History of Cannons

Cannons of the Pre-1800's(used stone...spheres)

Pumhart Von Steyr (Early 15th Century)    

        The Pumhart von Steyr is a medieval supergun from Styria, Austria, and the largest known wrought-iron bombard by caliber. The cannon was produced in the early 15th century and could fire a 690 kg stone ball around 600 m, loaded with 15 kg of powder and set up at an elevation of 10°. Today it is on display in one of the artillery halls of the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum at Vienna; it is accessible from March to October. Besides the Pumhart von Steyr, a number of 15th century European superguns are known to have been employed primarily in siege warfare, including the wrought-iron Mons Meg and Dulle Griet as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette, Faule Grete and Grose Bochse.

(Wikipedia)

Dardanelles Gun (1464)

         The Dardanelles Gun (Şahi in Turkish) or Great Turkish Bombard is a 15th century siege cannon, specifically a super-sized bombard, which saw action in the 1807 Dardanelles Operation. It was cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali with a weight of 18.6 t and a length of 518 cm, capable of firing stone balls of up to 63 cm diameter.The powder chamber and the barrel are connected by a screw mechanism, allowing easier transport of the device. Such super-sized bombards had been employed in Western Europe siege warfare since the beginning of the 15th century,and were introduced to the Ottoman army in 1453 by the Hungarian gunfounder Orban on the occasion of the Siege of Constantinople. Along with other cannons, the Dardanelles Gun was still being used for duty more than 300 years later in 1807, when a Royal Navy force appeared and commenced the Dardanelles Operation. Turkish forces loaded the cannons with projectiles, then fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 dead. In 1866, Sultan Abdülâziz gave the Dardanelles Gun to Queen Victoria as a present. It became a part of the Royal Armouries collection and was displayed to visitors at the Tower of London and was then moved to Fort Nelson at Portsmouth.
(Wikipedia)




Cannons of the 1800's(used explosive shells)

Mallet's Mortar (1857)

      Mallet's Mortar was a British siege mortar built for, but never used in, the Crimean War. The mortar was designed by Robert Mallet. It was constructed in sections so that it could be transported. Testing began on 19 October 1857 with further testing on 18 December 1857, 21, July 1858 and 28 of July 1858. Each test was brought to an end by damage to the mortar. A total of 19 rounds were fired with a rate of about 4 shells an hour being achieved. Shell weight was between 2,352 and 2,940 pounds (1,067 and 1,334 kg). In testing with an 80 pound charge it fired the lighter shell a distance of 2,759 yards (2,523 m) with a flight time of 23 seconds. The gun used for testing has been preserved at the Royal Artillery base in Woolwich while the unfired gun is on display at the Royal Armouries Fort Nelson near Portsmouth.

(Wikipedia)
 

Karl-Gerät (1940)

       "Karl-Gerät" (040/041) (German literally "Karl-device"), also known as, Thor and Mörser Karl, was a World War II German self-propelled siege mortar (Mörser) designed and built by Rheinmetall. It was the largest self-propelled weapon to see service. Seven guns were built, but only six were in combat between 1941 and 1945. It was used in attacking the Soviet fortresses of Brest-Litovsk and Sevastopol, bombarded Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw and participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the attacks against the Remagen Bridgehead. Only two exist today, the others were scrapped after the war.
(Wikipedia) 

Cannons of the 1900's (used explosive shells)

Little David

       Little David was the nickname of an American 36 inch (914 mm) caliber mortar used for test firing aerial bombs during World War II. Towards the end of the war it was modified to serve as a siege mortar, as it was expected that the US forces would encounter extremely strong fortifications during the invasion of Japan. When Japan surrendered the invasion became unnecessary and Little David was never used in combat. Little David is one of the largest artillery pieces ever produced (by caliber) though smaller than the 19th century French Monster. The mortar was moved around by two artillery tractors, making it easier than a railway gun. Its ultimate effectiveness is questionable because of its limited range and accuracy.
(Wikipedia)

2B1 Oka (1957)

       2B1 Oka (Russian: 2Б1 Ока) is a Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mortar. 2B1 is its GRAU designation. An experimental model was ready in 1957. Its chassis (Object 273), was designed and built by the Kirov Plant. Its 20 meter barrel allowed it to fire 750 kg rounds up to 45 km. Due to its complexity of loading it had a relatively low rate of fire - 1 round every 5 minutes. Field tests showed various drawbacks of the entire design (the recoil was too strong for many components - it damaged drive sprockets, tore away the gear-box from its mountings, etc) and the sheer length rendered it increadibly dificult to transport. Its development continued until 1960, when the idea of such overpowered guns (along with the 2A3), was abandoned in favor of tactical ballistic missiles, such as the 2K6 Luna.
(Wikipedia)


Cannons of the 2000's

XM982 Excalibur

       This cannon is used in the military, and is a "fire-and-forget" round. It's capable of acting as an explosive shell, a target-acquiring munition that can seek out moving targets. It's similar to guided missiles, recognizing targets based on prescribed characteristics. The effectiveness of the shells fired is confirmed via Projectile Tracking System "before the round completes its trajectory". In other words, the NLOS-C's crew knows you're dead before you do
(http://science.howstuffworks.com/nlos.htm/printable)

Howitzer

A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel (barrel length 15 to 25 times the caliber of the gun) and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent.

In the taxonomies of artillery pieces used by European (and European-style) armies in the eighteenth, 19th, and 20th centuries, the howitzer stood between the "gun" (characterized by a longer barrel, larger propelling charges, smaller shells, higher velocities, and flatter trajectories) and the "mortar" (which could fire at even higher angles of ascent and descent). Howitzers, like other artillery pieces, are usually organized in groups called batteries.

(Wikipedia)