Cannon

A cannon (plural either cannons or cannon) is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century. Cannons vary in gauge, effective range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. A cannon is a type of heavy artillery weapon. The word cannon is derived

earliest form of firearm used in 13th century China, 14th century Europe

artillery for combat against armored vehicles

A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range, anti-ship and anti-crew weapon. The technology behind the carronade was greater dimensional precision, with the shot fitting more closely in the barrel, thus transmitting more of the propellant charge's energy to the projectile, allowing a lighter gun using less gunpowder to be effective.

thumb|15th century culveriners

type of cannon

small cannon mounted on swivel for ease aiming

class of artillery gun mounted on a mobile carriage for maneuver in the field of battle

Zamburak (, ) was a specialized form of self-propelled artillery from the early modern period featuring small swivel guns mounted on and fired from camels. Its operator was known as a zamburakchi. It was used by the gunpowder empires, especially Safavid Iran, the Timurid Empire, Afsharid Iran, and the Afghan Durrani Empire, due to the ruggedness of the Iranian plateau, which made typical transportation of heavy cannons difficult.

type of cannon

execution method in which the victim is typically tied to the mouth of a cannon which was then fired

wooden artillery

thumb|Vase gun found in Loshult, [[Sweden (1st half of the 14th century?)]]

thumb|250px|Two Malay rentaka

type of early artillery

thumb|250px|Ten-inch Confederate columbiad at Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Swivel gun with loading chamber at the back

type of home-made firecracker

thumb|Three of the large chongtong in Jinju Fortress. The closest is a "Cheonja", the second is a "Jija", and the third is a "Hyeonja".

whaling implement

thumb|Bronze hand cannon cetbang, found in the Brantas River|Brantas river, Sumberagung village, Jombang, East Java. The mouth of the cannon is on the right, while the left is where the pole is attached.

thumb|right|250px|Leonardo da Vinci's pen and ink drawing of the Architonnerre/Architronito

Hongyipao (; ) was the Chinese name for Portuguese-style muzzle-loading culverins introduced to China and Korea from the Portuguese colony of Macau and with the help of Portuguese diplomats and advisors in the Beijing imperial Court like João Rodrigues.

early form of howitzer created by the Ottoman Empire

light Nusantaran cannon larger than a rentaka

type of smoothbore naval gun

series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by Union artilleryman Thomas Jackson Rodman

subassembly of a muzzle-loading cannon

Renaissance cannon

upright=1.2|thumb|English ship Sovereign of the Seas|Sovereign of the Seas, whose armament included eight demi-cannons