Changing Technologies

The ships in the game cover a period from at least 1760 to 1815. Since there were a lot of technological advancements in that time period, I've been considering how to reflect them in play, especially during the period of introduction when not everybody had them.

Advances I've thought of are:
Coppered bottoms - ships without use a slower deck ~ 1780
Cure for Scurvy - reduce affected crew by a certain amount, starting at the top. ~ 1790
Carronades - equipped ships use the carronade rules ~ 1785
Heavy Frigates ~ 1810

A few more to get the creative juices flowing..
* Gunsights
* special rigging to reef sails without going aloft
* Spar decks to protect gunners
* flintlocks over slow match
* cannon ball that holds flammable liquid inside
* chains vs cordage
* tiller vs wheel
* water tanks
* All volunteer crew vs pressed crew
* boarded up bulwarks vs open rails or none
* lower quality of wood available towards the end

Most of these wouldn’t matter much but it’s worth mentioning.

Some very apt reminders about the changing nature of warfare shipmates.

Another was quality of powder.
The use of Teak in shipbuilding.
Automatic block making machinery introduction.

Rob.

Flintlocks, or gunlocks as they were called on cannons were introduced in 1745, but since they couldn't be retrofitted to existing guns it was a slow adoption process. Apparently, the French were still converting at Trafalgar!

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Originally Posted by Bligh

Some very apt reminders about the changing nature of warfare shipmates.

Another was quality of powder.
The use of Teak in shipbuilding.
Automatic block making machinery introduction.

Rob.

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Wasn't the introduction of Teak as a shipbuilding wood tied to the deforestation of large oak in Britain and Europe? And of course the availability of teak in the colonies.

The Teak popularity was indeed because of deforestation, plus the paucity of English shipyards able to keep up with demand for new ships. The East India Company found that the teak ships built for them were of high quality impervious to Teredo Navalis , fire resistant, and tough, sleek and fast the way the Indian shipwrights built them.The downside appeared to be that splinter wounds festered far more frequently than those inflicted from oak built ships.
Rob..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bligh

The Teak popularity was indeed because of deforestation, plus the paucity of English shipyards able to keep up with demand for new ships. The East India Company found that the teak ships built for them were of high quality impervious to Teredo Navalis , fire resistant, and tough, sleek and fast the way the Indian shipwrights built them.The downside appeared to be that splinter wounds festered far more frequently than those inflicted from oak built ships.
Rob..

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I can definitely concur about that festering! When working with teak, a splinter is much more painful than other woods. It would sure be interesting to do a comparison between teak and oak in getting hit by a cannonball. My bet goes with oak.

If you will excuse me Dobbs, that is one experiment I will delegate to someone else.
Rob.