Why do we say "son of a gun"?

Have you ever wondered why ....

... someone is called "son of a gun"?

Today, the expression is used in a friendly, joking manner, but originally it had a quite different meaning.

There was a time when women were allowed to live on board naval ships, and it is said that when secret rendez-vous took
place between these women and the ship's crew, the meeting place was usually behind a canvas screen near the midship gun.
Therefore, when a male child of uncertain parentage was born aboard the ship, he was entered in the ship's log as a "son of a
gun."

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