X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Gun port


Gun port

In the Action of 4 August 1800, the large East Indiaman Exeter passed herself as a 74-gun ship of the line when she endeavoured to chase the much stronger French frigate Médée; after sunset, she perfected the illusion by opening and illuminating all her gun ports, whether armed or not; her appearance was so convincing that when she caught up with Médée, the frigate struck as if hopelessly overpowered.

But these guns were mounted in the ship's castles or in swivels, much in the way they were still mounted in the castles of the galleys at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.



see also