Changing weaponry 1790-1918

The French Wars: 

• Most British ships of the line carried over 70 guns which could fire a cannon ball weighing 32 pounds 
• British seamen could unleash broadside every minute and a half 
• The carronade, light and able to swivel, was fitted to the forecastles and sterns of warships 
• Gunlocks replaced slowmatches 
• - Slowmatches had to be held against a gun's priming powder, requiring gun captains to position themselves beside the gun and hope the gunpowder ignited and fired
• - Gunlocks were more effective because the gun captain stood back from the gun, aimed and yanked on a lanyard to set off the firing mechanism

Naval developments 1815-1914: 

• 1906 = the dreadnought - which was faster and better armed than any other battleship
• By 1914 Britain's naval bugdet was twice the size of Germany's 

Army in the French Wars: 

• Most British soldiers were armed with the reliable Brown Bess musket
• Light infantrymen were armed with the Baker rifle - was more difficult to load, but it was accurate at up to 200 yards (twice the range of the musket)
• Major Henry Shrapnel introduced a new shell - effective at…