Medieval cannon found

[Smithbrown]

14th-century cannon discovered off Swedish coast - Medievalists.net

An international research team has confirmed that a cannon discovered off Sweden's west coast dates back to the 14th century. It might be Europe’s oldest shipboard cannon.

www.medievalists.net

 

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[Heavygold4me]

Interesting read, that’s a very primitive design

 

[MiddenMonster]

Interesting read, that’s a very primitive design

Several weeks ago I saw a program on television that showed the history of cannons. They said that the first cannons were actually made with staves, which is why the term "barrel" is used for cannons and guns. The staves were fitted together and then iron rings were hammered over them to keep the assembly together. But interestingly, these first cannons were breach loaders, with the powder charge loaded into a separate cylinder which was then put in place and rotated into a locking position. The men operating the cannon could have several of the loading cylinders, which allowed for faster cycling. This show also pointed out that the first projectiles fired from cannons were arrows. Makes me wonder what caused the future development of cannons to shift to muzzle loading designs.

 

[Smithbrown]

The earliest cannon- both examples and illustrations in both Europe and China - are actually muzzleloaders rather than breechloaders.

 

[MiddenMonster]

The earliest cannon- both examples and illustrations in both Europe and China - are actually muzzleloaders rather than breechloaders.

The program I saw was on the "Story" television network, which airs the shows that were originally aired on cable/satellite networks such as the History Channel 10-15 years ago. I don't remember the name of the program, and was unable to find a picture of the cannon to which they referred on the show. Closest I found was this:

Catalogue of the Ordnance Museum: Department of Ordnance and Gunnery, U.S. Military Academy
"The first bombards were made of bars of iron bound together by hoops
like the staves of a barrel. Afterward cannon were made of wrought
iron and finally of cast metal. Breech-loading cannon were found
among the earliest constructions, but were abandoned for want of
strength and solidity."

 

[Smithbrown]

Breechloading guns are early, but the earliest are all muzzleloaders, usually cast from bronze. There are dated Chinese examples from the late 13th century. Wrought-iron breechloaders come later.

 

[dognose]

interesting that he found that so long back.
I imagine there is a whole story on just how the finder decided to contact the Maritime Museum. what prompted him to do so.
good column.