Cannon

Cannon, a great gun or field-piece, as distinguished from a small-arm. Cannon were first used in England about the year 1335, and were then usually made barrel-wise, and composed of iron bars hooped together with heavy iron rings. They were afterwards made of cast iron or brass, and cast steel or gun-metal; and are now, as regards the heavier calibres, generally built up of successive tubes, coils and jackets of steel. Edward III. used cannon at the battle of Cressy, and Henry of Castile also used them in 1372 in his naval engagement with the English off La Rochelle. Breech-loading cannon seem to have been known from very early ages; but not until after 1860 did they come into common use for naval and military purposes. According to Sir William Monson, who served against the Spanish Armada, the chief cannon of Queen Elizabeth's day were: -

Name	Bore (inches)	Weight of Shot (lb.)
Cannon	8	60
Demi	Cannon	6	3/4	33	1/2
Cannon	Petro	6	24	1/2
Culverin	5	1/2	17	1/2
Demi	Culverin	4	9	1/2
Falcon	2	1/2	2
Falconet	2	1	1/2
Minion	3	1/2	4
Saker	3	1/2	5	1/2
Rabinet	1	1/2

By the end of the eighteenth century the following weapons, besides carronades (q.v.), were in use on shipboard. The guns in use about the time of Trafalgar were: -

Pounders	Length (ft., in.)	Weight (cwt., qrs., lb.)	Powder Charge (lbs., oz.)
42	9, 6	62, 1, 0	7.0	13, 0
32	9, 6	55, 2, 0	6.4	10, 10
24	9, 6	50, 2, 0	5.8	8, 0
24	9, 0	47, 3, 0	5.8	8, 0
18	9, 0	42, 2, 0	5.3	6, 0
18	8, 0	37, 3, 0	5.3	6, 0
12	9, 0	34, 3, 0	4.7	4, 0
12	8, 6	33, 1, 0	4.7	4, 0
12	7, 6	29, 1, 0	4.7	4, 0
12	7, 0	21, 0, 0	4.7	4, 0
9	9, 0	31, 0, 0	4.2	3, 0
9	8, 6	29, 2, 0	4.2	3, 0
9	7, 6	26, 2, 0	4 2	3, 0
9	7, 0	25, 1, 0	4.2	3, 0
6	8, 6	22, 1, 0	3.7	2, 0
6	8, 0	21, 2, 0	3.7	2, 0
6	7, 6	20, 1, 0	3.7	2, 0
6	7, 0	19, 1, 0	3.7	2, 0
6	6, 6	18, 2, 0	3.7	2, 0
6	6, 0	17, 2, 0	3.7	2, 0
4	5, 6	11, 3, 0	3.2	1, 5
3	4, 6	7, 1, 0	2.9	1 0

These guns, all. of course, muzzle-loaders, fired solid spherical shot, shell, grape, canister, or, sometimes, bar and chain-shot. They had low velocities and small range and penetration. In the first quarter of the present century somewhat heavier weapons, as the 42-pounder of 84 cwt., and later the 68-pounder of 95 cwt. began to be introduced; but until after the epoch of the Crimean war there was comparatively little improvement. The results of experiments which began to be carried out soon after that time led to the adoption by England of a formidable series of steel rifled muzzle-loading, built-up guns, which remained the ordinary "service" weapons until after 1880, and many of which are still in use on board ship. The chief of these may be classified as follows: -

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
16.0	80	1,700	450	25
12.5	38	810	210	18
12.0	35	706	140	16
12.0	25	608	85	13
11.0	25	543	85	14
10.0	18	406	70	13
9.0	12	253	50	11
8 0	9	175	35	9
7.0	6.5	112	30	8
7.0	4.5	112	22	7
6.28	3.2	67	8	5

In the meantime breech-loading guns, on the screw-breech-closing principle, had also been partially adopted, but found unsatisfactory. After 1880, however, the progress made by other powers obliged Great Britain to look for another system, and finally the "interrupted screw" type of breech-closing apparatus was adopted for heavy guns. The chief breech-loading guns of the leading powers are now as follows: -

British

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
16.25	111	1,800	960	36.0
13.5	67	1,250	630	30.4
12.0	45	714	295	22.5
10.0	29	500	250
9.2	22	380	175	20.3
8.0	14	210	118	17.4
6.0	5	100	42	12.1
5.0	2	50	16	8.6
4.0	1.3	25	12	7.3
4.0	0.65	25	3.25	3.0
3.4	0.35	21.8	6
3.0	0.35	12.3	4

French

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
16.54	75	1,984	870	29.4
14.57	71	1,180	546	27.4
13.39	52	926	357	25.5
13.39	48	926	257	20.3
12.6	38	760	189	18.3
10.8	27	476	165	17.8
10.8	23	476	92	14.3
7.64	7.8	165	60	12.5
6.49	4.9	99	40	10.8
5.46	2.63	61.6	13	7.0
3.15		13

German

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
12.01	35	725	202	20.5
10.33	22	412	125	15.4
9.45	19	474	152	18.1
8.24	13	308	103	15.4
6.8	5.5	117.9	30.9	10.3
5.87	4	78.3	33	11.0
3.09		12.4

Italian

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
17.0	101	2,000	725	32.8
17.0	104	2,000	900	33.7
5.91	4	80	34	11.2
4.72	1.2	32	4.56	5.0
3.0

Russian

Calibre (in.)	Weight (tons)	Weight of Projectile (lb.)	Weight of Powder (lb.)	Muzzle Penetration of Wrought Iron (in.)
12.0	50.5	732	255	23.6
12.0	40	666	144	16.7
11.0	28	516	115	15.5
11.0	28	562	132	16.6
9.0	15	249	64.2	11.7
8.0	9.6	172	31.5	9.5
6.0	4	86	18.1	8.4
3.42		12.12

As a rule guns of 50 tons weight and upwards cannot be worked without the intervention of steam, hydraulic, or pneumatic machinery; and, owing to the rapid excoriation of the bore, which is caused by the rush of the superheated powder-gases, the life of all such weapons is comparatively short. The newest development of the breech-loading gun is the quick-firing gun (q.v.).