I’m sure the answer will be obvious, but would have guessed sinking would have been beneficial over just destroying a ships sailing ability. At least from what I’ve been able to find.
In: 21
Very few ships were sunk in battle in the age of wooden warships (a few – as at the Battle of the Nile – blew up when a shot triggered a chain of explosions that led to a magazine). Water stopped balls aimed below the waterline, and hitting ‘between wind and water’ was hard. Also, ships of the line had galleries at the waterline patrolled by carpenters with plugs and shores, to control this kind of damage. The best way to disable a ship was to kill the gun-crews, either by superior weight or speed of fire or by firing along the decks, through the less protected stern or bow (a raking fire). The Shannon, a crack gunnery frigate, walked a cone of concentrated fire along the gun-deck of the Chesapeake, killing crews and dismounting guns, then boarded and captured the demoralised remnants. Capture was so common that one historian remarked that the British regarded the French navy as a sort of floating reserve (eg Trafalgar – 21 ships taken)
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