(nominal; about
600, real)

On March 8, 1808, the _San Florenzo_, 36, captured the _Piedmontaise_,
40, the force being exactly what it was in the case of the _Phoenix_
and Didon.[Footnote: Ibid., in, 499.] Comparing the real, not the
nominal weight of metal, we find that the _Didon_ and _Piedmontaise_
were proportionately of greater force compared to the _Phoenix_
and _San Florenzo_, than the _Constitution_ was compared to the
_Guerriere_ or _Java_. The French 18's threw each a shot weighing
but about two pounds less than that thrown by an American 24 of
1812, while their 36-pound carronades each threw a shot over 10
pounds heavier than that thrown by one of the _Constitution's_
spar-deck 32's.

That a 24-pounder can not always whip an 18-pounder frigate is
shown by the action of the British frigate _Eurotas_ with the
French frigate _Chlorinde_, on Feb. 25, 1814. [Footnote: James,
vi, 391.] The first with a crew of 329 men threw 625 pounds of
shot at a broadside, the latter carrying 344 men and throwing 463
pounds; yet the result was indecisive. The French lost 90 and the
British 60 men. The action showed that heavy metal was not of much
use unless used well.

To appreciate rightly the exultation Hull's victory caused in the
United States, and the intense annoyance it created in England, it
must be remembered that during the past twenty years the Island
Power had been at war with almost every state in Europe, at one
time or another, and in the course of about two hundred single
conflicts between ships of approximately equal force (that is, where