Boom!

[karohemd]

"At a ship-to-ship fighting distance of about 100 yards, the ball would have sufficient punch to penetrate the oak planks of a galleon, travelling across the deck and out the other side. "
Probably (... as long as there weren't any other obstacles - like crew! - in between) but that is still quite impressive.

Comments

[mobbsy.livejournal.com]

I've recently started re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series of books. The descriptions of the naval battles are superb and terrifying. OK, so that's a couple of centuries later than those guns, but still.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

If the cannonball can go right through the ship then a few ugly bags of mostly water aren't going to stop it.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Although actually bags full of water are quite a good way to get the energy out of projectiles. Similar principle to ablative armour.