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ships of the line. The largest ships employed were the equivalent of battleships. They were mounted with up to 74 guns generally of a size of 32 pounders (the calibre of guns was usually quoted as the weight of the round shot, the cannon ball, which they fired), but up to 64 pounders. Field pieces were of smaller size so that they could be moved about the countryside. The forces in the first China war had six and nine pounders as well as 12 pounder howitzers. The main projectile was round shot. The guns would fire round shot to demolish the walls of forts etc. and they could do this very effectively, especially with the larger sizes of shot. Round shot would also plough through troops.
The other projectiles that the cannon used were shells and grape or canister. The common shell was filled with explosive which exploded when the fuse burnt down. The early fuses were not very reliable and it was not until the 1850s that accurate and reliable fuses had been developed. However, even in the first war, there are reports of shells being effective against the Chinese forts. In the second war, the Chinese were surprised by the effectiveness of the improved fuses, when their troops were shelled behind Canton. Caseshot, grapeshot or canister was also used, which was a tin of the size of the bore filled with bullets which burst open as it left the muzzle allowing the bullets to spread out in an arc. The number of bullets used varied, but the following were the normal loads:
9 pounder gun
41 5-oz. bullets
6 pounder gun
41 1-oz. bullets
100 2-oz. Bullets
24 pounder howitzer
A variation of caseshot was the spherical caseshot which was fitted with a fuse so that the casing did not burst until it was well on its way to the target, thus increasing the effective range. Grapeshot could be used to clear men from the decks of ships as well as any massing on shore. Lieutenant Ouchterlony describes the effect that it could have in a confined space: "The effect was terrific, for the street was perfectly straight, and the enemy's rear, not aware of the miserable fate which was being dealt out to their comrades in the front, continued to mass forward, so as to force fresh victims upon the mound of dead and