Back to the Drawing Board: the Nock Volley Gun

In 1779, James Wilson submitted a design for a seven-barrel volley gun to the Board of Ordnance. Although he had intended the gun as an army weapon, the Board decided that it was impractical for land service, but would be useful for the Royal Navy’s warships.An initial batch, made by the London gunsmith Henry Nock, was tested at Woolwich before undergoing sea trials on HMS Phoenix off Portsmouth. They were simple 12mm (0.46in) calibre muzzle-loading flintlock weapons with six barrels mounted around a seventh central barrel. The barrel assembly was screwed to an iron plate set into the walnut stock and (in theory) all barrels were fired simultaneously. The Nock volley gun. It was rapidly