Quote Originally Posted by Fisherking View Post
Ah! But it surely does if the seas are not perfectly calm. It was often impossible for the three dickers to open their lower gun ports. Having the heavier guns where they could be of use in other than calm weather would make a big difference.

Even with a larger ship, if they could only fight with 12#ers or less, who do you think has the advantage?
Yes in bad weather the lowest gundeck could not be used. But the big SOL's still had 24 pounders on the deck above and the smaller 74's had 18 pounders. A heavy frigate or razee were still lighter ships with thinner hull so even if it could use heavier guns the actual difference in fighting power would be less than if just comparing 24 versus 18 pounders.


CBR