Cannonballs Work!

[Capn Bob]

From LiveScience.com comes this report that cannonballs actually can sink ships! Who'd a-thunk it?! It even addresses the notorious Splinter Issue...

Link is here--> http://www.livescience.com/history/090715-cannonball-ship.html

Cannonballs Really Could Sink Ships, Study Finds

By LiveScience Staff

Long before the Navy used torpedoes, rockets and nuclear missiles to fire at the enemy, ship captains relied on more blunt weapons — cannonballs.

But how effective were cannonballs at sinking battleships? New research shows that cannon fire could have brought down at least one battleship, a recently discovered 19th-century warship that sank off the coast of Acre, Israel.

The ship's oak hull was unusually thick, leading researchers to question the possibility of cannonball penetration. Experimental firings of cannons at replicas of wooden warships have been carried out in other countries, but due to the cost and complexity of such experiments, they have been few and far between. In general, they were only firing demonstrations, and scientific data has not always been obtained. So it was still hard to tell for sure whether the cannonballs found in the wreck off the coast of Acre would have been capable of sinking this particular ship.

University of Haifa's Yaacov Kahanov, who studies maritime civilizations and underwater archaeology, developed a unique model along with his colleagues that enabled firing experiments to be carried out on a reduced scale, thereby reducing costs, and enabling controlled, measured and documented experimentation. Five scale models of the ship's hull, based on the archaeological findings, were constructed and fired at using an experimental gun to shoot steel balls at 225-1,100 mph (100-500 meters per second), modeling the cannon fire of the 19th century.

Despite the hull's strength, cannonballs penetrated it even at the lowest velocities.

The lower the velocity, the more energy was absorbed in causing damage to the hull, and the more the wood splintered, which would have caused more harm to the ship's personnel. The results of this experiment, Kahanov said, are of much significance to the study of the vessel and to the study of naval battles in this period.

Kahanov's colleagues on the analysis included additional researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel and from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., a weapons developer for the Israel Defense Forces.

[Sjöröveren]

I wish someone would study whether rain can make you wet!

[Coastie04]

What? Scientific studies to confirm what historical documents and common sense already show? Well, I guess curing cancer just isn't as important as it used to be...

However, for being scientists, I find a few things about this that raise concern about the 'scientific process'. First off, cannon balls were generally either stone or iron (depending on the time period), and not steel. Obviously, they were assuming iron and steel cannon balls would be close enough. Second, what kind of wood did they use for the models? Wood grain can have a huge effect on the strength and resilience of the structure. It's also hard to scale that down. So, did they use the same type of wood, or did they use a tighter grain wood, or did they use a different composite material to approximate wood at that scale? Furthermore, did they take in to consideration the effect of the water? Not only would it have an effect on the stresses applied to the hull (along with the wind, cargo, weight of cannons, firing of cannons, etc.). Punching a hole in planking 3' above the waterline is not exactly a critical hit. The waterline is a very small target (and would depend on which tack the boat is on, as well as the wave conditions). In order to hit "at" the waterline, some of the cannon ball's force would be absorbed and dispersed by the water. Therefore, how much force would actually be applied to the hull at the waterline? Lastly, how would the effects of cannon balls hitting one part of the hull effect other parts of the hull? I can definitely imagine a broadside hitting well above the waterline putting enough stress on the hull to open a seam below the waterline, just as a big wave can. So many questions unanswered...

However, it's still not hard to comprehend that the primary ship to ship weapon of a couple hundred years is actually sufficiently powerful to sink a ship. Military engineers would probably have caught on somewhere along the line if it wasn't effective. In fact, the only thing I really can't quite understand is why they wasted their time with this experiment! I'd rather know if I'll get wet when it rains. Actualy, I think there is a mythbusters episode along those lines.

Coastie

[Silver]

cannonball! who would have thought.

[Cascabel]

I'd rather know if I'll get wet when it rains. Actualy, I think there is a mythbusters episode along those lines.

Coastie

.............And if it rains at sea, do the fish get wet ??? We really need the scientists to tell us these things !!! I think some university should fund a study....

>>>>> Cascabel

[Capn Bob]

Actually, I've wondered about that, myself. And do those fish really drink that water? After all...fish breed in it!

.............And if it rains at sea, do the fish get wet ??? We really need the scientists to tell us these things !!! I think some university should fund a study....

>>>>> Cascabel

[Commodore Swab]

Hmm I wonder the effect fresh water rain has on fish, hmmm maybe I can get some money for a study

[Tartan Jack]

What a shock!

Several hundred years of reports and practice might have been wrong . . .

Good to know it wasn't.

[Joe Pyrat]

Maybe if they would take the funding for projects like this and put them toward finding marine archeological sites (historic ship wrecks) I'd be more inclined to listen when they complain about salvors.

[gunner Gordon]

All that money they spend comes from us, why don't they just not take it in the first place, we could answer most of the questions ourselves....