Nock Gun: How to Clear a Deck the Royal Navy Way!

The Nock (Volley) Gun was, on paper at least, the best way to clear a deck during ship-to-ship and boarding operations: This smoothbore flintlock weapon was capable of firing a volley of seven 12mm rounds simultaneously.

Adoption by the Royal Navy

The British Army refused to adopt it, but the Royal Navy thought this was a great concept and put it into use.

The idea was to fire the Nock Gun from an elevated position (tops) down onto the masses of sailors packed on the decks of enemy ships. That was the theory. In practice, firing 7 rounds of .46 cal simultaneously was murderous for one’s shoulder and broken bones were a real possibility for the man squeezing the trigger! The extremely slow reload was also a downside. And firing lead, embers, sparks, and burning wadding while being surrounded by sails, rigging and tarred hemp proved to be a real hazard.

Service Duration

In total, 500 Nock Guns were purchased by the Royal Navy, but they only stayed in service for 24 years.

-RBM.