Editing Carronade (section)

===Early use===
[[File:Carronade 12 pounder.jpg|thumb]]
Carronades initially became popular on British merchant ships during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. A lightweight gun that needed only a small gun crew and was devastating at short range was well suited to defending merchant ships against French and American [[privateer]]s. The French came in possession of their first carronades in December 1779 with the capture of the brig ''Finkastre'' by the frigate [[French frigate Précieuse (1778)|''Précieuse'']], but the weapon was judged ineffective and was not adopted by them at the time.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://troisponts.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/napoleon-et-levolution-de-lartillerie-des-vaisseaux
 |title=Napoléon et l'évolution de l'artillerie des vaisseaux (Napoleon and the evolution of artillery ships)
 |date=10 December 2013
 |access-date=7 January 2016}}</ref> However, in the [[action of 4 September 1782]], the impact of a single carronade broadside fired at close range by the [[frigate]] {{HMS|Rainbow|1747|6}} under [[Henry Trollope]] caused a wounded French captain to capitulate and surrender the [[French frigate Hébé (1782)|''Hébé'']] after a short fight.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Introducing the Carronade
 |url=http://ageofsail.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/introducing-the-carronade-all-carronades-all-the-time/
 |work=Age Of Sail · Life at sea during the age of wooden ships and iron men
 |date=22 February 2009
 |access-date=15 October 2013
}}</ref>

The Royal Navy was initially reluctant to adopt the guns, mainly due to mistrust of the Carron Company, which had developed a reputation for incompetence and commercial [[Sharp practice|sharp dealing]].<ref name="Rodger">Rodger (2004), p.420</ref> Carronades were not even counted in numbering the guns of a ship. [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|Lord Sandwich]] eventually started mounting them in place of the light guns on the [[forecastle]] and quarterdeck of ships. They soon proved their effectiveness in battle. French gun foundries were unable to produce equivalents for twenty years,<ref name="Rodger" /> so carronades gave British warships a significant tactical advantage during the latter part of the 18th century—though French ships mounted another type of weapon in the same role, the ''[[obusier de vaisseau]]''. {{HMS|Victory}} used the two 68-pounder carronades which she carried on her forecastle to great effect at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], clearing the [[gun deck]] of the {{ship|French ship|Bucentaure|1803|2}} by firing a round shot and a keg of 500 [[Musket#Ammunition|musket balls]] through the ''Bucentaure''{{'}}s stern windows.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The carronade was initially very successful and widely adopted, and a few experimental ships were fitted with a carronade-only armament, such as {{HMS|Glatton|1795|6}} and {{HMS|Rainbow|1747|6}}.<ref name="Rodger" /> ''Glatton'', a [[fourth-rate]] ship with 56 guns, had a more destructive [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] at short range than HMS ''Victory'', a [[first-rate]] ship with 100 guns. ''Glatton'' and ''Rainbow'' were both successful in battle, though the carronade's lack of range was a tactical disadvantage of this arrangement against an opponent who could keep out of carronade range, but within the range of his long guns.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}