Perhaps all these tests should be performed, shooting through one of the "ribs" that go around the hull, rather than through the thinner planking. I'd think that with the proper size of shot (whether grape, chain, or simply 22 lb) that the energy of destroying one of the ribs would create more and better shrapnel than the thin planking used on the show.

AARRG!

Also if you look at ship construction from that time period, you will find that ship actually have two "layers". There is the ceiling which is located on the inside of the ship and then the outer hull that comes in direct contact with the water. It could be possible that the amount of splinters that could be produce would increase if you included the ceiling or the "inner layer" of the hull, in your experiments

I am guessing that the show on Oct 3rd, 2007 was a repeat. Good show. But in naval battles the cannons were larger, 18 and 24 pounders. cannoades were even larger 32 pounders but very short range. I am guessing that a larger cannon would produce the effect you were seeking

I have the same reaction as most of you. Testing this using a 6 pound cannon is the equivalent of using a BB gun to prove that bullets can't penetrate the skin. The kinetic force of a 24-36 pound cannon would be much, much higher than what they used.

Quick question that should point out that this wasn't a myth. If splinters didn't pose much of a threat, then why did naval ships spend precious time before a battle rigging splinter netting? This was standard procedure before any engagement. No one would have bothered if there hadn't been a good reason to do so.

First off I am a big fan of the show. But I have to agree with previous post. First off, a 6 pnder. Come on fellas, I would have to laugh unless you were chasing me well I was in my row boat. Most ships of that era used 12pndrs and went all the way up to 32 pndrs. Also as mentioned they fired in volleys, imagine ten 24pnd cannon balls slamming into your ship at a few hundred yards maybe and kaboom, lots of devestation. Also cannon balls are not anti-personal wepons. They were used to sink ships. Grape shot, tiny metal balls or bits of metal scrap were used to kill and maim sailors. They also used chain shot, small cannon balls linked togeather with chains to destroy rigging and mast.

Also, I am not sure if anyone noticed but they were using a cival war cannon in the episode. There is a definate time diffrence between the cannons of the civil war and the cannons of the pirate era. Not that it made much difference as again it was a 6 pnd ball.

I love the myth as I am a pirate buff, but I just honestly think that it was not done as well as it could have been and that cannon balls, espcially the 12pnd to 32pnd type would send a lot of splinters flying, escpecially when fired in mass.

Well, My post won't be as impressive as Mary's, but I think I saw a couple basic problems with the set up to test "Killer Splinters"
1) The "pirate ship" moved on impact. This movement surely absorbed some of the energy that would have otherwise been translated into deadlier splinters.

2) I'll just echo Mary in that it seemed like some fairly small cannon balls.

I hate to be picky, but I'd really like to see them look at this again.

Thanks for a great show,

vtrnrn

I know you guys are all talking about the cannon part of this episode, but while watching the Sword & Sail myth I noticed that while doing the testing of this the sail was hanging limp. In the movies the sails are full. They can't really lable it a Bust because they didn't recreate the actual elemental factors of it. The sails in the movies are all arched due to the air, therefore, the person isn't falling straight to the ground/deck of the ship. For all anyone knows the arch could cause the person to fall slower than normal!

Also, in a couple of pirate movies I've noticed that instead of just holding the blade stationary, they are actually sawing at the sail. Sorry Mythbusters, but I'd say you haven't really busted this myth yet.

I think they had the cannon to close to the make shift ship. In a real life battle I dont think the ship got only ten feet apart before firing there cannons. Try moving the cannon back a little.

Your choice of pigs may not really show the effects of splinters,they sure are alot tougher than my skin and your first choice of airgun probably was more in the power range of a deck swivel gun(used as a big shotgun) on rigging crews and launches,please find a large bore cannon and use proper wood fastened together as in a ships hull with oakum and pitch joints (pitch that has dried over the years will make the wood harder) also wood above the water line exposed to constant salt spray and drying will loose its oils and moisture content. Gun decks had very low ceilings and the idea was to cram as many cannons on board as close as you could to the waterline to have straight shots(not glancing)at the other ships waterline -who cares about killing the crew ,just sink the ship,also low ceiling gun decks means less roll and faster maneuvers

like the others said there is grape shot and the chain shot in the cannon and they did use heavier cannon balls not to mention that kind of like grape shot they used EXPLODING cannonballs which i think would get these splinters going. strongly suggest you revisit this one.

I really don't have the physics education behind me to know the answer, but would a Lead ball make a difference? I was doing a little looking on Wikipedia and noticed that the mass majority of cannon discharge back then was Lead...

I can't believe that they've shown that same old show again without any indication that anyone on MythBusters has bothered to read all the work that's gone into this thread to try to set things right.

Not sure if this has already been covered previously in the other 17 pages of replies, but the few pages I read also didn't mention one more factor about the splinters, boats at sea are wet, the wood is watersoaked. Also, unless I am wrong, since I only caught the last part, they were using oak bought at a lumberyard, dried, cured, and much smoother than hand-hewn planks would have been.

And BTW... in order for ships to be in battle, don't they HAVE to be relatively close together to cause any kind of P2P damage? Sword fights and epic battles can't happen unless you're at lease within SWINGING distance of each-other's ships, right?

I will have to add that the upper deck level guns were abel to elevate enough close range to damage rigging with bar and chain shot.Most pirates were on the quest of Spainish gold from the new world,I can't imagine them going face to face with the firepower of a galleon,maybe it was more night time raiding and what navel commander would write in the log that he lost his ship while he slept. The eyepatch stuff was pretty good but you forgot ,that you don't have depth perception with one eye,I would love to fence with you if you had a eyepatch on

To Mary: The reason Adam and Jamie had the four "crewmembers" aligned for this myth was to replicate optimal conditions. Of course pirates wouldn't stand shoulder to shoulder four deep in a time of battle. That wasn't the myth. The goal was to get results, or not to get results. Having this setup lessened the chances of error. If the splinters were sufficient to cause death, certainly the abundance of pig carcas would have illustrated it. Had they not been sufficient to cause fatal injury, the abundance of exposed target surface (the pigs) would have certainly debunked the myth. Ultimately, the setup employed by our gracious hosts would have ruled out a false negative (not enough targets to disconfirm), while almost ensuring a positive outcome (confirmation) if at all possible.

Real, I agree that the eyepatch myth was pretty lame. I certainly wouldn't go climbing the rigging or dodging a cutlass with one eye if I had two. The only person I can see wearing an eyepatch for those reasons would be the powder monkey who would be going in and out of the magazine during a fight.
As far as the Spanish treasure ships, they usually traveled in convoy with galleons to protect them. Pirates, or as in the early days English privateers, sometimes worked together in fleet actions to raid the treasure fleets enroute to Spain.

HMS Victory had three gun decks 104 total cannons,upper were 12pounders ,middle 24pounders and lower 32pounders -the 32s were 1600fps at a flat range(waterline) of 300 meters with a 90sec reload time with a 6 man crew per gun with iron ball- not lead,they could penetrate a 2 1/2 ft hull and "created a huge spray of deadly flying splinters" info at http:// bronze cannon.net/cannoninfo.htm

I'm no historian for sure; but is the HMS Victory accurate to the timeline? And where did it make its birth? Different countries, different charge materials; and Lead will burst on impact with a ship-hull with THAT much power behind it...

Oh Sweety, how can you not know of Lord Nelsons famous flagship? http://www.hms-victory.com/
For the others, I ran across a site on wooden ship construction which has been a prominent topic from time to time. It's worth reading. http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1800shipconstruction.htm