pbl- cannon cchavis: The Hot Shot

Cornelius Chavis

pbl-cannon (1800 century)

The Hot Shot

The Hot Shot cannon is a process where a solid iron cannonball is heated red hot in a specially designed wood- or coal-fired furnace. Its then loaded into a muzzle-loading cannon cushion by a substance thickness of wet wads, and fired while still red hot. When this cannon hits it target it will set the target on fire, which was a very successful nearly all the time for base defense against attacks from wooden warships. It was carried by a 2-man litter and in the era of black powder the cannon charges contained in cloth bags, and occasioned much fanfare. It was conveyed to the muzzle as the red-hot projectile that would easily ignite careless handled loose powder.