Broadside of a French 74-gun ship of the line

USS Iowa firing her guns broadside (1984). First 74-gun designs The classic 74-gun ship was invented by the French as they rebuilt their navy during the early years of the reign of Louis XV. A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle Construction See also Iowa class battleship, Armament of the Iowa class battleship Iowa was the lead ship of her class of " Note the water displaced beneath the bores.

A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous) fire in naval warfare. A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size In Military organizations an artillery battery is a unit of Guns mortars or Rockets so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural A warship is a Ship that is built and primarily intended for Combat. Naval warfare is Combat in and on Seas Oceans or any other major bodies of water such as large Lakes and wide Rivers History

In older naval warfare

Broadsides were quite different during older naval warfare, in the age of sail. The Age of Sail was the period in which International trade and Naval warfare were dominated by Sailing Ships lasting from the 16th to the mid An 18th century man of war like the HMS Victory had cannons that were only accurate at short range. A man-of-war (also man of war, man-o'-war or simply man) is an armed naval vessel Construction In December 1758 the commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a Dry dock for the construction of a new First-rate The penetrating power of naval guns was mediocre; which meant that the thick hull of a well-built wooden ship could only be pierced at short ranges. These wooden ships sailed closer and closer towards each other until cannon fire would be effective. Each tried to be the first to fire a broadside, often giving one side a decisive headstart in the battle when it crippled the other ship. ^[1]

As a measurement

Additionally, the term broadside is a measurement of a vessel's maximum simultaneous fire power which can be delivered upon a single target, due to the fact that this concentration is usually obtained by firing a broadside. Fire power is a military capability to direct force at an enemy This is calculated by multiplying the shell weight of the ship's main armament shells times the number of barrels that can be brought to bear. If some turrets are incapable of firing to either side of the vessel, only the maximum number of barrels which can fire to one side or the other are counted. For example, the American Iowa-class battleships carry a main armament of nine 16-inch main guns in turrets which can all be trained to a single broadside. Construction See also Iowa class battleship, Armament of the Iowa class battleship Iowa was the lead ship of her class of " A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were Each 16-inch shell weighs 2,700 pounds, which when multiplied by nine (the total number of barrels in all three turrets) equals a total of 24,300 pounds (11,022 kg). Thus, an Iowa-class battleship has a broadside of 12 short tons (11. 0 tonnes), the weight of shells that she can theoretically land on a target in a single firing.

See list of broadsides of major World War II ships for a comparison. The list of Broadsides of major World War II Ships is a comparative listing ranking the main armament broadside weight of major vessels in service during

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