Photos from museum of artillery

[fernando]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

True, the breech-loading types might have lost some of their...um...gas , but as a close-range weapon meant to sweep the enemies decks, they didn't necessarily need much range. That would have strictly been left up to the larger cannon.

Correct reasoning; in fact, most of those pieces were of small dimensions and classified as anti personal. Some times they carried them along on foot, when making incursions in the interior.
They were also good to use in the bateis (ship's rowing boats) to board other ships or engage in battle with other rowing vessels, which so often took place.