Dictionary Definition
salvo
Noun
1 an outburst resembling the discharge of
firearms or the release of bombs
2 rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms; "our
fusillade from the left flank caught them by surprise" [syn:
fusillade, volley, burst]
3 a sudden outburst of cheers; "there was a salvo
of approval" [also: salvoes (pl)]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) , /ˈsælvəʊ/, /"s
Extensive Definition
- For other uses see Salvo (disambiguation).
Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time
in which to refill their arms with gun powder and
shot. Gun drills were
designed to enable an almost continuous rain of fire on the enemy
by lining troops into ranks,
allowing one rank to fire a salvo, or volley, while the other ranks
prepared their guns for firing.
The term is commonly used to
describe the firing of broadsides by warships, especially battleships. During fleet
engagements in the days of sail, from 17th century until the 19th
century, ships
of the line were maneuvered with the objective of bringing the
greatest possible number of cannon to bear on the enemy and to
discharge them in a salvo, causing enough damage and confusion as
to allow time for the cannon to be swabbed out and reloaded.
Crossing the
T, employed by Horatio
Nelson, entailed cutting across the enemy's line of
battle to enable broadsides to be fired into
the enemy's relatively ill armed bow or
poop
cabin. The opportunity was a passing one and the most had to be
made of it.
With the coming of the
HMS Dreadnought, with her turreted
main
armament, the heavy guns were directed by firing a salvo of
half-broadside in order to observe the fall of shot, allowing
enough time to adjust for range and direction before firing the
other half-broadside. This way, shells were kept in flight while
each half-battery was reloaded. Reloading a battleship guns,
arriving at a firing solution and lining the guns up to fire took
as long as 30 seconds, especially when the fall of shot needed to
be observed and corrections made before firing again. A target ship
moving at traveled in 30 seconds, and would often maneuver to
"spoil" the range measurement. The "spread" of the salvo would have
one shot fire "over" the estimated range, one shot "under," and two
on the estimated range. When a four-shot "salvo" "straddled" the
target with one splashing over, one splashing under and two landing
on or near the target, fire control officers knew they had the
correct range. All turret
mounted guns on battleships and cruisers were directed by the
Gunnery officer, positioned high in the ship and equipped with a
visual range finder
and other mechanisms for directing fire. Instructions to the
gunlayers in the
turrets were passed by
voice pipe, messenger and, later, by
telephone, Latterly,
guns could be laid by remote
control by the Gunnery Director. Late in World War
II, guns were directed by radar.
See also
salvo in German:
Salve
salvo in Lithuanian:
Salvė
salvo in Polish:
Salwa
salvo in Russian:
Залп
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
allowance, anniversaries,
antiaircraft barrage, appreciation, bang, bark, barrage, blast, bombardment, bowshot, box barrage, broadside, bullet, burst, cannon, cannonade, cannonry, celebrating, celebration, ceremony, cession, circumscription,
commemoration,
concession, crack, creeping barrage, detonation, discharge, dressing ship,
drumfire, ejection, emergency barrage,
enfilade, exception, exemption, explosion, extenuating
circumstances, fanfare,
fanfaronade,
festivity, flourish of
trumpets, fulmination, fusillade, grain of salt,
grant, gun, gunfire, gunshot, hail, hedge, hedging, holiday, jubilee, limitation, marking the
occasion, memorialization,
memory, mental
reservation, modification, mortar
barrage, normal barrage, observance, ovation, pop, potshot, qualification, rejoicing, religious rites,
remembrance,
reservation,
restriction,
revel, rite, ritual observance, salute, shot, shower, solemn observance,
solemnization,
special case, special treatment, specialness, specification, spray, standing barrage, stoneshot, storm, tattoo, testimonial, testimonial
banquet, testimonial dinner, toast, tribute, triumph, volley, waiver