Originally Posted by
Coog
Most British and American ship-sloops, brig-sloops, and schooners switched from small long guns to carronades around 1800. A vessel with or would have had 9-pounder long guns on their gun deck would have them typically replaced with 32-pounder carronades. American ships would have two 12-pounder long guns for chasers while the British preferred smaller 6 or 9-pounders for chase guns. Vessels with smaller long guns, such as 6-pounders, would have them replaced with smaller carronades such as 18-pounders and retained a couple of long guns as chasers. French vessels did make use of carronades but often utilized small long guns for their main battery. HMS Surprise is a good example. Originally as the French Unité, she had 24 8-pounder long guns on her main deck with 8 4-pounder long guns on her FC and QD. After capture, renamed Surprise, the long guns were replaced with 32-pounder carronades with only 2 4-pounder long guns retained as chasers.