Culverins, demi-culverins, and other inherited gun types varied as weapons became larger and more powerful. Practical shipbuilders did not yet share mature calculations for judging the resulting loading and stability problems. The tonnage example multiplies length minus 60 percent of beam by beam and then by half the beam, before dividing by 94. Its usefulness as an estimate of capacity was limited when assessing how safely a particular weight could be carried. Later load-line calculations and their wider use belonged to a continuing development of this practical knowledge.
Notable Point · 8:15-11:19
Why tonnage estimates could not settle safe loading
Early capacity estimates offered limited help when changing gun weights made warship loading and stability difficult to judge.