Drilling
While it was not difficult to grasp the basics of loading and firing a cannon, the basic inaccuracy of these weapons meant that volume of fire was critical in winning a sea-fight. In other words, probability of victory with the ship that fired the most shots—other things being equal.
This in turn meant that the efficiency of the gun crews was a key consideration when it came to sea battles. Better drilling made for higher rates of fire.
To fire a cannon, the gun captain would stand directly behind the breech of the cannon, motioning to the tacklemen with his hand as he directed them to move the gun carriage left or right until the gun bore on the target.
A wooden wedge called a “quoin” was then inserted under the breech of the gun to hold it in place at the proper elevation.
During the next downward roll of the ship, the glowing tip of a slow-burning length of hemp match would be touched to the powder in the vent on the command to fire by the gun captain.
This set off a powder train that ignited the powder cartridge and fired the cannon. The force of the explosion slammed the gun backward to the extent of its breeching tackle.
As soon as the cannon was fired, it was run in and held by the preventer tackle.
The muzzle was swabbed out and a cartridge of gunpowder was thrust into the bore on a copper implement known as the "ladle".
The rammer then thrust the cartridge further in, packing the charge as far as possible into the chamber; careless packing could diminish the power of a charge by as much as a quarter.
The shot was inserted and went rolling down on top of the charge. Cloth wadding was then rammed home to hold the shot in place so it wouldn't come rolling back out.
A sharp-pointed quill or metal pick was then thrust down through the vent until it pierced the paper gunpowder cartridge and fine-grained priming powder was poured down after it.
The preventer tackle was then slackened, and the side-tackles manned, as the gun carriage was moved up to its port to be fired again.
After every half dozen rounds, a corkscrew worm was used to clear out any residual fragments of burnt powder in the gun barrel that hadn't been removed by the sponge.
In the beginning of a sea battle, a well-drilled gun crew could get off two shots in three minutes with a pre-loaded six-pounder--perhaps four minutes with an eight-pounder. After that, however, the rate of fire would decrease.
It’s important to remember, however, that pirate gun crews seldom—if ever—came up to their naval counterparts with respect to gunnery practice.
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