INTRODUCTION
23
The Lord Admiral was probably justified in his The great-ship for tactical purposes must still have been, as before, little better than a more seaworthy and less mobile galley. In the early part of Henry VIII. 's small breechreign, the Navy was armed mainly with caution.
loading pieces for use as mankillers in repelling boarders In or preparing an enemy's decks for a counter attack. Elizabeth's time such pieces were regarded as merely a secondary armament. A few only of the newer vessels carried heavy ordnance, and that in little higher propor The real secret of the great-ship's tion than galleys. power was yet undiscovered. Besides its sea endurance, as we have seen, the true value of the great-ship lay in its broadside fire, and the development of broadside fire was a question of gunnery, of naval architecture, and of sea manship. With Henry's introduction of heavy guns on board his larger vessels, however, the true note had been struck, and by the end of his reign the first two arts had
made
great strides.
Guns
of all patterns
and
sizes
were
being cast in England, both in bronze and iron, which were little inferior to those Nelson fought with, and numbers of small wrought-iron breech-loading pieces of the smerigli type were turned out for rapid firing from Naval architecture had per the tops and cage-works. fected the port-hole, whereby ships were able not only to carry two tiers of ordnance, but also to bear in broadside much heavier guns by having them closer to the water line. 2 1
* Cage-works was the name given to the superthe opere morte of the Italians. 2 The armament of Henry's VIII.'s ships at first consisted mainly and sometimes entirely of small quick-firing or secondary pieces, for use at the closest quarters and in boarding. These were serpentines, slings, and murderers. Serpentines were double or single (i.e. large and small), and from their name were presumably long guns i.e. of the culverin or serpent type. They disappear with the introduction of the bases, which were small quick-firing culverins. Slings and half-slings were of the Perier or short (howitzer) type, and though they survived longer were replaced by port-pieces and fowlers, which were small quick-firing periers. Murderers were small quick-firing mortars and remained in use till the end of the century. The heavy guns of the time were mainly wrought-iron breech-loading bombards, the earliest form of ordnance. Henry introduced 1
See post,
Btructures fore
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p. 367.
and
aft,
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