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Firing all cannon at once on all decks in a broadside would wreck the ship firing such a broadside. That much sideways force would not only violently push the ship away from the ship it was firing at but it would snap masts knocking sailors down, and generally screwing up the ability of the rudder to steer the ship. Here is a short article talking about how, in the age of sail, a broadside was not a "simultaneous" all decks fire broadside: http://www.military-history.org/fact...-broadside.htm
Yes, they fired 'rippling broadsides', one cannon firing after another down the length of the ship.
An issue which persisted all the way to the end of big-gun warships... even the Iowas had to fire two- or three-stage broadsides. (Of course, ONE shell from those monster 16"/50's is more throw weight than even the heaviest-broadsided SOL's entire broadside... if my research is right the record is HMS Egmont around 1782 at 1650# all from carronades, typical 74 ran about 800-900#, and a single 16"/50 runs about 2700#.)
When I lived in Omaha, someone who'd been on an _Iowa_ described the main guns as "like throwing a Volkswagen full of C4 from downtown Omaha into Plattsmouth".Quote:
Originally Posted by Diamondback
In WW2 ships fired salvos of half of the number of guns. Then correcting their aim, the other half were fired. Aim was corrected again and the first salvo was fired etc..