck. We do not have the one-pounder carriage.
3. I have no idea why BB shows this gun with a two-wheeled land carriage with trail, this would be impractical on the quarterdeck. Although we have no diret evidence, the indirect evidence (height and size of the gunport, fastenings for breeching and tackles) suggests a conventional naval carriage for the one-pounder.
4. The account book entries say the black paint (which is lampblack) is specifically for gun carriages.
5. The guns in Claytons picture are, top to bottom: one pounder, three pounder, three sizes of stormstycken (20,42 and 82 nominal pounds), the new pattern light 24 pounder (principal armament) and the old pattern long 24 pounder.

To add to this, the following is a summary of armament I posted on the previous forum site:

The inventory taken just before the ship sank showed that the following guns were on board:

46 light 24 pdrs
2 heavy 24 pdrs
8 3 pdrs
6 howitzers of different sizes
2 1 pdr falconets

The light 24s were guns 2.9 meters long and about 40 cm in diameter at the breech, with a bore of 146 mm and caliber 17. The heavy 24s were much larger, probably about 3.5-4 meters long and over 45 cm in diameter at the breech. From the documents associated with the salvage of the guns, we know quite a bit about the lighter guns. The 3 pdrs were long and skinny, with calibres of 33-34.5 (about 2.6 m long to the breech ring), a breech diameter of about 15 cm and a bore of 74 mm. The howitzers were a mixed bag, with one 20 pdr of calibre 14 (looted from the castle of Prince Radziwill in Poland, and decorated with a dragon), three 42 pdrs of calibre 10.5 (cast in Poland in the 1560s) and two 82 pdrs of only 6.76 caliber.

The 24 pdrs were all placed at broadside ports on the upper and lower gundecks, leaving four of the 52 ports empty. The four stern chaser ports (two on the lower gundeck and two on the orlop) were also empty. All of the empty ports had carriages at them when the ship was found, and the latest armament plan (from May 1628) shows an expected armament of 56 heavy guns, so they were probably still waiting for the last eight 24 pdrs. We think that the four empty broadside ports were on the lower gundeck, but are not sure which ones and at this point it will be difficult to determine. The two heavy 24s seem to have been on the lower gundeck in the two forwardmost ports.

The light guns (3 pdrs and howitzers) were all on the upper deck, where there were 14 ports. There were also two ports on the quarterdeck, probably for the 1-pounders, although only one of these was mounted when the ship sank – the other lacked a carriage and was stowed on deck. There are mounts in the stern gallery of the great cabin for four swivels, to fire through round ports just below the large windows, but there is no evidence that these were ever delivered or mounted.

We have finished a detailed cataloguing of all of the surviving gun carriages (62 carriages). These are mostly for the light and heavy 24 pdrs. A light 24 carriage is about 160 cm long, 68 cm wide at the back end, and 60 cm high (not counting trucks). On typical trucks 45-50 cm in diameter, the trunnion centers are about 85 cm off the deck. The heavy 24 pdr carriages are similar, but almost 2 m long and about 75 cm wide.

We have one complete 3 pdr carriage. It is 120 cm long, 47 cm wide, and 55 cm high (without trucks). On 50-cm trucks, the trunnion centers are about 84 cm above the deck.

We have a couple of howitzer carriages, which are between the 24 pdr and 3 pdr carriages in size. All of the carriages are of the same basic construction and style.

No problem that you use my pictures! In fact, if anyone here needs to use my pictures as a point of discussion on a particular aspect of Vasa as Matti has above, feel free. I have a photobucket site and you can easily use it to add the photo link in posts here. It is always the IMG link that works for a particular picture.

s1191.photobucket.com/user/Clayjo707/library/

Cheers!

The naval muzzle/army muzzle argument is a little overworked in many cases, I think. The Swedish navy distinguished between the two later in the century, when naval guns were supposed to have a smoothly tapering flare that would not catch on the port edge. I have not seen this type of muzzle on many guns of this period, and it may be a later practice.

The old long 24s weighed up to 2.5 tonnes, about twice what the new pattern guns weighed, but were still extracted from the lower gundeck by pulling them out through the ports. What I find impressive is that they did so little damage to the edges of the ports in the process!

Fred

My bad! I need to edit that document again. The one-pounders were definitely NOT swivels, they were carriage guns. Your interpretation of what a swivel gun is is correct. There were mounts for these in the stern gallery, but no evidence any were delivered.

I have now fixed the post above!
Fred

Cheers Fred!

What`s the size for breeching hole on carriage of light and heavy 24 pdrs?
What is diameter of breeching rope?

Vlad.

Thank you, Fred!

Vlad