Iron

 is the skill of causing direct damage.

Effects
Each point of  increases the damage dealt by all ship weapons in combat.

WeaponDamageBonus = round( Iron * 0.16 )

Note this bonus does not scale with the weapon's base damage, unlike the Mirrors speed bonus. It depends only on your  score, meaning faster weapons (Deck, Forward) benefit more than slower ones (Aft). Also note that at the maximum possible level of ~250 (200+bonuses) it's equal to about 40, making the damage differences between strongest and weakest weapons barely noticable.

Obtaining
 can change temporarily or permanently. Ship and weaponry upgrades can quickly increase total ', but not base '.

Temporary
You can increase or decrease  temporarily by having the following:

Permanent
You can permanently increase or decrease base  with the following:

Officers

 * Talk to any Gunnery Officer to increase +1 x Iron