OT: Battleships and Merchants was Re: Mercs, yet again

> John wrote:

> The time of privateers and letters of

> And Then Tom wrote:

> [Tomb] And you can make ad hoc warships

G'Day

Just a bit of trivia:) Actually the battleship of Nelson's day had a lot in
common with their merchant counterparts, that's because John basically got it
right in saying ".........only expense in converting a merchantman to a
warship was cutting holes in the side and mounting
cannon.........".
That's because the only difference between a man of war and a merchantmen was
the gunports cut into the hull, the H.M. Bark Endeavor (Captain James Cook's
ship) started life as a collier (the 'Earl of Pembroke').

Yes, warships were purpose built from the keel up but it wasn't until the
introduction of exploding shells, armour plate and steam propulsion that

warships began to differ greatly from their merchant cousins. In fact it

was these similarities that allowed the Royal Navy to attain a strategic

reach unequaled by even today's modern navies [Yes, even the US Navy;)
].
Warships of Nelson's day still retained large cargo holds left over from

their merchantmen ancestry and unlike later vessels being sail powered they
didn't need to give over large amounts of area to the storage of fuel (nor did
they have the constant need to refuel).

Cheers