Henry/Terry:

Regarding your esoteric exchange of msgs, can I please add that its more likely a warship would never have her weapons loaded, unless she was about to go into action or was likely to.

Not only is it a safety issue, i.e. someone could stumble and trip the gunlock, but by leaving a charge of black powder in the barrel for an indefinate period, there is always the risk of the damp causing either a "hangfire" or misfire.

Dont forget that most of the "great guns" invariably have Tampions installed when the weapons are not in use, so isnt it more likely that when the guns are run in to have the Tampions removed, that would then be the time to have a fresh charge of powder rammed down the tube together with a cannonball?