"The “Great Siege” of Gibraltar – and Heated Shot " Topic

"Accounts of naval operations against shore fortifications in the "Age of Fighting Sail" make frequent references to the use of "heated shot" – cannon balls warmed to white heat in furnaces before firing. When used against wooden ships such shot was capable of setting their targets ablaze. For obvious reasons the ability of sailing vessels to respond in kind was all but impossible and heated shot remained the perquisite of shore batteries, many of which equipped with specially built furnaces. Each glowing ball was carried to the gun by two men, having between them a strong iron frame. The gun was loaded with a powder charge in the usual way, but with two heavy wads, one dry and the other slightly damped, to separate the powder and the ball. The chance of the wadding taking fire must always have been present and the consequences of this would have been deadly. Loading guns in this way must have been a nerve-racking business.

Heated shot was to play a decisive role in the "Great Siege" of Gibraltar (1779-1783). Gibraltar had been captured by Britain in 1704 (Click here for an earlier blog about this) and in the intervening years "The Rock" was heavily fortified, batteries and tunnels being hewn out of the rock itself. Its availability as a naval base in the Anglo-French wars of the mid-18th Century was of major strategic value to Britain, lying, as it did, on the entrance to the Mediterranean. It was not surprising therefore that during the American War of Independence (1775-83) its capture was an objective of the greatest importance for Britain's enemies. France had joined the conflict in 1778 and Spain was to do likewise in the following year. Plans were immediately put afoot to seize Gibraltar. Spanish troops constructed siege-lines across the mile-wide isthmus connecting Gibraltar to the Spanish mainland and a close-blockade was initiated by Spanish vessels operating out of Algeciras, across the bay from The Rock. A more powerful Spanish naval force – eleven line-of-battle ships and two frigates – was based at Cadiz, some 60 miles to the west so as to intercept British reinforcements…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Decent book on this subject –
"Gibraltar Besieged 1779-1783" by Jack Russell.

B

Thanks for the recomendation my friend!.

Amicalement
Armand

Armand,

The construction of the ovens to heat the shot was taught in the French artillery schools. Apparently, Napoleon supervised the construction of them early in his career.

The French called heated or hot shot 'red bullets.'

K

Thanks my friend Kevin.

Amicalement
Armand