Quote:
Originally Posted by magic452
Since someone brought up 64 pounders and such, something that I often wondered about but never bothered to do the research on, when did they change from just shooting steel balls and start using exploding shells?
I'm so old I should remember but the memory just ain't what is use to be.
I'll be Steve remembers as he's a little younger than me.
Good and interesting post as well. 
Magic |
Explosive shells were in regular use on land since around the 17th century, but they were only used on mortars and howitzers, which were too inaccurate for naval combat except on specialized ships (like bomb ships), because they were too dangerous to use with a high-velocity gun. The switch to shells in naval weapons gradually happened between the 1820s and the Crimean War after the invention of the Paixhans gun; the Battle of Sinop in 1853 is the point I usually see referenced as the first major use of which in a naval battle. This also coincided with the simultaneous introduction of screw propulsion and iron armour, which would result in the first ironclad warships.