Subject:
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Re: John E. Doolittle
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.pirates
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Date:
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Tue, 1 Feb 2000 05:53:46 GMT
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Viewed:
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4264 times
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Tony Priestman wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Jan 2000, Richard Parsons (<Fp2xL2.D31@lugnet.com>) wrote at
> 04:23:36
>
> > So what's the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century equivalent of a
> > missile system - a carronade? ;-)
>
> I don't think so - carronades were only good a short range.
>
> You might be able to put a very large cannon on a very small, fast ship,
> but even so, you'd probably only get a few shots off before you were hit
> or shaken to bits.
>
> You *could* use rockets. Someone on the British army (Congreve) was
> experimenting with them round about this time, or earlier.
> <snip elation>
Yeah, but if you need *guidance*, you need the only sort of guidance system
available in the age of sail: Well-liquored sailin' wretches and Greek
Fire. I'm thinking of the destruction of the USS Philadelphia at Tripoli by
a small party after it was captured by the Barbary Pirates.
best
Lindsay
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: John E. Doolittle
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| On Sat, 29 Jan 2000, Richard Parsons (<Fp2xL2.D31@lugnet.com>) wrote at 04:23:36 (...) I don't think so - carronades were only good a short range. You might be able to put a very large cannon on a very small, fast ship, but even so, you'd probably (...) (25 years ago, 29-Jan-00, to lugnet.pirates)
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