Who has Authority Over the Guns?

[AThompson]

I appreciate that this might be a question that is answered with "it depends".

You've Beat to Quarters and Cleared for Action, who is it that actually has authority over the guns? I know that each gundeck was controlled by some lieutenants and midshipmen, and each gun had a captain. But who decides to load with canister or bar-shot, and when, or double-shot for that matter? Is this up to the captain, or is this at the authority of the lieutenants of the gundeck?

The captain is up on the quarterdeck, so I assume that these types of decisions are up to the officers of the gundeck? But saying that, they wouldn't be able to see what the captain can up on the quarterdeck.

[OpanaPointer]

IIRC the First Lt. had the overall command of the gun decks with the "Gunner", a warrant officer, honchoing the lower gun deck. This from reading 50+ years ago.