CARRONADE  , a piece of

ordnance invented, by the application of an old principle of gun construction, to serve as a ship's gun . The inventor was the antiquary General Robert Melville (1728-1809) . He designed the piece in 1759, and called it the " smasher," but it was not adopted in the British navy till 1779, and was then known as the " carronade," from the Carron works on the Carron river in Stirlingshire, Scotland, where it was first cast by Mr Gascoigne . The carronade had a powder chamber like many of the earliest guns known, and was similar to a mortar . It was short, light, had a limited range, but was destructive at close quarters . Carronades were added to the existing armaments of guns proper or long guns . A 38-gun frigate carried ten carronades, and was therefore armed with 48 pieces of ordnance . As the official classifications were not changed, they were misleading guides to the real strength of British ships, which always carried more pieces than they were described as carrying . The same remark applies to French and American ships when the use of the carronade extended from the British to other navies .