A Tech Level 2 Sailing Vessel Question

[Whipsnade]

That was what I assumed as well.

Don't forget about the rate of fire, how or whether the gun is trained, whether broadside firing is the norm, and several other factors. How the gun is used will determine the size of the crew as the earlier example of the pivot 11-inch Dahlgren vs. turret 11-inch Dahlgren showed.

The 18th/19th Century HMS Victory's 24-pounders had 12 man crews so a broadside could be loosed every 90 seconds. The same guns aboard the 17th Century HMS Sovereign of the Seas didn't fire in broadsides or even every 90 seconds and so didn't need 12 men to return the gun to it's firing port within a certain time. For example, a similarly sized culverin aboard Mary Rose had a 6 man crew because of the way it was used.

 

[atpollard]

Don't forget about the rate of fire, how or whether the gun is trained, whether broadside firing is the norm, and several other factors. How the gun is used will determine the size of the crew as the earlier example of the pivot 11-inch Dahlgren vs. turret 11-inch Dahlgren showed.

The 18th/19th Century HMS Victory's 24-pounders had 12 man crews so a broadside could be loosed every 90 seconds. The same guns aboard the 17th Century HMS Sovereign of the Seas didn't fire in broadsides or even every 90 seconds and so didn't need 12 men to return the gun to it's firing port within a certain time. For example, a similarly sized culverin aboard Mary Rose had a 6 man crew because of the way it was used.

I have some difficulty picturing a 6 man gun crew moving a 2000 kg Culverin into position. I would not be surprised if many of the 'soldiers' on the Mary Rose helped aim the gun by providing brute force labor.
(I could be wrong).

 

[Whipsnade]

I have some difficulty picturing a 6 man gun crew moving a 2000 kg Culverin into position. I would not be surprised if many of the 'soldiers' on the Mary Rose helped aim the gun by providing brute force labor.
(I could be wrong).

The turret crew aboard USS Monitor served an 8 ton 11-inch Dahlgren with 7 men and one powder carrier firing about once every eight minutes.

We're talking about the 17th Century, with no broadside mountings, no rolling fire, no 90 second firing rates, and next to no traverse aiming. Hell, some of the guns aboard Mary Rose were mounted on sleds of hollowed elm logs. We must disabuse ourselves of the whole Nelson, Hornblower, Aubrey/Maturin mindset. The ships were fought differently and the guns were handled differently than those in the 18th/19th Centuries. As late as the Anglo-Dutch Wars, battles were primarily a series of boarding actions.

Most of the soldiers aboard Mary Rose would have been busy with various swivel guns, hand cannons, crossbows, and longbows. The day she sank there were more longbows aboard than soldiers and the archeologists have found thousand of arrows.

 

[Timerover51]

Going back and taking another look at Archibald's book, the gun crew list for 1730 is actually a repeat of the gun crewing list from 1677, for 100-gun, 90-gun, and 70-gun ships. The 100-gun ship would have an additional crew of 296, the 90-gun ship an additional crew of 262, and the 70-gun ship would have an additional crew of 160. It should be noted that the figures represent the 1677 establishment rating, and would be the ideal manning for the given ships. Actual manning would be a different story and could vary enormously, depending on how healthy the crew was and how long had the ship been in commission.

The Archibald book also gives the rates of pay for a ship's crew as of 1689, and that did not change until the Great Mutiny of 1797.

To give an idea of a more detailed crew list, the following is taken from Theodore Roosevelt's Naval War of 1812. I would highly recommend this for reading if you are interested in single ship actions during the Age of Sail.

As to the officers and crew of a 44-gun frigate, the following was the regular complement established by law: [Footnote: See State Papers, vol. xiv, 159 (Washington, 1834).]

1 captain,
4 lieutenants,
2 lieutenants of marines,
2 sailing-masters,
2 master's mates,
7 midshipmen,
1 purser,
1 surgeon,
2 surgeon's mates,
1 clerk,
1 carpenter,
2 carpenter's mates,
1 boatswain,
2 boatswain's mates,
1 yeoman of gun-room,
1 gunner,
11 quarter gunners,
1 coxswain,
1 sailmaker,
1 cooper,
1 steward,
1 armorer,
1 master of arms,
1 cook,
1 chaplain.
__
50
120 able seamen, 150 ordinary seamen, 30 boys, 50 marines. ___ 400 in all.

An 18-gun ship had 32 officers and petty officers, 30 able seamen, 46 ordinary seamen, 12 boys, and 20 marines—140 in all. Sometimes ships put to sea without their full complements (as in the case of the first Wasp), but more often with supernumeraries aboard.

 

[aramis]

I have some difficulty picturing a 6 man gun crew moving a 2000 kg Culverin into position. I would not be surprised if many of the 'soldiers' on the Mary Rose helped aim the gun by providing brute force labor.
(I could be wrong).

2:1, 3:1, or more, pulley ratio on the gun ropes helps a lot...
As does that most were wheeled. And if broadside guns only, set in hard tracks, so you're not doing too much wood sponginess.

 

[Timerover51]

2:1, 3:1, or more, pulley ratio on the gun ropes helps a lot...
As does that most were wheeled. And if broadside guns only, set in hard tracks, so you're not doing too much wood sponginess.

Handspikes were also used as levers to help train the gun. I have some drawing of naval gun crews in operation, but they are copyrighted. For those interested, a copy of Jack Coggins Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution would be quite useful. Sailing ships did not change that much between the mid-1600s and the mid-1800s.