[quote=ASTA]
To be fair, ships didn't go down after one or two shots. Ships of this era were fairly robust, and could endure multiple hits from cannons. I don't know much about this, however. Do any of our native history buffs care to chime in?
[/quote]

I know. But boat cannons do to boats what land cannons do to walls. A land cannon shooting at a boat will do a crikey-load of damage. Boats have the benifit of being faster to build.