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A knowledge of artillery is essential to the understanding of the evolution of the military navy, since the combat ship was basically for its artillery.
From the bronze cannon bearing the arms of Richelieu in 1636 to the 36-pdr howizter of the same year to the Paixans model of 1849, this study follows the intricate evolution of these weapons step by step. After studying iron and bronze barrels, we turn our attention successively to mountings, portholes, rigging and the use of cannon. The description of pieces of ordnance with explosive shot - howizters and mortars - are another important aspects of this group complemented by a description of light artillery in tops and on bulwarks.
We approach our subject from the practical standpoint of the descriptions of materials and their uses. Research on ballistics and metallurgy is only cited in passing, although we recognize the importance of these areas.
True to form Jean Boudriot gives special emphasis to drawings. Plates of general views and detailed sketches abound in the fact-filled pages of this exhaustive study.
The excerpts we present here warrant that ship's model builders and amateurs of naval history will be more than pleased with this volume.
With singular exceptions, the traditional inferiority of the French navy vis-à-vis its rivals often provided the stimulus necessary for successful innovations. For instance, the French bomber galiots or the Paixhans howizters come to mind. On the other hand the French often adopted inventions and practices of the British Navy, their arch-rival, such as the general adoption of carronades in 1804, twenty years after the taking of Hébée and the failure of sea-borne howitzers.
All of the above evolutions are presented in this study of naval artillery.
With access to primary sources and archives becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, we complete our presentation in the text with a lavish set of 93 facsimile plates that reproduce the essence of the original naval iconography in French archives.