Editing Carronade (section)

==Range==
There was usually a considerable gap (known as [[windage]]) between the ball and the inside of the gun barrel, as a result of irregularities in the size of cannonballs and the difficulty of boring out [[gun barrel]]s. If the windage of a cannon was off as much as a quarter of an inch ({{convert|.25|in|abbr=on}}),  it could cause a considerable loss in power and accuracy. The manufacturing practices introduced by the Carron Company reduced the windage considerably. Despite the reduced windage, carronades had a much shorter range than the equivalent long gun, typically a third to a half, because they used a much smaller propellant charge (the chamber for the powder was smaller than the bore for the ball). Typical [[Naval tactics in the Age of Sail|naval tactics]] in the late 18th century, however, emphasised short-range broadsides, so the range was not thought to be a problem.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The air resistance of a spherical cannonball in supersonic flight is much greater than in subsonic flight. For a given weight of powder, a larger ball, having a large mass, has a lower maximum velocity which reduces the range of supersonic flight. But the increase in the distance of subsonic flight may have more than compensated, as the air resistance is proportional to the square of the diameter but the mass is proportional to the cube. The ''Victory''{{'}}s 68 lb carronade is reported to have had a maximum range of {{convert|1,280|yd|abbr=on}} at an angle of 5 degrees with a 5 lb charge of gunpowder.<ref>p 85 HMS Victory : 1765–1812 (first rate ship of the line) / Peter Goodwin. Somerset : Haynes Publishing, 2015.</ref> The structure of ''Victory''{{'}}s forecastle limited the weight of the guns. The other gun on the forecastle was a medium 12 lb cannon, which had a maximum range of {{convert|1,320|yd|abbr=on}}.<ref>p 84 HMS Victory : 1765–1812 (first rate ship of the line) / Peter Goodwin. Somerset : Haynes Publishing, 2015.</ref> Carronades were not noticeably short range for either the weight of the gun or the gunpowder charge. Carronades were short range because of their small gunpowder charge but their lower muzzle velocity required a higher trajectory. But at sea the range of the long gun had little use; guns were on moving platforms, making timing of fire very difficult. Pitch and roll meant that most ships fought at close range of a few hundred yards or less. In battles between warships, carronades could be at a disadvantage if they were fought outside their point blank range, such as in the case of USS ''Essex'', a frigate equipped almost solely with carronades, which was reduced to a hulk by the longer-range guns of HMS ''Phoebe'' and HMS ''Cherub'' off Valparaiso, Chile in the March 28, 1814 [[Battle of Valparaiso]]. Warships often aimed at the enemy's hull to destroy its capacity for battle. A ball fired from a cannon on the downward roll of the ship would often ricochet off the sea into the enemy hull. A merchant ship would more often aim at the bigger target of the masts and rigging in the hope of escaping a pursuing enemy. The higher trajectory required of carronades at ranges of {{convert|400|yd|abbr=on}} or more was little disadvantage for their use by merchant ships or any naval ship fleeing a more powerful enemy. The theory for centuries had always associated long barrels with long range, but experience had also shown that shortening the barrel did not reduce performance as much as expected (e.g., the English musket barrel between 1630 and 1660 went down from {{convert|4-3|ft|abbr=on}} in length.<ref>C. H. Firth Cromwell's Army 4th ed. p80</ref>).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}