List of the largest cannons by caliber
The list of cannons by caliber contains all types of cannons through the ages listed in decreasing caliber size. For the purpose of this list, the development of superguns can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projectiles used:
- Stone balls: Cannon of extraordinary bore, which fired stone balls, were first introduced at the turn of the 14th to 15th century in Western Europe. Following a logic of increasing performance through size, they had evolved from small handguns to giant wrought-iron or cast-bronze bombards within a span of just several decades.[1]
- Iron balls and shot: By the 16th century, however, a general switch from stone balls to smaller, but much more effective iron projectiles was in full swing. This and the parallel tendency towards standardized, rapid-firing cannon made the enormously costly and logistically demanding superguns soon obsolete in the European theatre (with the exception of the odd showpiece).[2]
- Explosive shells: In the industrial age, artillery was again revolutionized by the introduction of explosive shells, beginning with the Paixhans guns. Breakthroughs in metallurgy and modes of production were followed up by new experimentation with super-sized caliber weapons, culminating in the steel colossi of the two World Wars. In the post-war era, the development of extremely overpowered artillery was gradually abandoned in favour of missile technology, while heavy guns are still demanded by various arms of the service.
As artillery pieces of the different periods, due to the dissimilar characteristics of their projectiles, are practically incommensurable in terms of their bore size, the following list is split into three sections.
Cannon by caliber
Stone balls
Heyday: 14th to 15th century
Iron balls and shot
Heyday: 16th to 19th century
|
Caliber (mm) |
Name |
Type |
Produced |
Place of origin |
Made by |
|
280[10] |
Kanone Greif |
Scharfmetze ("medium size") |
1524 |
Electorate of Trier |
Master Simon |
Twenty-inch (508 mm) Rodman and Dahlgren smoothbore cannons were cast in 1864 during the American Civil War. The Rodmans were used as seacoast defense. Although not used as intended, 2-20" Dahlgrens were intended to be mounted in the turrets of USS Dictator and USS Puritan.
Explosive shells
Heyday: 19th to 20th century
See also
Notes
- ^ The bombard has a conical bore of 82.5–90 cm.
- ^ The bombard has a conical bore of 76–88 cm.
- ^ The bombard has a conical bore of 67–80 cm.
- ^ The bombard has a conical bore of 45–58 cm.
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977b, pp. 228–230
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977a, pp. 153–161
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977a, p. 162; ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977b, p. 222; ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977a, p. 164; ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).
- ^ Royal Armouries [1]
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977b, p. 218; ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977a, p. 166; ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).
- ^ Schmidtchen 1977b, p. 236, Fn. 103
- ^ Archiv für die Officiere der Königlich Preußischen Artillerie- und Ingenieur-Korps, Vol. 19, Berlin, Posen, Bromberg 1846, p. 101
- ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Vol. 14, Leipzig 1908, p. 160: "Mörser": caliber of 60 cm
- ^ Journal des Sciences Militaires, 2nd series, Vol. 22, Paris 1838: caliber of 22 pouces = 59,6 cm (p. 49); outer diameter of the barrel: 1 m (p. 54)
References
- Schmidtchen, Volker (1977a), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (2): 153–173
- Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (3): 213–237