[MR] History Blog: Early Ship’s Artillery Recreated

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the History Blog story is about artillery from the 15th century
Danish ship "Gribshunden".

This remarkable 1485 vessel was the Danish king's royal flagship. It was at
the time one of the most powerful and advanced warships in Europe. She sank
after a mysterious explosion off the coast of Sweden in 1495. The wreck was
discovered in 1971, and scientific exploration began in 2001.

Recently the wooden gun beds for several of the ship's guns were recovered
from the wreck. The beds were carved to fit the iron barrels (which did not
survive), allowing the guns to be digitally reconstructed. Rather than huge
cannons designed to blow other ships to pieces, these guns were all
anti-personnel weapons that fired ping pong ball-sized round shot.

The History Blog story provides a link to a brief YouTube video showing
what the guns would have looked like and how they were used:
https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74256 .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.