During the 18th-century, there were three broad categories of shipboard artillery—carriage guns, swivel guns and mortars.
Carriage guns were smooth-bore, muzzle-loading, cannon that were fired from a fixed wheeled wooden carriage. While it was possible to adjust the elevation of the weapon, it was basically fired in a relatively flat trajectory, and could be trained only by moving the carriage instead of the weapon.
Although carriage guns were of varying lengths, they were always categorized by the weight of the shot they fired.
The twenty-seven carriage guns so far recovered from the wreck include what have been identified as 3-, 4-, and 6-lber guns. It should be noted that the cannon data table was prepared prior to the deconcretion of some of the weapons, and that their identification should therefore be considered preliminary.
Since approximately two dozen more cannon are scheduled for future recovery from the site, it is expected that this table will be updated on an ongoing basis.
The weight of the weapon illustrated here was marked by the gun-founder, and attested by the “P” mark (for “proofed”. The first number refers to "hundred-weight" (a unit of weight which actually amounted to 112 lbs.), the second refers to "quarters" (units of 25 pounds), and the final number refers to individual pounds. Thus, when this gun was manufactured, it weighed [112x6] +12, or 784 pounds. It probably fired a 3-lb shot.
Swivel guns were small muzzle-loading cannon about three feet long that fired a one- or two-pound roundshot, or, more commonly, the equivalent in musket balls or buckshot. Mounted on pivots along the sides of a ship or in the ship's rigging, they could be aimed in any direction and were very popular with pirates as close-range anti-personnel weapons. Pirate vessels similar in size to the Whydah are known to have carried as many as two dozen of these weapons.
Pedreroes were a specialized type of swivel gun fitted with breech chambers that allowed for a higher rate of fire. While no swivel guns or pedreroes have yet been found at the Whydah site, a shot-bag for such weapons has been recovered, and an unconserved concretion recovered during the 1998 field season appears to be very similar to the overall size and shape of a pedreroe.
Mortars were a type of artillery that lobbed an exploding shell at a high angle to its target. While no mortars have been recovered from the Whydah site, some pirate ships were known to have carried coehorn mortars and some of the grenades aboard the Whydah were capable of being fired from such a weapon.
