Naval gunners fired a range of specialized projectiles from their cannons in order to disable or destroy enemy vessels. Solid iron "round shot" were used to pound and penetrate the heavy wooden planks that made up a ship's hull. Gunners also used "bar shot" and "chain shot," which tumbled through the air with a terrifying buzz, to knock down the masts and cut away the sails and rigging of opposing ships. Cramped together above and below decks, sailors of all nationalities suffered horrific wounds both from projectiles such as these and the showers of wooden splinters that erupted from their battered ships after impact.