ABSTRACT
The story of how the heavy gun came to go to sea must begin in the mid-fifteenth century. By that time light guns were an established part of the armament of large ships, and very heavy guns of the 'bombard' type were used for the attack and defence of fortresses ashore. About the 1460s or 1470s small bombards began to be mounted on the decks of ships, in the waist firing on the broadside either over the bulwarks, or through small ports cut in the bulwarks. With a handy warship, however, mounting an effective armament of stern chasers and broadside guns as well as bow chasers, it was soon clear that one could improve on the indecisive form of action by firing the entire armament in succession. Standing off and engaging in a gunnery duel held few attractions for those who had tried it.
