The term
gun deck used to refer to a
deck aboard a
ship that was primarily used for the mounting of
cannon to be fired in
broadsides. However, on many smaller vessels such as
frigates and
unrated vessels, the upper deck,
forecastle and
quarterdeck bore all of the cannons but were not referred to as the gun deck. The completely covered level under the upper deck was, however, still called the gun deck although it had no guns at all.