There were variations of cannonball besides the standard solid type. A sloop, the most commonly used vessel type, would have carried only a handful of cannons, and these were usually capable of firing 8- or 12-pound (3.5 or 5.5 kg) cannonballs. However, very few ships had the strength to carry such monsters, and pirates preferred their ships to be fast and sleek. The largest cannons might have a barrel up to 12 feet (3.6 m) long and be capable of firing a ball weighing 68 pounds (over 30 kg). Cannons on a pirate ship would have been taken as booty from captured vessels and so they varied in size and power, even on the same ship. Captains usually waited until they were within 500 feet (150 m) or closer to an enemy vessel before firing a broadside.Ĭannons had a smooth bore in the Golden Age and were fired by ramming an iron ball down the muzzle, pouring gunpowder into a hole in the breach, and lighting it using a slow match (a length of rope which had been chemically treated to burn slowly).
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