Any gunners mates out there

[tenngun]

I’m building a ship model. A small Bermuda rigged privateer thought to be from the Chesapeake bay. 70’ long, 18’ wide single deck with a 9’ hold.
so I got little deck guns.
What size would such a gun be
Barrel per scale is 4’6”, 9” breech, truck about 20” tall. Not going to shake the pillars of heaven here.
Could this be a four pounder, or a 1-11/2 swivel gun on steroids

 

[Artificer]

The below from a cannon forum:

"The late Harold Hahn, Master Ship Model Builder, published a neat diagram in his book with formulas to determine the size based on caliber. However, his formula for the length of the barrel does not 'compute'. The length A is indeterminate.


This may have come up before, but does anyone have a solution? I would like to know the length of the barrel for typical six pounders.
BTW the same page in his book has some great diagrams of gun carriages (again all based on caliber)."

Gus

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Something like the Austrian 3 lb. gun above is what you're looking for. One thing to remember is not only the size of the shot that's being thrown, BUT also where are the guns when not in use. The longer the barrel, the farther back the carriage must move to remove the muzzle inside the edge or the firing port of the ship. The 3 lb. gun is also pretty good, in that it packs a nice punch at a good distance, because the British started to arm their merchants with carronades to deal with American Privateers in the Caribbean. What a 3-pounder will do is allow you to stand off where the carronade of the merchant really can't mess you up, but he will be within your range. A Bermuda rigged privateer would be highly maneuverable, shallow draft vessel, so the best tactic would be to rake the aft of the merchant, smash his rudder, and avoid taking a broadside altogether.

LD

 

[Artificer]

And 3 or 4 pound guns had plenty of power to do what Dave described, without using too much powder and shot for each time the gun was fired. More shots per gun meant more "prizes" and that put more money in their pockets.

Oh, with all due respect to Gunner's Mates, I wasn't one. I was the first Enlisted Ordnance Officer to a Marine Artillery Battalion since WWII, but even most of them had never learned such "Ancient Arte and Mysteries" of their trade.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

Yup
Pirates or privateers generally acted as a threat. Often with ‘Quaker guns’ logs painted black
Total bulwark thickness, streaks, outer planks frame and ceiling, the inner planks all came to eight inch thick. Often American and Caribbean made ships were in fir or cedar. They wouldn’t stand up to enemy fire well