History of cannons

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Further information on the historical use of gunpowder in general: History of gunpowder

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The history of cannons spans several hundred years from the 12th century to modern times. The

star forts were designed specifically to better withstand artillery sieges. Cannons transformed naval warfare with its deadly firepower, allowing vessels to destroy each other from long range. As rifling became more commonplace, the accuracy of the cannon was significantly improved, and they became deadlier than ever, especially to infantry. In World War I, a considerable majority of all deaths were caused by cannons; they were also used widely in World War II. Most modern cannons are similar to those used in the Second World War, including autocannons
—with the exception of naval guns, which are now significantly smaller in caliber.

Development in China

A fire lance as depicted in the Huolongjing.
An "eruptor" as depicted in the Huolongjing. Essentially a fire lance on a frame, the 'multiple bullets magazine eruptor' shoots lead shots, which are loaded in a magazine and fed into the barrel when turned around on its axis.
A bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" from the 14th century Ming Dynasty book Huolongjing.[1]
Main article: Historiography of gunpowder and gun transmission
Further information on development of gunpowder warfare in China:
Technology of the Song Dynasty

Fire lance

Main article:
Gunpowder artillery in the Song Dynasty

The cannon may have possibly appeared in China as early as the 12th century,

fire-lance, a 12th-century gunpowder weapon that combined a tube of gunpowder with a polearm weapon.[3] This early fire lance is not considered a true gun because it did not include projectiles, whereas a gun by definition uses "the explosive force of the gunpowder to propel a projectile from a tube: cannons, muskets, and pistols are typical examples."[4] However co-viative projectiles, which only partially occlude the barrel, such as iron scraps or porcelain shards were added at some point,[5] and eventually, the paper and bamboo materials of fire lance barrels were replaced by metal.[6] In 1259 a type of "fire-emitting lance" (tuhuoqiang 突火槍) made an appearance and according to the History of Song: "It is made from a large bamboo tube, and inside is stuffed a pellet wad (子窠). Once the fire goes off it completely spews the rear pellet wad forth, and the sound is like a bomb that can be heard for five hundred or more paces."[7][8][9][10][11] The pellet wad mentioned is possibly the first true bullet in recorded history depending on how bullet is defined, as it did occlude the barrel, unlike previous co-viatives used in the fire lance.[7]

Eruptor

Fire lances transformed from the "bamboo- (or wood- or paper-) barreled firearm to the metal-barreled firearm"[7] to better withstand the explosive pressure of gunpowder. From there it branched off into several different gunpowder weapons known as "eruptors" in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, with different functions such as the "filling-the-sky erupting tube" which spewed out poisonous gas and porcelain shards, the "orifice-penetrating flying sand magic mist tube" (鑽穴飛砂神霧筒) which spewed forth sand and poisonous chemicals into orifices, and the more conventional "phalanx-charging fire gourd" which shot out lead pellets.[7] These eruptors were more cannon-like but only shot shrapnel and shells.[1]

Cannon

The earliest known depiction of a cannon is a sculpture from the

Nayan in 1287. The History of Yuan states that a Jurchen commander known as Li Ting led troops armed with hand cannon into battle against Nayan, scoring two victories, one in 1287 and another in early 1288.[17] Another specimen, dated to 1332, has a muzzle bore diameter of 10.5 cm (4 in).[1][18]

Li Ting personally led a detachment of ten brave soldiers holding huo pao, and in a night attack penetrated the enemy's camp. Then they let off the pao, which caused great damage, and such confusion that the enemy soldiers attacked and killed each cother, flying 'in all directions'... Li Ting chose gun-soldiers (chong zi), concealing those who bore the huo pao on their backs; then by night he crossed the river, moved upstream, and fired off (the weapons). This threw all the enemy's horses and men into great confusion... and he gained a great victory.[19]

— History of Yuan

According to the Taiheiki, during the Mongol invasions of Japan, enemy troops used a weapon shaped like a bell that made a noise like thunder-clap and shot out thousands of iron balls.[20][21]

The

Red Turban Rebellion saw the application of arrow-firing cannons to both siege and naval warfare in the conflict. During the Siege of Shaoxing of 1358–9, the Ming army attacked the city and the defenders "used ... fire tubes to attack the enemy's advance guard".[22] The siege was won by the defenders, whose "fire tubes went off all at once, and the [attacker's] great army could not stand against them and had to withdraw."[23] In 1363 Chen Youliang failed to take Nanchang due to the defenders' use of cannons and was forced to set up a blockade in an attempt to starve them out.[24] In the Siege of Suzhou of 1366, the Ming army fielded 2,400 large and small cannons in addition to 480 trebuchets, but neither were able to breach the city walls despite "the noise of the guns and the paos went day and night and didn't stop."[25] Cannons were also used on the frontier as garrison artillery from 1412 onwards.[26]

Cannons were also used on board naval vessels. In the Battle of Lake Poyang on 29 August 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang's fleet arrived armed with "fire bombs, fire guns, fire arrows, fire seeds [probably grenades], large and small fire lances, large and small 'commander' fire-tubes, large and small iron bombs, rockets."[27] His fleet engaged Chen's under orders to "get close to the enemy's ships and first set off gunpowder weapons (發火器), then bows and crossbows, and finally attack their ships with short range weapons."[28] However it was fire bombs hurled using ship mounted trebuchets that succeeded in "burning twenty or more enemy vessels and killing or drowning many enemy troops."[29] Zhu eventually came out victorious by ramming and burning the enemy fleet with fire ships. While guns were used during the battle, ultimately they were not pivotal to success, and the battle was won using incendiary weapons.[30]

After emerging victorious over the other rebels and Mongol forces, the Hongwu Emperor created a Bureau of Armaments (軍器局). It was tasked with producing every three years 3,000 handheld bronze guns, 3,000 signal cannons, and ammunition as well as accoutrements such as ramrods. His Armory Bureau (兵仗局) was responsible for producing types of guns known as "great generals," "secondary generals," "tertiary generals," and "gate-seizing generals." Other firearms such as "miraculous [fire] lances," "miraculous guns," and "horse-beheading guns" were also produced. It is unclear what proportion or how many of each type were actually manufactured.[31]

In 1388 cannons were used against war elephants successfully during the Ming–Mong Mao War and again in 1421 during the Lam Sơn uprising.[32][33] In 1414 the Ming army clashed with an Oirat force near the Tula River and frightened them so much with their guns that the Oirats fled without their spare horses, only to be ambushed by concealed Chinese guns. According to a Chinese observer the Oirats avoided battle several days later, "fearing that the guns had arrived again."[34][6]

Ming dynasty artillery included a vase shaped "long range awe inspiring" cannon dated from 1350 and found in the 14th century treatise Huolongjing.[35] Another cannon included in the treatise called the bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" is not vase shaped, showing an advance in metallurgy that made thickening the explosion chamber unnecessary. It is also depicted with a wheeled carriage, making it perhaps the earliest piece of field artillery. According to the Huolongjing, it was cast from bronze, fastened with iron hoops to a four-wheeled carriage, with a wooden shield placed in front to hide it from the enemy, only to be removed when firing.[36]

Early Ming cannons coalesced into a few typical designs. There was the crouching tiger cannon, a small cannon fitted with a metal collar and two legs for support.[26] There was a middling cannon known as the "awe-inspiring long range cannon", which added a sight and weighed around 85 kilograms.[37] Larger cannons such as the great general and great divine cannon were also developed and at least 300 of them were being made in 1465.[26] The muzzle loading wrought iron "great general cannon" (大將軍炮) weighed up to 360 kilograms and could fire a 4.8 kilogram lead ball. Its heavier variant, the "great divine cannon" (大神銃), could weigh up to 600 kilograms and was capable of firing several iron balls and upward of a hundred iron shots at once. These were the last indigenous Chinese cannon designs prior to the incorporation of European models in the 16th century.[38]

Spread

Medieval Europe

Main article: Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages
Earliest picture of a European cannon, "De Nobilitatibus Sapientii Et Prudentiis Regum," Walter de Milemete, 1326
Western European handgun, 1380.
The Tannenberg handgonne is a cast bronze firearm. Muzzle bore 15–16 mm. Found in the water well of the 1399 destroyed Tannenberg castle. Oldest surviving firearm from Germany.

The earliest European references to gunpowder are found in Roger Bacon's Opus Majus from 1267.[39][40]

The earliest known European depiction of a cannon appeared in a manuscript by Walter de Milemete dated to 1326. Although not necessarily drawn by him, known as De Nobilitatibus, sapientii et prudentiis regum (Concerning the Majesty, Wisdom, and Prudence of Kings), it displays a cannon loaded with a large arrow emerging from it and its user lowering a long stick to ignite the cannon through the touch hole.[41][42] Another similar illustration dated to 1326 shows a darker gun being set off by a group of knights, which also featured in another work of de Milemete's, De secretis secretorum Aristotelis.[43] 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.[44] 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."[42]

The pot-de-fer's

Siege of Calais, in the same year, although it was not until the 1380s that the "ribaudekin" clearly became mounted on wheels.[48] By 1350 Petrarch wrote that the presence of cannons on the battlefield was 'as common and familiar as other kinds of arms'.[49]

The first cannon appeared in Russia around 1380, though they were used only in sieges, often by the defenders.[50] Around the same period, the Byzantine Empire began to accumulate its own cannons to face the Ottoman threat, starting with medium-sized cannons 3 feet (0.91 m) long and of 10 in caliber.[51] The first definite use of artillery in the region was against the Ottoman siege of Constantinople, in 1396, forcing the Ottomans to withdraw.[51] They acquired their own cannons, and laid siege to the Byzantine capital again, in 1422, using "falcons", which were short but wide cannons. Before the siege of Constantinople, it was known that the Ottomans had the ability to cast medium-sized cannons, but the range of some pieces they were able to field far surpassed the defenders' expectations. Instrumental to this Ottoman advancement in arms production was a somewhat mysterious figure by the name of Orban (Urban), a Hungarian (though some suggest he was German).[52] One cannon designed by Orban was named "Basilica" and was 27 feet (8.2 m) long, and able to hurl a 600 lb (272 kg) stone ball over a mile (1.6 km).[53]

The master founder initially tried to sell his services to the Byzantines, who were unable to secure the funds needed to hire him. Orban then left

siege of Constantinople the gun proved to be somewhat underwhelming. The aiming process was laborious and after each shot it required hot oil ointment for cooling. Its rate of fire was once every three hours, and may have even suffered damage from cracks early on, never to be repaired.[55][56]

Fortunately for the Ottomans it wasn't Mehmed's only cannon. Dozens of other large cannons alongside 500 smaller cannons bombarded Constantinople's walls in their weakest sections for 55 days. A Greek contemporary, Kritoboulos, describes the scene thus, "The stone, borne with tremendous force and velocity, hit the wall, which it immediately shook and knocked down, and was itself broken into many fragments and scattered, hurling the pieces everywhere and killing those who happened by be near by. Sometimes it demolished a whole section, and sometimes a half-section, and sometimes a larger or smaller section of a tower or turret or battlement. And there was no part of the wall strong enough or resistant enough or thick enough to be able to withstand it, or to wholly resist such force and such a blow of the stone cannon-ball."[55] Mehmed's smaller artillery pieces also proved effective. Constantinople's defenders wielded their own formidable guns and "fired … five or ten bullets at a time, each about the size of a … walnut, and having a great power of penetration. If one of these hit an armed man it would go right through his shield and his body and go on to hit anyone else who happened to be in his way, and even a third, until the force of the powder diminished; so one shot might hit two or three men."[55] Despite the fierce defense, the city's fortifications were ultimately overwhelmed in a final assault and the sultan won the siege.

Southeast Asia

Collection of Philippine lantaka in a European museum

Mongol troops of Yuan dynasty carried Chinese cannons to Java during their 1293 invasion.[57] Cannons were used by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1352 during its invasion of the Khmer Empire.[58] Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the Khmer Empire.[58]

Vietnam's

Lý–Song War (1075 – 1077) at the siege of Yongzhou.[59] Around the 1260s, the Vietnamese used a weapon called the thủ pháo, which was a small bamboo tube with one side closed and a small hole for the fuse that ignited the gunpowder and fired a sharp piece of iron.[59] In 1390, the King of Champa, Po Binasuor, and his army were ambushed and killed by cannons of Vietnamese prince Trần Khát Chân while Champa was attacking Đại Việt.[60]
: 107–109 

When the Portuguese first came to Malacca (1509), they found a large colony of Javanese merchants under their own headmen; they were manufacturing their own cannons, which is deemed as important as sails in a ship.[61]

By the early 16th century, the Javanese were locally-producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannons" or "holy cannons". 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).[62]

Islamic world

See also:
Alchemy and chemistry in Islam
The Dardanelles Gun, a 1464 Ottoman bombard

According to historian

Islamic World are vague with a possible appearance in the Emirate of Granada by the 1320s and 1330s, however evidence is inconclusive.[72][71]

Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf at the siege of Sijilmasa in 1274.[63][73] The passage by Ibn Khaldun on the Marinid Siege of Sijilmassa in 1274 occurs as follows: "[The Sultan] installed siege engines … and gunpowder engines …, which project small balls of iron. These balls are ejected from a chamber … placed in front of a kindling fire of gunpowder; this happens by a strange property which attributes all actions to the power of the Creator."[74] However the source is not contemporary and was written a century later around 1382. Its interpretation has been rejected as anachronistic by historians, notably Ágoston and Peter Purton who urge caution regarding claims of Islamic firearms use in the 1204–1324 period as late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder, naft, as they did for an earlier incendiary, naphtha.[75][72]

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.[72]

— Gabor Ágoston

It's not certain when the Ottomans started using firearms, however it's argued that they had been using cannons since the Battles of Kosovo (1389) and Nukap (1396) and most certainly by the 1420s.[76] Some argue that field guns only entered service shortly after the Battle of Varna (1444) and more certainly used in the Second Battle of Kosovo (1448).[77] The arquebus reached them around 1425.[78] Super-sized bombards were used by the troops of Mehmed II to capture Constantinople, in 1453. Jim Bradbury argues that Urban, a Hungarian cannon engineer, introduced this cannon from Central Europe to the Ottoman realm.[79] According to Paul Hammer, however, it could have been introduced from other Islamic countries which had earlier used cannons.[73] It could fire heavy stone balls a mile, and the sound of their blast could reportedly be heard from a distance of 10 miles (16 km).[79]

A piece of slightly later date, the

Dardanelles Operation. Turkish forces loaded the ancient relics with propellant and projectiles, then fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 dead through this bombardment.[82]

East Asia

Korea began producing gunpowder in 1374 and were using cannons against Japanese pirates by the 1380s. By 1410, 160 Korean ships were reported to have equipped artillery of some sort. Mortars firing thunder-crash bombs are known to have been used, and four types of cannons are mentioned: chonja (heaven), chija (earth), hyonja (black), and hwangja (yellow), but their specifications are unknown. These cannons typically shot wooden arrows tipped with iron, the longest of which were nine feet long, but stone and iron balls were sometimes used as well.[83] Mounted bronze guns that shot iron-fletched darts were also used in a cart style weapon that was the early hwacha.[84]

Firearms seem to have been known in Japan around 1270 as proto-cannon invented in China, which the Japanese called teppō (鉄砲 lit. "iron cannon").

Korean peninsula
.

Early modern period

The Tsar Cannon, the largest howitzer ever made, cast by Andrey Chokhov[90]

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.[91] By mid-century, European monarchs began to classify cannons to reduce the confusion. Henry II of France opted for six sizes of cannons,[92] but others settled for more; the Spanish used twelve sizes, and the English sixteen.[93][94] 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.[95]

The end of the Middle Ages saw the construction of larger, more powerful cannons, as well their spread throughout the world. As they were not effective at breaching the newer fortifications resulting from the development of cannons,

Tudors' Device Forts, in England.[98] Star forts soon replaced castles in Europe, and, eventually, those in the Americas, as well.[99]

star fort
, was built with angles and sloped walls specifically to defend against cannons.
The large Bibi Mariam Cannon used in the Mughal Empire

By end of the 15th century, several technological advancements were made, making cannons more mobile. Wheeled

Flodden, in 1513: the English field guns outpaced the Scottish siege artillery, firing twice, or even thrice, as many rounds.[102] Despite the increased maneuverability, however, cannons were still much slower than the rest of the army: a heavy English cannon required 23 horses to transport, while a culverin, nine, yet, even with this many animals transporting them, they still moved at a walking pace. Due to their relatively slow speed, and lack of organization, discipline, and tactics, the combination of pike and shot still dominated the battlefields of Europe.[103]

Ahom Cannons

Innovations continued, notably the German invention of the mortar, a thick-walled, short-barreled gun that blasted shot upward at a steep angle. Mortars were useful for sieges, as they could fire over walls and other defenses.[104] This cannon found more use with the Dutch, who learned to shoot bombs filled with powder from them. However, setting the bomb fuse in the mortar was a problem. "Single firing" was the first technique used to set the fuse, where the bomb was placed with the fuse down against the propelling charge. This practice often resulted in the fuse being blown into the bomb, causing it to blow up in front of the mortar. Because of this danger, "double firing" was developed, where the fuse was turned up and the gunner lighted the fuse and the touch hole simultaneously. This, however, required much skill and timing, and was especially dangerous when the gun failed to fire, leaving a lighted bomb in the barrel. Not until 1650 was it accidentally discovered that double-lighting was a superfluous process: the heat of firing was enough to light the fuse.[105]

gabions
with cannon was an important part in the attack and defense of fortifications.

outflanked their heavy guns.[108] At the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631, Adolphus proved the effectiveness of the changes made to his army, in particular his artillery, 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 without losing ground, due to their infantry's linear formations. Battered by cannon fire, and low on morale, Tilly's men broke rank, and fled.[109]

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.[110]

In the latter half of the 17th century, the French engineer

ricochet fire, was a key feature of this system, and it even allowed Vauban to calculate the length of time a siege would take.[111] He was also a prolific builder of star forts, and did much to popularize the idea of "depth defense" in the face of cannons.[112] These principles were followed into the mid-19th century, when changes in armaments necessitated greater depth defense than Vauban had provided for. It was only in the years prior to World War I that new works began to break radically away from his designs.[113]

18th and 19th centuries

See also: Naval artillery in the Age of Sail, Field artillery in the American Civil War, and Siege artillery in the American Civil War
30 pounder long gun at the ready

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).[114] Demi-cannons were capable of firing these heavy metal balls with such force, that they could penetrate more than a meter of solid oak, from a distance of 90 m (300 ft), and could dismast even the largest ships at close range.[115] Full cannons fired a 42 lb (19 kg) shot, but were discontinued by the 18th century, as they were too unwieldy. By the end of the century, principles long adopted in Europe specified the characteristics of the Royal Navy's cannons, 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.[116]

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 deadly.[117] The carronade was much shorter, and weighed between a third to a quarter less than an 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.[118] Carronades were manufactured in the usual naval gun calibers,[119] 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.

In the 1810s and 1820s, greater emphasis was placed on the accuracy of long-range gunfire, and less on the weight of a broadside. The carronade, although initially very successful and widely adopted, disappeared from the Royal Navy in the 1850s, after the development of jacketed steel cannon, by

William George Armstrong and Joseph Whitworth. Nevertheless, carronades were used in the American Civil War.[117][120]

A cannon from the Battle of Chancellorsville

The

Dardanelles Operation. The artillery hit a British ship with two 700 lb (320 kg) cannonballs, killing 60 sailors; in total, the cannons claimed over 100 lives, prompting the British to retreat. In 1867, Sultan Abdul Aziz gave Queen Victoria the 17-ton "Dardanelles Gun," one of the cannon used at the siege of Constantinople.[121]

In contrast to these antiquated weapons, Western cannons during the 19th century became larger, more destructive, more accurate, and could fire at longer range. One example is the American 3 in (76 mm) wrought-iron, muzzle-loading

12 pounder Napoleon, which was renowned for its sturdiness, reliability, firepower, flexibility, relatively light weight, and range of 1,700 m (5,600 ft).[122]

Cannons were crucial in

roundshot, and 500 grapeshot,[128][130] inflicting severe casualties on the Russian forces, whose losses numbered over 20,000 killed and wounded, in total.[131] At the Battle of Waterloo—Napoleon's final battle—the French army had many more artillery pieces than either the British or Prussians. As the battlefield was muddy, recoil caused cannons to bury themselves into the ground after firing, resulting in slow rates of fire, as more effort was required to move them back into an adequate firing position;[132] also, roundshot did not ricochet with as much force from the wet earth.[133] Despite the drawbacks, sustained artillery fire proved deadly during the engagement, especially during the French cavalry attack.[134] The British infantry, having formed infantry squares, took heavy losses from the French guns, while their own cannons fired at the cuirassiers and lancers, when they fell back to regroup. Eventually, the French ceased their assault, after taking heavy losses from the British cannons and musket fire.[135]

U.S. troops fire during the 1899 Battle of Manila, Philippine–American War

The practice of

William George Armstrong—which boasted significantly improved range, accuracy, and power than earlier weapons. The projectile fired from the Armstrong gun could reportedly pierce through a ship's side, and explode inside the enemy vessel, causing increased damage, and casualties.[136] The British military adopted the Armstrong gun, and was impressed; the Duke of Cambridge even declared that it "could do everything but speak."[137] Despite being significantly more advanced than its predecessors, the Armstrong gun was rejected soon after its integration, in favor of the muzzle-loading pieces that had been in use before.[138] While both types of gun were effective against wooden ships, neither had the capability to pierce the armor of ironclads; due to reports of slight problems with the breeches of the Armstrong gun, and their higher cost, the older muzzle-loaders were selected to remain in service, instead.[139] Realizing that iron was more difficult to pierce with breech-loaded cannons, Armstrong designed rifled muzzle-loading guns,[140] which proved successful; The Times reported: "even the fondest believers in the invulnerability of our present ironclads were obliged to confess that against such artillery, at such ranges, their plates and sides were almost as penetrable as wooden ships."[141]

The superior cannons of the Western world brought them tremendous advantages in warfare. For example, in the

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 battleships.[142] 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;[143] 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.[144]

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 cannons are howitzers, mortars, guns, and autocannon, although a few very large-calibre cannons, custom-designed, have also been constructed. 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 maneuver of forces to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy."[145]

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 comparatively flat trajectory,[146] as opposed to other types of artillery, such as howitzers or mortars, which have lower muzzle velocities, and usually fire indirectly.[147][148]

Artillery

Nine-man crew firing a US M198 howitzer

By the early 20th century,

infantry weapons became more powerful and accurate, forcing most artillery away from the front lines. Despite the change to indirect fire, cannons still proved highly effective during World War I, causing over 75% of casualties.[149] The onset of trench warfare after the first few months of World War I greatly increased the demand for howitzers, as they fired at a steep angle, and were thus better suited than guns at hitting targets in trenches. Furthermore, their shells carried larger amounts of explosives than those of guns, and caused considerably less barrel wear. The German army took advantage of this, beginning the war with many more howitzers than the French.[150] World War I also marked the use of the Paris Gun, the longest-ranged gun ever fired. This 200 mm (8 in) caliber gun was used by the Germans to bombard Paris, and was capable of hitting targets more than 122 km (76 mi) away.[151]

Royal Artillery howitzers at the Battle of the Somme

The

PaK 43 anti-tank gun.[161][162] One of the most powerful guns to see service in World War II, it was capable of destroying any Allied tank at very long ranges.[163][164]

The USS Iowa firing her 16 in (41 cm) guns

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.[165]

Mark 45 gun being fired from a Ticonderoga-class cruiser

The tendency to create larger caliber cannons during the World Wars has been reversed in more recent years. The

Long Range Land-Attack Projectile. The warhead, which weighs 24 pounds (11 kg), has a circular error of probability of 50 m (160 ft), and will be mounted on a rocket, to increase the effective range to 100 nmi (190 km)—a longer range than that of the Paris Gun. The AGS's barrels will be water cooled, and will be capable of firing 10 rounds per minute, per gun. The combined firepower from both turrets will give Zumwalt-class destroyers the firepower equivalent to 18 conventional M-198 howitzers.[169][170] The reason for the re-integration of cannons as a main armament in United States Navy ships is because satellite-guided munitions fired from a gun are far less expensive than a cruise missile, and are therefore a better alternative to many combat situations.[168]

Autocannon

An autocannon is a cannon with a larger caliber than a machine gun, but smaller than that of a field gun. Autocannons have mechanisms to automatically load their ammunition, and therefore have a faster rate of fire than artillery, often approaching—and, in the case of Gatling guns, surpassing—that of a machine gun.[171] The traditional minimum bore for autocannons—indeed, for all types of cannons, as autocannons are the lowest-caliber pieces—has remained 20 mm, since World War II.

A-10 Thunderbolt II

Most nations use these rapid-fire cannons on their 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 armored vehicles.[172]

Autocannons have largely replaced machine guns in aircraft, due to their greater firepower.

AC-130 gunship.[175]

Although capable of generating a high volume of fire, autocannons are limited by the amount of ammunition that can be carried by the weapons systems mounting them. For this reason, both the 25 mm Bushmaster and the 30 mm RARDEN are deliberately designed with relatively slow rates of fire, to extend the amount of time they can be employed on a battlefield before requiring a resupply of ammunition. The rate of fire of modern autocannons ranges from 90 rounds per minute, to 1,800 rounds per minute. Systems with multiple barrels—Gatling guns—can have rates of fire of several thousand rounds per minute; the fastest of these is the GSh-6-30K, which has a rate of fire of over 6,000 rounds per minute.[171]

Notes

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  10. ISBN 978-0-85045-372-0
    . Retrieved 28 November 2011. In 1259 Chinese technicians produced a 'fire-lance' (huo ch' iang): gunpowder was exploded in a bamboo tube to discharge a cluster of pellets at a distance of 250 yards. It is also interesting to note the Mongol use of suffocating fumes produced by burning reeds at the battle of Liegnitz in 1241.
  11. ISBN 978-0-8122-1766-7
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Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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