Artillery / Largest Cannons in World History

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Last Modified May 15, 2008 at 09:58 PM EDT by VLeonov

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Cannons were invented for use in battle to penetrate enemy defences or repel enemy attacks. The technology was mastered during the last millennium. Cannons were designed to use gun powder for launching "cannon balls" towards enemy fortifications.

These are some of the largest cannons used in warfare over the last 1000 years. I have excluded modern artillery from this list.

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 NamePictureSpecsRemarks 
Dardanelles Gun (Tower of London, England) Weight: 17 tonsManufacturer: Developed by a Hungarian named UrbanLength: 27 feet longBore: 2.5 feetProjectile distance: It could hurl a 1200 pound ball over a mile.Operating Crew: It is believ... more The Turks used this heavy cannon to breach the walls of Constantinople in 1453 during their 55-day seige of the Ottomon empire.After being on permanent display for four centuries, these cannons wer... more view view
Hulishan Cannon (German made Krupp cannon) Inner caliber of the bore: 280 mmWeight of the cannon: 50 tons (not including the gun tracks, spare parts of the carriage, lifting machine, hoisting jack and iron nails, etc.) Length of the bore: 1... more Commissioned in 1896, this cannon is considered to be the World's largest coastal cannon - per the Guinness Book of World Records. It is currently located in Hulishan Fortress in Xiamen, C... more view view
Jaivana Cannon (Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur, India) Jaivana rests on a high 4 wheeled carriage. The front wheels are 2.74 m in diameter and the rear wheels are 1.37 m in diameter.Barrel Length: The barrel is 6.147 m long Weight: The cannon weighs 50... more This cannon is the world's biggest wheeled cannon ever made. Reportedly, it took four elephants to swivel it around on its axis.Currently located at the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur, India, this... more view view
Tanjavur "Rajagopala" Cannon (Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India) Length: 751.5 cm (25 ft.)Outer Diameter: 93 cm. (37 in.)Inner Diameter: 63 cm. (25 in.)Supports: 3 concrete supports of 60cm thick, 120 cm high and 2.25 m. apartWeight: 20.6 - 22 tons (estimat... more This is a muzzle-loading cannon of forge-welded iron - fabricated through forging together rings of forge-welded iron. This cannon was built during the reign of Raghunatha Nayak (1600 - 1645 C... more view view
Tsar-Pushka (Kremlin, Moscow, Russia) Weight: The cannon weighs nearly 42 tonsLength: 5.34 meters (17.5 feet)Calibre: 890 mm (35 inches)External Diameter: 1200 mm (41 inches)    more Tsar Pushka is listed as the largest howitzer ever made in the Guinness Book of Records. Commissioned in 1586 by Russian Tsar Fedor, son of Ivan the Fourth, the cannon was intended to fire grapesho... more view view

Comments

  • sjackson, Jun 18, 2008 at 09:05 AM EDT said:

    50-ton cannons...those are huge!

  • KiranB, Jun 08, 2007 at 06:12 AM EDT said:

    Nicely researched stuff!!

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