#583 A spider's Chain

 Fun Fact #583

A Spider’s Chain

When coming against Naval vessels The British army wanted the ability to disable a ship without completely destroying it. Thus the Chain shot was invented.

The concept is simple, design a cannon shot that is wide enough to disable the masts of a sailing ship. Originally known as “Angel Shot” for the two balls needing a miracle to hit a mast, Chain shot quickly caught on for Lombard Cannons with some variants like Bar-shot (two balls connected by an iron beam instead of a chain). The most interesting variant was “The Spider Ball” which took a cannoneer’s ability to bounce roundshot off the ground (like skipping a rock on water) and attaching chains to the sides to widen its field of effect making for an easily loaded and operated anti-personnel shot.  Sometimes blades, and spikes were also used for a less effective but similar role. 

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