Swivel gun

A swivel gun installed on the Jackdaw

The swivel gun is a small naval cannon mounted on a rotating post which allows it to pivot for a wide arc of fire.

Design

With a higher rate-of-fire, the swivel gun was used throughout the 18th century as an anti-personnel emplacement on the quarterdecks of warships to supplement the larger main cannons. Although it boasted less destructive force against anything larger than a schooner, a single shot from a swivel gun was generally sufficient to sink gunboats. With their greater mobility, it was also a common tactic to use swivel guns to precisely target any gunpowder storage that had been exposed through an enemy's ship hull in the heat of battle.

History

In the early 18th century, the pirate and eventual Assassin Edward Kenway installed a pair of swivel guns on his ship, the Jackdaw. During Edward's later travels in Southeast Asia, the engineer Yun Pyeong-Gyu, following his recruitment into the Zhang Wei Union by Edward, installed a number of breech-loading swivel guns on the Fenghuang. The cannons were personally modified by Yun to have increased caliber and firepower while still being able to rotate in any direction.

During the same period, no matter how many ships he switched, the French pirate Alonzo Batilla always installed a pair of swivel guns on his ship. The Assassin warship Aquila captained by Edward's grandson Ratonhnhaké:ton during the American Revolutionary War also featured a pair of swivel guns, and he used them to devastating effect against British frigates at the Battle of the Chesapeake.

Gallery

• 
  Edward firing a swivel gun
• 
  Swivel guns aboard the Fenghunag
• 
  Pirates firing swivel guns

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple