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In the Age of Sail (and in the early years of steam) ships had long rows of guns set in each side of the hull which could only fire to the one side: firing all guns on one side of the ship was known as a "broadside"; firing all guns on both sides was a double broadside. The cannons of 18th century men of war were accurate only at short range, and their penetrating power mediocre, entailing that thick hulls of wooden ships could only be pierced at short ranges. These wooden ships sailed closer and closer towards each other until cannon fire would be effective. Each tried to be the first to fire a broadside, often giving one party a decisive headstart in the battle when it crippled the other ship.^[1]

Era della navigazione

Durante l'era della navigazione (e nei primi anni del vapore) le navi avevano lunghe file di cannoni nello stesso lato dello scafo, i quali potevano sparare solo da un lato; il fuoco da tutte le armi su un lato della nave era conosciuto come bordata; sparare da tutte le armi da entrambi i lati veniva chiamato bordata doppia. I cannoni delle Man-of-war del XVIII secolo erano precisi solo a distanza ravvicinata, e il loro potere penetrante era mediocre, cosìcche gli scafi spessi delle navi di legno non potevano essere danneggiati, se non a distanze ravvicinate. Queste navi di legno navigavano avvicinandosi sempre di più l'una verso l'altra, fino a quando il fuoco dei cannoni sarebbe efficace. Ognuna delle navi cercava di essere la prima a sparare una bordata, ottenendo così un vantaggio decisivo nella battaglia^[2].

As a measurement

 

USS Iowa firing her guns broadside (1984). Note the water displaced beneath the bores.

Additionally, the term broadside is a measurement of a vessel's maximum simultaneous fire power which can be delivered upon a single target, because this concentration is usually obtained by firing a broadside. This is calculated by multiplying the shell weight of the ship's main armament shells times the number of barrels that can be brought to bear. If some turrets are incapable of firing to either side of the vessel, only the maximum number of barrels which can fire to one side or the other are counted. For example, the American Iowa-class battleships carry a main armament of nine 16-inch main guns in turrets which can all be trained to a single broadside. Each 16-inch shell weighs 2,700 pounds, which when multiplied by nine (the total number of barrels in all three turrets) equals a total of 24,300 pounds (11,022 kg). Thus, an Iowa-class battleship has a broadside of 12 short tons (11.0 tonnes), the weight of shells that she can theoretically land on a target in a single firing.

1. ^ Stephen Biesty (ill.) and Richard Platt (author). (1993). Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man-of-War. New York: Dorling Kindersley.
2. ^ Stephen Biesty (ill.) and Richard Platt (author). (1993). Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man-of-War. New York: Dorling Kindersley.