Chain-shot
Encyclopedia
In artillery
, a chain-shot is an obsolete type of naval ammunition formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in naval warfare
in the age of sailing ship
s and black powder cannon
s to shoot down yards, masts, or to cut the shrouds and any other rigging of a target ship.
Chain shot was used by the defenders of Magdeburg
in May 1631 as an anti-personnel load, which according to counselor Otto von Guericke
was one reason for the extreme violence of the victorious attackers.
When fired, after leaving the muzzle, the shot's components tumble in the air, and the connecting chain fully extends. In past use, as much as six feet of chain would sweep through the target. However, the tumbling made both bar and chain shot less accurate, so they were used at shorter ranges.
Chain shot was normally not used as an anti-personnel load; this role was fulfilled more effectively and at lower cost by canister shot
or grapeshot
.
The military usefulness of chain shot died out as wooden sail-powered ships were replaced with armored steam ships — first among navies, and then among commercial fleets. Additionally, the conversion of naval armament from smoothbore
, muzzle loaded, black powder cannon
s to rifled, breech loaded guns further slowed the production of new chain shot ammunition; the chain would damage barrels (degrading maximum range, and further degrading effective range by degrading accuracy), and the new breech loading guns and their ammunition were meant to be effective against armored vessels as well as wooden sailing vessels.
In modern times, the effect is replicated in shotgun
s with the use of Bolo shells — a pair of slugs connected by a strong wire.
They are banned in several jurisdictions, including Florida and Illinois.
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, a chain-shot is an obsolete type of naval ammunition formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in naval warfare
Naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
in the age of sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
s and black powder cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s to shoot down yards, masts, or to cut the shrouds and any other rigging of a target ship.
Chain shot was used by the defenders of Magdeburg
Sack of Magdeburg
The Sack of Magdeburg refers to the siege and subsequent plundering of the largely Protestant city of Magdeburg by the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War...
in May 1631 as an anti-personnel load, which according to counselor Otto von Guericke
Otto von Guericke
Otto von Guericke was a German scientist, inventor, and politician...
was one reason for the extreme violence of the victorious attackers.
When fired, after leaving the muzzle, the shot's components tumble in the air, and the connecting chain fully extends. In past use, as much as six feet of chain would sweep through the target. However, the tumbling made both bar and chain shot less accurate, so they were used at shorter ranges.
Chain shot was normally not used as an anti-personnel load; this role was fulfilled more effectively and at lower cost by canister shot
Canister shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. It was similar to the naval grapeshot, but fired smaller and more numerous balls, which did not have to punch through the wooden hull of a ship...
or grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
.
The military usefulness of chain shot died out as wooden sail-powered ships were replaced with armored steam ships — first among navies, and then among commercial fleets. Additionally, the conversion of naval armament from smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
, muzzle loaded, black powder cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s to rifled, breech loaded guns further slowed the production of new chain shot ammunition; the chain would damage barrels (degrading maximum range, and further degrading effective range by degrading accuracy), and the new breech loading guns and their ammunition were meant to be effective against armored vessels as well as wooden sailing vessels.
In modern times, the effect is replicated in shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s with the use of Bolo shells — a pair of slugs connected by a strong wire.
They are banned in several jurisdictions, including Florida and Illinois.