Thread: Ships and cannons

I like salvo but cannonade is romantic.

If it is historical 'broadside' would be my choice. Mars, for example, second ship in line in Collingwood's squadron at Trafalgar, is always described as having taken a broadside through the stern as the action opened. In the situation where guns were fired in turn, front to back of the ship as they came to bear on the target, it might be called a 'running broadside'. The command when coming under fire was 'Stand by to receive broadsides.', to which the traditional response was "For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful", though knowing naval discipline, no doubt said quietly.

A salvo is a simultaneous firing of guns, a cannonade is not, it is in the nature of a continuous bombardment over a period of time.