Cannon
Part of a series on |
Cannons |
---|
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century. Cannons vary in gauge, effective range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. A cannon is a type of heavy artillery weapon.
The word cannon is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane, or reed. In the modern era, the term cannon has fallen into decline, replaced by guns or artillery, if not a more specific term such as
The earliest known depiction of cannons appeared in Song dynasty China as early as the 12th century; however, solid archaeological and documentary evidence of cannons do not appear until the 13th century.[1] In 1288, Yuan dynasty troops are recorded to have used hand cannon in combat, and the earliest extant cannon bearing a date of production comes from the same period.[2][3][4] By the early 14th century, possible mentions of cannon had appeared in the Middle East[5] and the depiction of one in Europe by 1326. Recorded usage of cannon began appearing almost immediately after.[6][7] They subsequently spread to India, their usage on the subcontinent being first attested to in 1366.[8] By the end of the 14th century, cannons were widespread throughout Eurasia.[9][10]
Cannons were used primarily as anti-infantry weapons until around 1374, when large cannons were recorded to have breached walls for the first time in Europe.
Etymology and terminology
The word cannon is derived from the Old Italian word cannone, meaning "large tube", which came from the Latin canna, in turn originating from the Greek κάννα (kanna), "reed",[16] and then generalised to mean any hollow tube-like object; cognate with the Akkadian qanu(m)[17] and the Hebrew qāneh, "tube, reed".[18][19][20] The word has been used to refer to a gun since 1326 in Italy, and 1418 in England. Both of the plural forms cannons and cannon are correct.[18][21]
History
East Asia
The cannon may have appeared as early as the 12th century in China,
The earliest known depiction of a cannon is a sculpture from the Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan dated to 1128,[1] however, the earliest archaeological samples and textual accounts do not appear until the 13th century. The primary extant specimens of cannon from the 13th century are the Wuwei Bronze Cannon dated to 1227, the Heilongjiang hand cannon dated to 1288, and the Xanadu Gun dated to 1298. However, only the Xanadu gun contains an inscription bearing a date of production, so it is considered the earliest confirmed extant cannon. The Xanadu Gun is 34.7 cm in length and weighs 6.2 kg. The other cannons are dated using contextual evidence.[25] The Heilongjiang hand cannon is also often considered by some to be the oldest firearm since it was unearthed near the area where the History of Yuan reports a battle took place involving hand cannons. According to the History of Yuan, in 1288, a Jurchen commander by the name of Li Ting led troops armed with hand cannons into battle against the rebel prince Nayan.[26]
Chen Bingying argues there were no guns before 1259, while Dang Shoushan believes the Wuwei gun and other Western Xia era samples point to the appearance of guns by 1220, and Stephen Haw goes even further by stating that guns were developed as early as 1200.[27] Sinologist Joseph Needham and renaissance siege expert Thomas Arnold provide a more conservative estimate of around 1280 for the appearance of the "true" cannon.[28][29] Whether or not any of these are correct, it seems likely that the gun was born sometime during the 13th century.[30]
References to cannons proliferated throughout China in the following centuries. Cannon featured in literary pieces. In 1341 Xian Zhang wrote a poem called The Iron Cannon Affair describing a cannonball fired from an eruptor which could "pierce the heart or belly when striking a man or horse, and even transfix several persons at once."[31] By the 1350s the cannon was used extensively in Chinese warfare. In 1358 the Ming army failed to take a city due to its garrisons' usage of cannon, however, they themselves would use cannon, in the thousands, later on during the siege of Suzhou in 1366.[32][33][34]
The
The first of the western cannon to be introduced were
Japan did not acquire cannon until 1510 when a monk brought one back from China, and did not produce any in appreciable numbers.[41] During the 1593 Siege of Pyongyang, 40,000 Ming troops deployed a variety of cannons against Japanese troops. Despite their defensive advantage and the use of arquebus by Japanese soldiers, the Japanese were at a severe disadvantage due to their lack of cannon. Throughout the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), the Ming–Joseon coalition used artillery widely in land and naval battles, including on the turtle ships of Yi Sun-sin.[42][43]
According to Ivan Petlin, the first Russian envoy to Beijing, in September 1619, the city was armed with large cannon with cannonballs weighing more than 30 kg (66 lb). His general observation was:
There are many merchants and military persons in the Chinese Empire. They have firearms, and the Chinese are very skillful in military affairs. They go into battle against the Yellow Mongols who fight with bows and arrows.[44]
— Ivan Petlin
Western Europe
Outside of China, the earliest texts to mention gunpowder are Roger Bacon's Opus Majus (1267) and Opus Tertium in what has been interpreted as references to firecrackers. In the early 20th century, a British artillery officer proposed that another work tentatively attributed to Bacon, Epistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae, et de Nullitate Magiae, dated to 1247, contained an encrypted formula for gunpowder hidden in the text. These claims have been disputed by science historians.[45] In any case, the formula itself is not useful for firearms or even firecrackers, burning slowly and producing mostly smoke.[46][47]
There is a record of a gun in Europe dating to 1322 being discovered in the nineteenth century but the artifact has since been lost.[48] The earliest known European depiction of a gun appeared in 1326 in a manuscript by Walter de Milemete, although not necessarily drawn by him, known as De Nobilitatibus, sapientii et prudentiis regum (Concerning the Majesty, Wisdom, and Prudence of Kings), which displays a gun with a large arrow emerging from it and its user lowering a long stick to ignite the gun through the touch hole.[6][7] In the same year, another similar illustration showed a darker gun being set off by a group of knights, in another work of de Milemete's, De secretis secretorum Aristotelis.[49] On 11 February of that same year, the Signoria of Florence appointed two officers to obtain canones de mettallo and ammunition for the town's defense.[50] In the following year a document from the Turin area recorded a certain amount was paid "for the making of a certain instrument or device made by Friar Marcello for the projection of pellets of lead".[7] A reference from 1331 describes an attack mounted by two Germanic knights on Cividale del Friuli, using man-portable gunpowder weapons of some sort.[6][7] The 1320s seem to have been the takeoff point for guns in Europe according to most modern military historians. Scholars suggest that the lack of gunpowder weapons in a well-traveled Venetian's catalogue for a new crusade in 1321 implies that guns were unknown in Europe up until this point, further solidifying the 1320 mark, however more evidence in this area may be forthcoming in the future.[7]
The oldest extant cannon in Europe is a small bronze example unearthed in Loshult, Scania in southern Sweden.[51] It dates from the early-mid 14th century,[52] and is currently in the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.
Early cannons in Europe often shot arrows and were known by an assortment of names such as
Early use
The
Early cannons could also be used for more than simply killing men and scaring horses. English cannon were used defensively in 1346 during the Siege of Breteuil to launch fire onto an advancing siege tower. In this way cannons could be used to burn down siege equipment before it reached the fortifications. The use of cannons to shoot fire could also be used offensively as another battle involved the setting of a castle ablaze with similar methods. The particular incendiary used in these projectiles was most likely a gunpowder mixture. This is one area where early Chinese and European cannons share a similarity as both were possibly used to shoot fire.[54]
Another aspect of early European cannons is that they were rather small, dwarfed by the bombards which would come later. In fact, it is possible that the cannons used at Crécy were capable of being moved rather quickly as there is an anonymous chronicle that notes the guns being used to attack the French camp, indicating that they would have been mobile enough to press the attack. These smaller cannons would eventually give way to larger, wall-breaching guns by the end of the 1300s.[54]
Islamic world
There is no clear consensus on when the cannon first appeared in the
According to historian
The Ottoman Empire made good use of cannon as siege artillery. Sixty-eight super-sized bombards were used by
The similar Dardanelles Guns (for the location) were created by Munir Ali in 1464 and were still in use during the Anglo-Turkish War (1807–1809).[12] These were cast in bronze into two parts: the chase (the barrel) and the breech, which combined weighed 18.4 tonnes.[71] The two parts were screwed together using levers to facilitate moving it.
Fathullah Shirazi, a
While there is evidence of cannons in Iran as early as 1405 they were not widespread.[73] This changed following the increased use of firearms by Shah Ismail I, and the Iranian army used 500 cannons by the 1620s, probably captured from the Ottomans or acquired by allies in Europe.[74] By 1443, Iranians were also making some of their own cannon, as Mir Khawand wrote of a 1200 kg metal piece being made by an Iranian rikhtegar which was most likely a cannon.[75] Due to the difficulties of transporting cannon in mountainous terrain, their use was less common compared to their use in Europe.[74]
Eastern Europe
Documentary evidence of cannons in Russia does not appear until 1382 and they were used only in sieges, often by the defenders.[76] It was not until 1475 when Ivan III established the first Russian cannon foundry in Moscow that they began to produce cannons natively.[77] The earliest surviving cannon from Russia dates to 1485.[78]
Later on large cannons were known as bombards, ranging from three to five feet in length and were used by Dubrovnik and Kotor in defence during the later 14th century. The first bombards were made of iron, but bronze became more prevalent as it was recognized as more stable and capable of propelling stones weighing as much as 45 kilograms (99 lb). Around the same period, the Byzantine Empire began to accumulate its own cannon to face the Ottoman Empire, starting with medium-sized cannon 3 feet (0.91 m) long and of 10 in calibre.[79] The earliest reliable recorded use of artillery in the region was against the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1396, forcing the Ottomans to withdraw.[79] The Ottomans acquired their own cannon and laid siege to the Byzantine capital again in 1422. By 1453, the Ottomans used 68 Hungarian-made cannon for the 55-day bombardment of the walls of Constantinople, "hurling the pieces everywhere and killing those who happened to be nearby".[79] The largest of their cannons was the Great Turkish Bombard, which required an operating crew of 200 men[80] and 70 oxen, and 10,000 men to transport it.[79] Gunpowder made the formerly devastating Greek fire obsolete, and with the final fall of Constantinople—which was protected by what were once the strongest walls in Europe—on 29 May 1453, "it was the end of an era in more ways than one".[81]
Southeast Asia
Cannons were introduced to the Javanese Majapahit Empire when Kublai Khan's Mongol-Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese sought to invade Java in 1293. History of Yuan mentioned that the Mongol used a weapon called p'ao against Daha forces.[82]: 1–2 [35][83]: 244–245 [84]: 220 This weapon is interpreted differently by researchers, it may be a trebuchet that throws thunderclap bombs, firearms, cannons, or rockets. It is possible that the gunpowder weapons carried by the Mongol–Chinese troops amounted to more than one type.[85]: 97
Mongol-Chinese gunpowder technology of Yuan dynasty resulted in eastern-style cetbang which is similar to Chinese cannon. Swivel guns however, only developed in the archipelago because of the close maritime relations of the Nusantara archipelago with the territory of West India after 1460 AD, which brought new types of gunpowder weapons to the archipelago, likely through Arab intermediaries. This weapon seems to be cannon and gun of Ottoman tradition, for example the prangi, which is a breech-loading swivel gun. A new type of cetbang, called the western-style cetbang, was derived from the Turkish prangi. Just like prangi, this cetbang is a breech-loading swivel gun made of bronze or iron, firing single rounds or scattershots (a large number of small bullets).[85]: 94–95
Cannons derived from western-style cetbang can be found in Nusantara, among others were lantaka and lela. Most lantakas were made of bronze and the earliest ones were breech-loaded. There is a trend toward muzzle-loading weapons during colonial times.[89] When the Portuguese came to the archipelago, they referred to the breech-loading swivel gun as berço, while the Spaniards call it verso.[90]: 151 A pole gun (bedil tombak) was recorded as being used by Java in 1413.[91][92]: 245
Duarte Barbosa c. 1514 said that the inhabitants of Java were great masters in casting artillery and very good artillerymen. They made many one-pounder cannon (cetbang or rentaka), long muskets, spingarde (arquebus), schioppi (hand cannon), Greek fire, guns (cannon), and other fireworks. Every place was considered excellent in casting artillery, and in the knowledge of using it.[93]: 198 [94]: 224 In 1513, the Javanese fleet led by Pati Unus sailed to attack Portuguese Malacca "with much artillery made in Java, for the Javanese are skilled in founding and casting, and in all works in iron, over and above what they have in India".[95]: 162 [96]: 23 By early 16th century, the Javanese already locally-producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannon" or "holy cannon". These cannons varied between 180- and 260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3 and 8 tons, length of them between 3 and 6 m (9.8 and 19.7 ft).[97]
Cannons were used by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1352 during its invasion of the Khmer Empire.[98] Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the Khmer Empire.[98] By the end of the century firearms were also used by the Trần dynasty.[39]
Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation.
Africa
In Africa, the
Offensive and defensive use
While previous smaller guns could burn down structures with fire, larger cannons were so effective that engineers were forced to develop stronger castle walls to prevent their keeps from falling.
Early modern period
By the 16th century, cannons were made in a great variety of lengths and bore diameters, but the general rule was that the longer the barrel, the longer the range. Some cannons made during this time had barrels exceeding 10 ft (3.0 m) in length, and could weigh up to 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg). Consequently, large amounts of gunpowder were needed to allow them to fire stone balls several hundred yards.[107] By mid-century, European monarchs began to classify cannons to reduce the confusion. Henry II of France opted for six sizes of cannon,[108] but others settled for more; the Spanish used twelve sizes, and the English sixteen. They are, from largest to smallest: the cannon royal, cannon, cannon serpentine, bastard cannon, demicannon, pedrero, culverin, basilisk, demiculverin, bastard culverin, saker, minion, falcon, falconet, serpentine, and rabinet.[109][110] Better powder had been developed by this time as well. Instead of the finely ground powder used by the first bombards, powder was replaced by a "corned" variety of coarse grains. This coarse powder had pockets of air between grains, allowing fire to travel through and ignite the entire charge quickly and uniformly.[111]
The end of the Middle Ages saw the construction of larger, more powerful cannon, as well as their spread throughout the world. As they were not effective at breaching the newer fortifications resulting from the development of cannon, siege engines—such as siege towers and trebuchets—became less widely used. However, wooden "battery-towers" took on a similar role as siege towers in the gunpowder age—such as that used at Siege of Kazan in 1552, which could hold ten large-calibre cannon, in addition to 50 lighter pieces.[112] Another notable effect of cannon on warfare during this period was the change in conventional fortifications. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, "There is no wall, whatever its thickness that artillery will not destroy in only a few days."[113] Although castles were not immediately made obsolete by cannon, their use and importance on the battlefield rapidly declined.[114] Instead of majestic towers and merlons, the walls of new fortresses were thick, angled, and sloped, while towers became low and stout; increasing use was also made of earth and brick in breastworks and redoubts. These new defences became known as bastion forts, after their characteristic shape which attempted to force any advance towards it directly into the firing line of the guns.[114] A few of these featured cannon batteries, such as the House of Tudor's Device Forts in England.[114] Bastion forts soon replaced castles in Europe and, eventually, those in the Americas as well.[115]
By the end of the 15th century, several technological advancements made cannons more mobile. Wheeled gun carriages and
Innovations continued, notably the German invention of the mortar, a thick-walled, short-barrelled gun that blasted shot upward at a steep angle. Mortars were useful for sieges, as they could hit targets behind walls or other defences.[120] This cannon found more use with the Dutch, who learnt to shoot bombs filled with powder from them. Setting the bomb fuse was a problem. "Single firing" was first used to ignite the fuse, where the bomb was placed with the fuse down against the cannon's propellant. This often resulted in the fuse being blown into the bomb, causing it to blow up as it left the mortar. Because of this, "double firing" was tried where the gunner lit the fuse and then the touch hole. This required considerable skill and timing, and was especially dangerous if the gun misfired, leaving a lighted bomb in the barrel. Not until 1650 was it accidentally discovered that double-lighting was superfluous as the heat of firing would light the fuse.[121]
At the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631, Adolphus proved the effectiveness of the changes made to his army, by defeating Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. Although severely outnumbered, the Swedes were able to fire between three and five times as many volleys of artillery, and their infantry's linear formations helped ensure they did not lose any ground. Battered by cannon fire, and low on morale, Tilly's men broke ranks and fled.[125]
In England, cannons were being used to besiege various fortified buildings during the
Around this time also came the idea of aiming the cannon to hit a target. Gunners controlled the range of their cannons by measuring the angle of elevation, using a "gunner's quadrant". Cannons did not have sights; therefore, even with measuring tools, aiming was still largely guesswork.[132]
In the latter half of the 17th century, the French engineer
-
Remains of a post-medieval cannon battery, mounted on a medieval town wall, although without carriages.
-
Contemporary illustration on how a cannon could be used with the aid of quadrants for improved precision.
-
The use of gabions with cannon was an important part in the attack and defence of fortifications.
-
Fort Bourtange, a bastion fort, was built with angles and sloped walls specifically to defend against cannon.
18th and 19th centuries
The lower tier of 17th-century English ships of the line were usually equipped with demi-cannons, guns that fired a 32-pound (15 kg) solid shot, and could weigh up to 3,400 pounds (1,500 kg).[137] Demi-cannons were capable of firing these heavy metal balls with such force that they could penetrate more than a metre of solid oak, from a distance of 90 m (300 ft), and could dismast even the largest ships at close range.[138] Full cannon fired a 42-pound (19 kg) shot, but were discontinued by the 18th century, as they were too unwieldy. By the end of the 18th century, principles long adopted in Europe specified the characteristics of the Royal Navy's cannon, as well as the acceptable defects, and their severity. The United States Navy tested guns by measuring them, firing them two or three times—termed "proof by powder"—and using pressurized water to detect leaks.[139]
The carronade was adopted by the Royal Navy in 1779; the lower muzzle velocity of the round shot when fired from this cannon was intended to create more wooden splinters when hitting the structure of an enemy vessel, as they were believed to be more deadly than the ball by itself.[140] The carronade was much shorter, and weighed between a third to a quarter of the equivalent long gun; for example, a 32-pounder carronade weighed less than a ton, compared with a 32-pounder long gun, which weighed over 3 tons. The guns were, therefore, easier to handle, and also required less than half as much gunpowder, allowing fewer men to crew them.[141] Carronades were manufactured in the usual naval gun calibres,[142] but were not counted in a ship of the line's rated number of guns. As a result, the classification of Royal Navy vessels in this period can be misleading, as they often carried more cannons than were listed.
Cannons were crucial in
In the 1810s and 1820s, greater emphasis was placed on the accuracy of long-range gunfire, and less on the weight of a broadside. Around 1822, George Marshall wrote Marshall's Practical Marine Gunnery. The book was used by cannon operators in the United States Navy throughout the 19th century. It listed all the types of cannons and instructions.[156]
The carronade, although initially very successful and widely adopted, disappeared from the Royal Navy in the 1850s after the development of wrought-iron-jacketed steel cannon by William Armstrong and Joseph Whitworth. Nevertheless, carronades were used in the American Civil War.[140][157]
Western cannons during the 19th century became larger, more destructive, more accurate, and could fire at longer range. One example is the American 3-inch (76 mm) wrought-iron, muzzle-loading rifle, or
The practice of
The superior cannon of the Western world brought them tremendous advantages in warfare. For example, in the First Opium War in China, during the 19th century, British battleships bombarded the coastal areas and fortifications from afar, safe from the reach of the Chinese cannons. Similarly, the shortest war in recorded history, the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, was brought to a swift conclusion by shelling from British cruisers.[165] The cynical attitude towards recruited infantry in the face of ever more powerful field artillery is the source of the term cannon fodder, first used by François-René de Chateaubriand, in 1814;[166] however, the concept of regarding soldiers as nothing more than "food for powder" was mentioned by William Shakespeare as early as 1598, in Henry IV, Part 1.[167]
20th and 21st centuries
Cannons in the 20th and 21st centuries are usually divided into sub-categories and given separate names. Some of the most widely used types of modern cannon are howitzers, mortars, guns, and autocannon, although a few very large-calibre cannon, custom-designed, have also been constructed. Nuclear artillery was experimented with, but was abandoned as impractical.[168] Modern artillery is used in a variety of roles, depending on its type. According to NATO, the general role of artillery is to provide fire support, which is defined as "the application of fire, coordinated with the manoeuvre of forces to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy".[169]
When referring to cannons, the term gun is often used incorrectly. In military usage, a gun is a cannon with a high muzzle velocity and a flat trajectory, useful for hitting the sides of targets such as walls,[170] as opposed to howitzers or mortars, which have lower muzzle velocities, and fire indirectly, lobbing shells up and over obstacles to hit the target from above.[171][172]
By the early 20th century,
The Second World War sparked new developments in cannon technology. Among them were
Despite being designed to fire at trajectories with a steep angle of descent, howitzers can be fired directly, as was done by the 11th Marine Regiment at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, during the Korean War. Two field batteries fired directly upon a battalion of Chinese infantry; the Marines were forced to brace themselves against their howitzers, as they had no time to dig them in. The Chinese infantry took heavy casualties, and were forced to retreat.[188]
The tendency to create larger calibre cannons during the World Wars has reversed since. The
Autocannon
Autocannons have an automatic firing mode, similar to that of a machine gun. They have mechanisms to automatically load their ammunition, and therefore have a higher rate of fire than artillery, often approaching, or, in the case of rotary autocannons, even surpassing the firing rate of a machine gun.[192] While there is no minimum bore for autocannons, they are generally larger than machine guns, typically 20 mm or greater since World War II and are usually capable of using explosive ammunition even if it is not always used. Machine guns in contrast are usually too small to use explosive ammunition;[193] such ammunition is additionally banned in international conflict for the parties to the Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868.
Most nations use rapid-fire cannon on light vehicles, replacing a more powerful, but heavier, tank gun. A typical autocannon is the 25 mm "Bushmaster" chain gun, mounted on the LAV-25 and M2 Bradley armoured vehicles. Autocannons may be capable of a very high rate of fire, but ammunition is heavy and bulky, limiting the amount carried. For this reason, both the 25 mm Bushmaster and the 30 mm RARDEN are deliberately designed with relatively low rates of fire. The typical rate of fire for a modern autocannon ranges from 90 to 1,800 rounds per minute. Systems with multiple barrels, such as a rotary autocannon, can have rates of fire of more than several thousand rounds per minute. The fastest of these is the GSh-6-23, which has a rate of fire of over 10,000 rounds per minute.[192]
Autocannons are often found in aircraft, where they replaced machine guns and as shipboard anti-aircraft weapons, as they provide greater destructive power than machine guns.[194]
Aircraft use
The first documented installation of a cannon on an aircraft was on the Voisin Canon in 1911, displayed at the Paris Exposition that year. By World War I, all of the major powers were experimenting with aircraft-mounted cannons; however their low rate of fire and great size and weight precluded any of them from being anything other than experimental. The most successful (or least unsuccessful) was the SPAD 12 Ca.1 with a single 37 mm Puteaux mounted to fire between the cylinder banks and through the propeller boss of the aircraft's Hispano-Suiza 8C. The pilot (by necessity an ace) had to manually reload each round.[195]
The first autocannon were developed during World War I as anti-aircraft guns, and one of these, the Coventry Ordnance Works "COW 37 mm gun", was installed in an aircraft. However, the war ended before it could be given a field trial, and it never became standard equipment in a production aircraft. Later trials had it fixed at a steep angle upwards in both the Vickers Type 161 and the Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter, an idea that would return later.
During this period autocannons became available and several fighters of the German Luftwaffe and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service were fitted with 20 mm cannons. They continued to be installed as an adjunct to machine guns rather than as a replacement, as the rate of fire was still too low and the complete installation too heavy. There was a some debate in the RAF as to whether the greater number of possible rounds being fired from a machine gun, or a smaller number of explosive rounds from a cannon was preferable. Improvements during the war in regards to rate of fire allowed the cannon to displace the machine gun almost entirely.[194] The cannon was more effective against armour so they were increasingly used during the course of World War II, and newer fighters such as the Hawker Tempest usually carried two or four versus the six .50 Browning machine guns for US aircraft or eight to twelve M1919 Browning machine guns on earlier British aircraft. The Hispano-Suiza HS.404, Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, MG FF, and their numerous variants became among the most widely used autocannon in the war. Cannons, as with machine guns, were generally fixed to fire forwards (mounted in the wings, in the nose or fuselage, or in a pannier under either); or were mounted in gun turrets on heavier aircraft. Both the Germans and Japanese mounted cannons to fire upwards and forwards for use against heavy bombers, with the Germans calling guns so-installed Schräge Musik. This term derives from a German colloquialism for jazz music (schräg means "off-key").
Preceding the
-
Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter with 37 mm C.O.W. gun mounted to fire upwards
-
Supermarine Spitfire with 20 mm cannon protruding from the leading edge of the wing
-
GSh-23 autocannon mounted on the underside of a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
-
TheFairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II
Materials, parts, and terms
Cannons in general have the form of a truncated cone with an internal cylindrical bore for holding an
Field artillery cannon in Europe and the Americas were initially made most often of bronze, though later forms were constructed of cast iron and eventually steel.[198]: 61 Bronze has several characteristics that made it preferable as a construction material: although it is relatively expensive, does not always alloy well, and can result in a final product that is "spongy about the bore",[198]: 61 bronze is more flexible than iron and therefore less prone to bursting when exposed to high pressure; cast-iron cannon are less expensive and more durable generally than bronze and withstand being fired more times without deteriorating. However, cast-iron cannon have a tendency to burst without having shown any previous weakness or wear, and this makes them more dangerous to operate.
The older and more-stable forms of cannon were
The following terms refer to the components or aspects of a classical western cannon (c. 1850) as illustrated here.[198]: 66 In what follows, the words near, close, and behind will refer to those parts towards the thick, closed end of the piece, and far, front, in front of, and before to the thinner, open end.
Negative spaces
- Bore: The hollow cylinder bored down the centre of the cannon, including the base of the bore or bottom of the bore, the nearest end of the bore into which the ordnance (wadding, shot, etc.) gets packed. The diameter of the bore represents the cannon's calibre.
- Chamber: The cylindrical, conical, or spherical recess at the nearest end of the bottom of the bore into which the gunpowder is packed.
- Vent: A thin tube on the near end of the cannon connecting the explosive charge inside with an ignition source outside and often filled with a length of fuse; always located near the breech. Sometimes called the fuse hole or the touch hole. On the top of the vent on the outside of the cannon is a flat circular space called the vent field where the charge is lit. If the cannon is bronze, it will often have a vent piece made of copper screwed into the length of the vent.
Solid spaces
The main body of a cannon consists of three basic extensions: the foremost and the longest is called the chase, the middle portion is the reinforce, and the closest and briefest portion is the cascabel or cascable.[citation needed]
- The chase: Simply the entire conical part of the cannon in front of the reinforce. It is the longest portion of the cannon, and includes the following elements:
- The neck: the narrowest part of the chase, always located near the foremost end of the piece.
- The muzzle: the portion of the chase forward of the neck. It includes the following:
- The swell of the muzzle refers to the slight swell in the diameter of the piece at the very end of the chase. It is often chamfered on the inside to make loading the cannon easier. In some guns, this element is replaced with a wide ring and is called a muzzle band.
- The face is the flat vertical plane at the foremost edge of the muzzle (and of the entire piece).
- The muzzle mouldings are the tiered rings which connect the face with the rest of the muzzle, the first of which is called the lip and the second the fillet
- The muzzle astragal and fillets are a series of three narrow rings running around the outside of the chase just behind the neck. Sometimes also collectively called the chase ring.
- The chase astragal and fillets: these are a second series of such rings located at the near end of the chase.
- The chase girdle: this is the brief length of the chase between the chase astragal and fillets and the reinforce.
- The reinforce: This portion of the piece is frequently divided into a first reinforce and a second reinforce, but in any case is marked as separate from the chase by the presence of a narrow circular reinforce ring or band at its foremost end. The span of the reinforce also includes the following:
- The trunnionsare located at the foremost end of the reinforce just behind the reinforce ring. They consist of two cylinders perpendicular to the bore and below it which are used to mount the cannon on its carriage.
- The rimbases are short broad rings located at the union of the trunnions and the cannon which provide support to the carriage attachment.
- The reinforce band is only present if the cannon has two reinforces, and it divides the first reinforce from the second.
- The breech refers to the mass of solid metal behind the bottom of the bore extending to the base of the breech and including the base ring; it also generally refers to the end of the cannon opposite the muzzle, i.e., the location where the explosion of the gunpowder begins as opposed to the opening through which the pressurized gas escapes.
- The base ring forms a ring at the widest part of the entire cannon at the nearest end of the reinforce just before the cascabel.
- The
- The cascabel: This is that portion of the cannon behind the reinforce(s) and behind the base ring. It includes the following:
- The knob which is the small spherical terminus of the piece;
- The neck, a short, narrow piece of metal holding out the knob; and
- The fillet, the tiered disk connecting the neck of the cascabel to the base of the breech.
- The base of the breech is the metal disk that forms the most forward part of the cascabel and rests against the breech itself, right next to the base ring.
To pack a muzzle-loading cannon, first gunpowder is poured down the bore. This is followed by a layer of wadding (often nothing more than paper), and then the cannonball itself. A certain amount of windage allows the ball to fit down the bore, though the greater the windage the less efficient the propulsion of the ball when the gunpowder is ignited. To fire the cannon, the fuse located in the vent is lit, quickly burning down to the gunpowder, which then explodes violently, propelling wadding and ball down the bore and out of the muzzle. A small portion of exploding gas also escapes through the vent, but this does not dramatically affect the total force exerted on the ball.
Any large,
Operation
In the 1770s, cannon operation worked as follows: each cannon would be manned by two gunners, six soldiers, and four officers of artillery. The right gunner was to prime the piece and load it with powder, and the left gunner would fetch the powder from the magazine and be ready to fire the cannon at the officer's command. On each side of the cannon, three soldiers stood, to ram and sponge the cannon, and hold the ladle. The second soldier on the left was tasked with providing 50 bullets.[201]
Before loading, the cannon would be cleaned with a wet sponge to extinguish any smouldering material from the last shot. Fresh powder could be set off prematurely by lingering ignition sources. The powder was added, followed by wadding of paper or hay, and the ball was placed in and rammed down. After ramming, the cannon would be aimed with the elevation set using a quadrant and a
During the Napoleonic Wars, a British gun team consisted of five gunners to aim it, clean the bore with a damp sponge to quench any remaining embers before a fresh charge was introduced, and another to load the gun with a bag of powder and then the projectile. The fourth gunner pressed his thumb on the vent hole, to prevent a draught that might fan a flame. The charge loaded, the fourth would prick the bagged charge through the vent hole, and fill the vent with powder. On command, the fifth gunner would fire the piece with a slow match.[202] Friction primers replaced slow match ignition by the mid-19th century.[203]
When a cannon had to be abandoned such as in a retreat or surrender, the touch hole of the cannon would be plugged flush with an iron spike, disabling the cannon (at least until metal boring tools could be used to remove the plug). This was called "spiking".
A gun was said to be honeycombed when the surface of the bore had cavities, or holes in it,[204] caused by corrosion or casting defects.
Legal considerations
In the United States, muzzleloading cannons made before 1899 (and replicas) that are unable to fire fixed ammunition are considered antiques. They are not subject to the Gun Control Act of 1968 or National Firearms Act of 1934.[205] They may be subject to local rules in some jurisdictions, however.
Deceptive use
Historically, logs or poles have been used as decoys to mislead the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement. The "
In popular culture
Cannon sounds have sometimes been used in classical pieces with a military theme. One of the best known examples is
The hard rock band AC/DC used cannon in their song "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)",[213] and in live shows replica Napoleonic cannon and pyrotechnics were used to perform the piece.[213] A recording of that song has accompanied the firing of an authentic reproduction of a M1857 12-pounder Napoleon during Columbus Blue Jackets goal celebrations at Nationwide Arena since opening night of the 2007–08 season. The cannon is the focal point of the team's alternate logo on its third jerseys.[214][215][216]
Cannons have been fired in touchdown celebrations by several American football teams including the San Diego Chargers.[217] The Pittsburgh Steelers used one only during the 1962 campaign but discontinued it after Buddy Dial was startled by inadvertently running face-first into the cannon's smoky discharge in a 42–27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.[218]
Restoration
Cannon recovered from the sea are often extensively damaged from exposure to salt water; electrolytic reduction treatment is required to forestall corrosion.[219] The cannon is then washed in deionized water to remove the electrolyte, and is treated in tannic acid, which prevents further rust and gives the metal a bluish-black colour.[220][221] Cannon on display may be protected from oxygen and moisture by a wax sealant. A coat of polyurethane may also be painted over the wax sealant, to prevent the cannon from attracting dust.[221]
Notes
- ^ a b c Lu 1988.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 330.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 32.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 293.
- ^ ISBN 978-1351873765. Archivedfrom the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Kelly 2004, p. 29.
- ^ a b c d e Andrade 2016, p. 76.
- ^ Khan, Iqtidar Alam (2004), Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India, Oxford University Press, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Khan 2004, pp. 9–10.
- ^ a b c Andrade 2016, p. 75.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 59.
- ^ a b Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (3): 213–237 (226–228)
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 51.
- ^ Kelly 2004, p. 66.
- ^ Andrade 2016, pp. 103–04.
- ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889). "κάννα". An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via perseus.tufts.edu.
- ISBN 978-3-447-04264-2. Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
- ^ a b "Definition and etymology of 'cannon'". Webster's Dictionary. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "cane". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Definition and etymology of 'cane'". Webster's Dictionary. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Definition of cannon". Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ Needham 1986, pp. 263–275.
- ^ Crosby 2002, p. 99.
- ^ Chase 2003, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Andrade 2016, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Needham 1986, pp. 293–94.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 329.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 10.
- ^ Arnold 2001, p. 18.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 54.
- ISBN 978-1-86126-615-6.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 66.
- ^ Korean Broadcasting System-News department (30 April 2005). "Science in Korea". Countdown Begins for Launch of South Korea's Space Rocket. Korean Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2006.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 173.
- ^ a b Lombard, Denys (1990). Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History) Vol. 2. Paris: Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. p. 178.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-1360-0.
- ^ Chase 2003, "Little is known about their armament, but Chinese ships did carry bronze cannon at this time, as evidenced by the wreck of a small two-masted patrol vessel discovered in Shandong together with its anchor (inscribed 1372) and cannon (inscribed 1377).".
- ^ Chase 2003, "Considering that Chinese ships armed with gunpowder weapons, including cannons, visited the region regularly from the 1200s to the 1400s.".
- ^ a b Tran 2006, p. 75.
- ^ Xiaodong 2008, pp. 41–61.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 430.
- ISBN 978-0-8032-4423-8. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Derrick Grose (2011). "Admiral Yi Sun-shin and Turtle Ships". Virtual stamp Collection. Grose Educational Media. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ^ Dmytryshyn 1985, p. 90.
- ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
- ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5954-0.
- ^ a b Andrade 2016, p. 334.
- ^ Andrade 2016, pp. 76, 335.
- ^ Crosby 2002, p. 120.
- ISBN 0-313-32796-3p. 21
- ISBN 0-425-21542-3
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85532-966-9.
- ^ a b c d Andrade 2016
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 43.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 43–44.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 582.
- ISBN 9781135459321.
- ^ a b c al-Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises in Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries". Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ al-Hassan, Ahmad Y. "Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries". Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
- ^ Khan, Iqtidar Alam (1996). "Coming of Gunpowder to the Islamic World and North India: Spotlight on the Role of the Mongols". Journal of Asian History. 30: 41–45..
- ^ Khan 2004, p. 3.
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 44.
- ^ a b Ágoston 2005, p. 15.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7546-2529-2.
- ^ Purton 2010, pp. 108–09.
- ^ Ágoston 2005, pp. 15–16: "References to early use of firearms in Islamdom (1204, 1248, 1274, 1258–60, 1303 and 1324) must be taken with caution since terminology used for gunpowder and firearms in late medieval Arabic sources is confused. Furthermore, most of these testimonies are given by later chroniclers of the fifteenth century whose use of terminology may have reflected their own time rather than that of the events they were writing about."
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 47.
- ^ a b Bradbury 1992, p. 293.
- ^ S2CID 143042353.
- ISBN 978-0-19-926213-7. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Bag, A. K. (2005). "Fathullah Shirazi: Cannon, Multi-barrel Gun and Yarghu". Indian Journal of History of Science: 431–436.
- S2CID 162909942.
- ^ S2CID 144208564.
- JSTOR 44158646.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-093-2.
- ISBN 978-0674004733.
first cannon foundry was set up in Moscow.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 78.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84176-759-8.
- ISBN 978-0-385-04186-7.
- ^ Turnbull, p. 43.
- ^ Schlegel, Gustaaf (1902). "On the Invention and Use of Fire-Arms and Gunpowder in China, Prior to the Arrival of Europeans". T'oung Pao. 3: 1–11.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5954-0.
- ^ Reid, Anthony (1993). Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680. Volume Two: Expansion and Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
- ^ a b Averoes, Muhammad (2020). Antara Cerita dan Sejarah: Meriam Cetbang Majapahit. Jurnal Sejarah, 3(2), 89–100.
- ^ Raffles, Thomas Stamford (1830). The History of Java. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street.
- ^ Yusof, Hasanuddin (September 2019). "Kedah Cannons Kept in Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Nakhon Si Thammarat". Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia. 32: 59–75.
- ISBN 9789792213768.
- ISBN 978-9838619332.
- ISBN 978-981-4311-96-0.
- ^ Mayers (1876). "Chinese explorations of the Indian Ocean during the fifteenth century". The China Review. IV: p. 178.
- (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ Stanley, Henry Edward John (1866). A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa. The Hakluyt Society.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5954-0. Archivedfrom the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-981-4311-96-0.
- ^ Crawfurd, John (1856). A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries. Bradbury and Evans.
- ^ Modern Asian Studies. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Asian Studies in Honour of Professor Charles Boxer (1988), pp. 607–628.
- ^ a b Purton 2010, p. 201.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-580347-1.
- ^ Dipanegara, P. B. R. Carey, Babad Dipanagara: an account of the outbreak of the Java war, 1825–30: the Surakarta court version of the Babad Dipanagara with translations into English and Indonesian volume 9: Council of the M.B.R.A.S. by Art Printing Works: 1981.
- ^ Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times by Syed Ramsey – Somalia chapter, Early Modern Warfare.
- ^ Cambridge illustrated atlas, Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792, by Jeremy Black p. 9
- S2CID 162260578.
- S2CID 159716602.
- JSTOR 3518112.
- S2CID 159954818.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32433-8. Archivedfrom the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ The six sizes are, in order from largest to smallest: the cannon, great culverin, bastard culverin, "legitimate" culverin, falcon, and falconet.
- ^ "NPS Interpretive Series: Artillery Through the Ages". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-6229-8. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ Tunis, p. 88.
- ISBN 978-1-84176-916-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-50046-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7894-2047-3.
- ]
- ^ a b c Manucy, p. 5.
- ]
- ^ Sadler, p. 60.
- ^ Manucy, p. 6.
- ^ "Mortar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- ^ Tunis, p. 90.
- ^ Manucy, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Tunis, p. 96.
- ^ Manucy, p. 8.
- ISBN 978-0-252-06966-6. Archivedfrom the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d Porter 2008
- ^ Donagan 2008, fig 8
- ^ Donagan 2008, p. 84
- ^ Donagan 2008, p. 85
- ^ Hodgkin, John (1902). Rarioria. Vol. III: 'Books on Fireworks'. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Limited. p. 15. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ Malthus (1629). A Treatise on Artificial Fire-Works. W. Jones for Richard Hawkins. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^ Tunis, p. 97.
- ^ ]
- ^ Griffith, p. 29
- ^ Griffith, pp. 56–57.
- ISBN 978-91-37-10723-3.
- ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5.
- ISBN 978-1-877058-31-8. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57003-127-4. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ "The Historical Maritime Society". The Historical Maritime Society. 2001. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Twelve-, 18-, 24-, 32-, and 42-pounders, but 6-pounder and 68-pounder versions are known.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32014-9. Archivedfrom the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-465-04881-6. Archivedfrom the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b Asprey, pp. 112–113.
- ^ Conner, p. 13.
- ^ Conner, pp. 12–13.
- ^ a b Baynes, p. 669.
- ISBN 978-0-938289-98-2. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- Charles MacFarlane (1884). The Pictorial History of England During the Reign of George the Third: Being a History of the People, as well as a History of the Kingdom, volume 2. London: Charles Knight. p. 295. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-02-523660-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8117-1854-7. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ]
- ^ Wilkinson-Latham, p. 36.
- ^ Nofi, pp. 115–116.
- ^ Marshall, George (1822). Marshall's Practical Marine Gunnery. Norfolk, Virginia: C. Hall. p. 1. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Carronade". The Historical Maritime Society. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-252-07210-9.
- ^ Dickens, Charles (1859). All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal. Charles Dickens. p. 373. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-3404-1. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Ruffell, W. L. "The Gun – Rifled Ordnance: Whitworth". The Gun. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-3404-1. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Bastable, p. 72.
- ^ Bastable, p. 73.
- ISBN 978-0-553-58378-6.
- ^ (in French) "De Buonaparte et des Bourbons" – full text in the French Wikisource.
- ^ Shakespeare, William (1598). Henry IV, Part 1. Act 4, Scene 2, lines 65–67.
- ^ "Nuclear artillery". United States Department of Energy. Archived from the original on 7 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 2007. p. 113. Archived(PDF) from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Archivedfrom the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Archivedfrom the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Archivedfrom the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Manucy, p. 20.
- ISBN 978-0-275-94047-8. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ Young, p. 113.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-022-9.
- ^ "Radio Proximity (VT) Fuzes". 20 March 2000. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Variable Time Fuse Contributed to the Victory of United Nations". Smithsonian Institution. 2007. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
- ]
- ^ Rahman, Jason (November 2007). "British Anti-Tank Guns". Avalanche Press. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7603-0671-0. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Green, p. 47.
- ISBN 978-0-7146-5052-4. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8117-3341-0.
- ISBN 978-0-11-630946-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7867-1264-9. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-55587-950-1. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-14-029259-6.
- ^ "M198 information". Military.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b "Affordable precision". National Defense Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 October 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Lacch, Franco (7 November 2016). "Scandalo Zumwalt: cancellata la torretta da 155 millimetri, un singolo proiettile costa 800 mila dollari". Difesa Online (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84037-435-3.
- ^ cannon. Merriam Webster. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Carlo Kopp. "Aircraft cannon". Strike Publications. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-85368-990-4.
- ^ "GAU-8/A". 442nd Fighter Wing. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Information on the GAU-8/A". The Language of Weaponry. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-7137-0905-6.
- ^ Baynes, Thomas S. (1888). The Encyclopædia Britannica A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, volume 2. H.G. Allen. p. 667. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b "Gunnery". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1771.
- ISBN 978-0-393-05211-4. Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ French, William H.; Barry, William F.; Hunt, H.J. (1864). Instruction for Field Artillery. New York: D. Van Nostrand. p. 5.
- ^ Griffiths, The Artillerist's Manual, 53.
- ^ "Are muzzleloading cannons considered destructive devices? | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives".
- ^ "December of 1780". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Definitions of Civil War terms". civilwarhome.com/. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
- ^ Lampson, Dave. "'1812' Overture in E Flat Major Op. 49 (1880)". Classical Net. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b c Druckenbrod, Andrew (4 August 2003). "How a rousing Russian tune took over our July 4th". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Lee, Ernest Markham (1906). Tchaikovsky. Harvard University: G. Bell & sons. p. 21. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Flynn, Tony. "Antal Dorati – Recording Legend – October 2007". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Classical Net – Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture". Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b "For Those About to Rock We Salute You". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Barron, Jeff (25 March 2015). "Local company in charge of Columbus Blue Jackets cannon". Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Lukan, Alison (15 March 2017). "For Those About To Rock... FIRE!". NHL.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ "Columbus Blue Jackets reintroduce third jersey, announce 2018-19 schedule". NHL.com. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Fox, Tanya Ray (31 March 2017). "Chargers 'Cannon Man' offers sad farewell: 'It's been a great privilege'". Chargers Wire. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Aronson, Harv (23 August 2019). "#10 What's an Ingot – Top 10 Most Embarrassing NFL Moments". Abstract Sports. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Welss, Carmen. "Rescue Project 'Endeavour Cannon'". Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ "Preserving My Heritage – Before & After Gallery – Cannon". Canadian Conservation Institute. Archived from the original on 29 March 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ a b "Civil War Union Cannon Conservation, CRL Report 5". Archived from the original on 1 January 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
References
- This article incorporates text from the 1771 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
- Adle, Chahryar (2003), History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in Contrast: from the Sixteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Century
- Adye, Ralph Willett (1801), Little Bombardier and Pocket Gunner
- Ágoston, Gábor (2005), Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-60391-1
- Agrawal, Jai Prakash (2010), High Energy Materials: Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics, Wiley-VCH
- Andrade, Tonio (2016), The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-13597-7.
- Archer, Christon I. (2002), World History of Warfare, ISBN 978-0-8032-4423-8, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Arnold, Thomas (2001), The Renaissance at War, Cassell & Co, ISBN 978-0-304-35270-8
- Asprey, Robert B. (2000), The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, ISBN 978-0-465-04881-6, archivedfrom the original on 26 January 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Bastable, Marshall J. (2004), Arms and the State: Sir William Armstrong and the Remaking of British Naval Power, 1854–1914, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 978-0-7546-3404-1, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Baynes, Thomas S. (1888), The Encyclopædia Britannica A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, volume 2, archived from the original on 11 July 2012, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Benton, Captain James G. (1862), A Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery (2nd ed.), West Point, New York: Thomas Publications, ISBN 978-1-57747-079-3
- Bradbury, Jim (1992), The Medieval Siege, ISBN 978-0-85115-312-4, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 23 September 2017
- Bradford, George (2007), German Early War Armored Fighting Vehicles, ISBN 978-0-8117-3341-0
- Braun, Wernher Von; Frederick Ira Ordway (1967), History of Rocketry & Space Travel, ISBN 978-0-690-00588-2
- Brown, G. I. (1998), The Big Bang: A History of Explosives, Sutton Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7509-1878-7.
- Bachrach, David Stewart (2006), Buchanan, Brenda J. (ed.), "Gunpowder, Explosives and the State: A Technological History", Technology and Culture, 49 (3), Aldershot: Ashgate: 785–786, S2CID 111173101
- Chandler, David G. (1995), The Campaigns of Napoleon, New York City: ISBN 978-0-02-523660-8
- Chase, Kenneth (2003), Firearms: A Global History to 1700, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-82274-9.
- Chartrand, René (29 August 2006), Spanish Main 1492–1800, ]
- Cocroft, Wayne (2000), Dangerous Energy: The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-85074-718-5, archivedfrom the original on 21 December 2019, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Conner, Susan P. (2004), The Age of Napoleon, ISBN 978-0-313-32014-9, archivedfrom the original on 26 November 2017, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Cook, Haruko Taya (2000), Japan at War: An Oral History, Phoenix Press
- Cowley, Robert (1993), Experience of War, Laurel.
- Craik, George L.; Charles MacFarlane (1884), The Pictorial History of England during the Reign of George the Third: Being a History of the People, as well as a History of the Kingdom, volume 2, London: Charles Knight, archived from the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Cressy, David (2013), Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder, Oxford University Press
- Crosby, Alfred W. (2002), Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-79158-8.
- Curtis, W. S. (2014), Long Range Shooting: A Historical Perspective, WeldenOwen.
- Dickens, Charles (22 April 1859). All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- Donagan, Barbara (2008). War in England 1642–1649. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928518-1. Archivedfrom the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- Dmytryshyn, Basil (1985), Russia's Conquest of Siberia, Western Imprints, The Press of the Oregon Historical Society
- Earl, Brian (1978), Cornish Explosives, Cornwall: The ISBN 978-0-904040-13-5.
- Easton, S. C. (1952), Roger Bacon and His Search for a Universal Science: A Reconsideration of the Life and Work of Roger Bacon in the Light of His Own Stated Purposes, Basil Blackwell
- Ebrey, Patricia B. (1999), The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-43519-2
- Gat, Azar (2006), War in Human Civilization, New York City: ISBN 978-0-19-926213-7, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Grant, R.G. (2011), Battle at Sea: 3,000 Years of Naval Warfare, DK Publishing.
- Green, Michael; Thomas Anderson; Frank Schulz (2000), German Tanks of World War II in Color, Zenith Imprint, ISBN 978-0-7603-0671-0, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Griffith, Paddy (2006), The Vauban Fortifications of France, ]
- Gudmundsson, Bruce I. (1993), On Artillery, ISBN 978-0-275-94047-8, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Hadden, R. Lee. 2005. "Confederate Boys and Peter Monkeys." Archived 12 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine Armchair General. January 2005. Adapted from a talk given to the Geological Society of America on 25 March 2004.
- Halberstadt, Hans (2002), The World's Great Artillery: From the Middle Ages to the Present Day, ISBN 978-0-7607-3303-5
- Harding, David (1990), Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to 2000 A.D., Diane Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0-7567-8436-2, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Harding, Richard (1999), Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650–1830, UCL Press Limited
- al-Hassan, Ahmad Y. (2001), "Potassium Nitrate in Arabic and Latin Sources", History of Science and Technology in Islam, archivedfrom the original on 20 May 2019, retrieved 23 July 2007.
- Hazlett, James C.; Edwin Olmstead; M. Hume Parks (2004), Field Artillery Weapons of the American Civil War (5th ed.), ISBN 978-0-252-07210-9
- Heath, Byron (2005), Discovering the Great South Land, ISBN 978-1-877058-31-8, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Hobson, John M. (2004), The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, Cambridge University Press.
- Hoffmeyer, Ada Bruhn de. (1972), Arms and Armour in Spain: A Short Survey, Madrid: Instituto de Estudios sobre Armas Antiguas
- Hogg, Ian V.; John H. Batchelor (1978), Naval Gun, Blandford Press, ISBN 978-0-7137-0905-6
- Holmes, Richard (2002), Redcoat: the British Soldier in the age of Horse and Musket, ISBN 978-0-393-05211-4, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Jarymowycz, Roman Johann (2001), Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine, Lynne Rienner Publishers, ISBN 978-1-55587-950-1, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Johnson, Norman Gardner. "explosive". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Chicago. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- Keegan, John (2000), World War II: A Visual Encyclopedia, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., ]
- Kelly, Jack (2004), Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World, Basic Books, ISBN 978-0-465-03718-6.
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam (1996), "Coming of Gunpowder to the Islamic World and North India: Spotlight on the Role of the Mongols", Journal of Asian History, 30: 41–45.
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam (2004), Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India, Oxford University Press
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam (2008), Historical Dictionary of Medieval India, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., ISBN 978-0-8108-5503-8
- Kinard, Jeff (2007), Artillery An Illustrated History of its Impact
- Knox, Dudley W. (1939), Naval Documents related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers, Volume I, Washington: United States Government Printing Office
- Konstam, Angus (2002), Renaissance War Galley 1470–1590, Osprey Publisher Ltd..
- Krebs, Robert E. (2004), Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-313-32433-8, archivedfrom the original on 29 May 2012, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Lee, Ernest Markham (1906), Tchaikovsky, Harvard University: G. Bell & sons, archived from the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Liang, Jieming (2006), Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity, Singapore, Republic of Singapore: Leong Kit Meng, ISBN 978-981-05-5380-7
- Lidin, Olaf G. (2002), Tanegashima – The Arrival of Europe in Japan, Nordic Inst of Asian Studies, ISBN 978-8791114120
- Lorge, Peter A. (2008), The Asian Military Revolution: from Gunpowder to the Bomb, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-60954-8
- Lu, Gwei-Djen (1988), "The Oldest Representation of a Bombard", Technology and Culture, 29 (3): 594–605, S2CID 112733319
- Manigault, Edward; Warren Ripley (1996), Siege Train: The Journal of a Confederate Artilleryman in the Defense of Charleston, ISBN 978-1-57003-127-4, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Manucy, Albert (1994), Artillery Through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasising Types Used in America, Diane Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7881-0745-0, archivedfrom the original on 2 July 2007, retrieved 3 March 2008
- May, Timothy (2012), The Mongol Conquests in World History, Reaktion Books
- McCamley, Nicholas J. (2004), Disasters Underground, Pen & Sword Military, ISBN 978-1-84415-022-9
- McCarthy, Peter; Mike Syron (2003), Panzerkrieg: The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Tank Divisions, ISBN 978-0-7867-1264-9, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- McLahlan, Sean (2010), Medieval Handgonnes
- McNeill, William Hardy (1992), The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, University of Chicago Press.
- Morillo, Stephen (2008), War in World History: Society, Technology, and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, To 1500, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-052584-9
- Needham, Joseph (1971), Science and Civilization in China Volume 4 Part 3, Cambridge at the University Press
- Needham, Joseph (1980), Science & Civilisation in China, vol. 5 pt. 4, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-08573-1
- ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
- Nicolle, David (1990), The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane
- ]
- Nolan, Cathal J. (2006), The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: an Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, Vol 1, A–K, vol. 1, Westport & London: Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-33733-8
- Norris, John (2003), Early Gunpowder Artillery: 1300–1600, Marlborough: The Crowood Press.
- Nossov, Konstantin (2007), Medieval Russian Fortresses AD 862–1480, ]
- Nossov, Konstantin (2006), Russian Fortresses, 1480–1682, ]
- Pacey, Arnold (1990), Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History, ISBN 978-0-262-66072-3, archivedfrom the original on 10 March 2017, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Partington, J. R. (1960), A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, Cambridge, UK: W. Heffer & Sons.
- Partington, J. R. (1999), A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-5954-0
- Patrick, John Merton (1961), Artillery and warfare during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Utah State University Press.
- Pauly, Roger (2004), Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology, Greenwood Publishing Group.
- Perrin, Noel (1979), Giving up the Gun, Japan's reversion to the Sword, 1543–1879, Boston: David R. Godine, ISBN 978-0-87923-773-8
- Petzal, David E. (2014), The Total Gun Manual (Canadian edition), WeldonOwen.
- Phillips, Henry Prataps (2016), The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c. 1000 to 1850), Notion Press
- Playfair, Ian S. O.; T. P. Gleave (1987), The Mediterranean and Middle East, ISBN 978-0-11-630946-4
- Porter, Stephen (2008). "Nye, Nathaniel (bap. 1624), mathematician and master gunner". required.)
- Purton, Peter (2010), A History of the Late Medieval Siege, 1200–1500, Boydell Press, ISBN 978-1-84383-449-6
- Reymond, Arnold (1963), History of the Sciences in Greco-Roman Antiquity, Biblo & Tannen Publishers, ISBN 978-0-8196-0128-5, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Robins, Benjamin (1742), New Principles of Gunnery
- Rose, Susan (2002), Medieval Naval Warfare 1000–1500, Routledge
- Roy, Kaushik (2015), Warfare in Pre-British India, Routledge
- Russ, Martin (1999), Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950, ISBN 978-0-14-029259-6
- ]
- Schmidtchen, Volker (1977a), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (2): 153–173 (153–157)
- Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (3): 213–237 (226–228)
- ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5
- Tran, Nhung Tuyet (2006), Viêt Nam Borderless Histories, University of Wisconsin Press.
- Tunis, Edwin (1999), Weapons: A Pictorial History, ISBN 978-0-8018-6229-8, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
- Turnbull, Stephen (2003), Fighting Ships Far East (2: Japan and Korea Ad 612–1639, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84176-478-8
- ]
- Urbanski, Tadeusz (1967), Chemistry and Technology of Explosives, vol. III, New York: Pergamon Press.
- Villalon, L. J. Andrew (2008), The Hundred Years War (part II): Different Vistas, Brill Academic Pub, ISBN 978-90-04-16821-3
- Wagner, John A. (2006), The Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War, Westport & London: Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-32736-0
- ISBN 978-0-385-04186-7
- Watson, Peter (2006), Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud, Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0-06-093564-1
- Wilkinson, Philip (9 September 1997), Castles, ISBN 978-0-7894-2047-3
- Wilkinson-Latham, Robert (1975), Napoleon's Artillery, France: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-0-85045-247-1
- Willbanks, James H. (2004), Machine guns: an illustrated history of their impact, ABC-CLIO, Inc.
- Williams, Anthony G. (2000), Rapid Fire, Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing Ltd., ISBN 978-1-84037-435-3
- Xiaodong, Yin (2008), "Western Cannon in China in the 16th–17th Centuries", Icon, 14: 41–61, JSTOR 23787161
- Young, Mark C (2002), Guinness Book of World Records (2002 ed.), England: ISBN 978-0-553-58378-6
- Zetterling, Niklas; Anders Frankson (2000), Kursk 1943: A Statistical Analysis, ISBN 978-0-7146-5052-4, archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2021, retrieved 25 September 2017
External links
- Artillery Tactics and Combat during the Napoleonic Wars
- Handgonnes and Matchlocks – History of firearms to 1500
- U.S. patent 5,236 – Patent for a Casting ordnance
- U.S. patent 6,612 – Cannon patent
- U.S. patent 13,851 – Muzzle loading ordnance patent
- Historic Cannons of San Francisco