This book marks the end of an era: naval gunnery in the style of Admiral Nelson. In 1855 the British Navy was still fitted overwhelmingly with muzzle loading cannon and carronades. Within a generation the new rifled guns would come into service, and naval gunnery would then be a matter of science rather than an art.
The book looks in great detail at the whole subject, starting with a basic section on ballistics, including an examination of the effect of shot and shell on wooden ships. It continues with an analysis of British and foreign naval guns, and examines rebored guns, new gun types, rifled guns, rocketry and attacks on fortresses. This is followed by a manual of operation of the guns in service, including gun deck layout, firing and reloading.
Appendices look at other aspects of weapons in use at sea and on land, including rifled muskets and Louis Napoleon's new artillery system. There is also an important 'time slice' showing the armament of the Royal Navy of the period as well as 'Observations on the Lancaster Gun' and a description of naval operations in the Black Sea during the Crimean War.
The extra detail is what makes this book - not merely naval gunnery, but other important matters which give a detailed picture of naval thought in 1855.