Research Note
Drakes and Cutts
Fred Hocker
Projektledare Vasaforskning/Director of Vasa Research, Vasa Museum
Drakes were one of several attempts in the 1620s to develop a lightweight gun
that would allow substantial firepower without compromising stability. The
drake was a thin-walled gun in which the bore toward the breech was tapered,
creating a powder chamber with thicker walls where needed the most. Externally
there was little difference from what had come before, except that they looked
a little "spindly", due to the reduced diameter. The tradeoff was reduced
range and penetration, but as most engagements in this period were fought at
point-blank range, this was less of an issue. The geometry of gunports and gun
carriages for many ships in this period makes it clear that guns could not be
significantly elevated, and most ballistic calculations were based on
point-blank aiming, either "bore sighting" or sighting directly along the top
of the barrel, which gave an elevation of only a couple of degrees. Modern
calculations suggest that this gave a maximum effective range of only 300-400
meters (although there are many variables not accounted for in most modern
analyses of muzzle-loading black powder guns).
{Fred Hocker}
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