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Kieran,

Again from O'Brian, who, by the way, appears to have studied the
sources rather carefully and thoroughly, flintlocks were present on the
Shannon when she beat the Chesapeake, although Aubrey recommended to
Broke that a slow match be kept lit in case they misfired.  I believe
the Surprise, being an older ship, lacked flintlocks.  The
Shannon-Chesapeake battle would have been during the War of 1812, as we
know it in the U.S.  That would put it almost a decade past Trafalgar;
there were many technological advances during that period.

I regret I cannot provide a more definitive answer.

Fred Hebard

On Dec 10, 2003, at 5:03 AM, Kieran Kelly wrote:

> Also close observation would show that the guns on Aubrey's "Surprise"
> in
> the film were fired with flintlocks. I thought Napoleonic era cannon
> were
> fired with a slow-match applied directly to the touch hole. Can anyone
> help
> me here?
>

   

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