Ordnance standardization leads toward the Establishments

Michael Richards and the Board of Ordnance appear in an effort to reduce the bewildering variety of gun sizes and ammunition. Standardization simplified supply and made a ship's battery easier to understand and support, even though practical compromises remained. The later Establishments extended this impulse to hull dimensions and rated classes, giving dockyards common targets while never eliminating local judgment or evolutionary change. Ordering by projectile weight also let the service buy cannon and millions of rounds of shot in bulk with clearer cost control.