I'm not in the medical field so I turn to you folks for a possible answer and further explanation. It has been brought up on another forum concerning naval battles in the age of sail about the phenomena of sailors being killed or injured by cannon shot passing close to, but not striking, an individual. I presume this was due to the supersonic shockwave (1130 ft/sec) of the projectile hitting the individual.We're talking about Nelsonian era battles (1800's) with solid, non-explosive, shot of 18, 24, or 32 pound cannon balls and the victim at least 50 yards from the muzzle blast of the cannon. Does anyone have further knowledge of this effect?