Dardanelles Gun

Dardanelles Gun
Dardanelles Gun
Great Turkish Bombard at Fort Nelson.JPG
Dismantled Dardanelles Gun at Fort Nelson
Type Bombard
Service history
Used by  Ottoman Empire
Wars Dardanelles Operation
Production history
Designer Munir Ali[1]
Designed 1464[1]
Specifications
Weight 18.6 t[1]
Barrel length 518 cm[1]

Caliber 63 cm (ball diameter)[1]
Elevation none
Traverse none

The Dardanelles Gun[2] (Şahi in Turkish) or Great Turkish Bombard[3] is a 15th century siege cannon, specifically a super-sized bombard, which saw action in the 1807 Dardanelles Operation.[4]

Contents

History

The Dardanelles Gun was cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali with a weight of 18.6 t and a length of 518 cm, being capable of firing stone balls of up to 63 cm diameter.[1] The powder chamber and the barrel are connected by the way of a screw mechanism, allowing easier transport of the unwieldy device.

Such super-sized bombards had been employed in Western Europe siege warfare since the beginning of the 15th century,[5] and were introduced to the Ottoman army in 1453 by the Hungarian gunfounder Orban on the occasion of the Siege of Constantinople.[6] Ali's piece is assumed to have followed closely the outline of these guns.[6]

Along with a number of other huge cannons, the Dardanelles Gun was still present for duty more than 300 years later in 1807, when a Royal Navy force appeared and commenced the Dardanelles Operation. Turkish forces loaded the ancient relics with propellant and projectiles, then fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 dead through this bombardment.[4]

In 1866, on the occasion of a state visit, Sultan Abdülâziz gave the Dardanelles Gun to Queen Victoria as a present.[6] 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.[7]

See also

  • List of the largest cannon by caliber

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Schmidtchen (1977b), pp. 226–228
  2. ^ Ffoulkes (1930), pp. 217–227; Schmidtchen (1977b), pp. 226–228
  3. ^ http://www.ancientdigger.com/2009/12/turkish-bombard-ultimate-in-medieval.html
  4. ^ a b Schmidtchen (1977b), p. 228
  5. ^ Schmidtchen (1977a), pp. 153–157
  6. ^ a b c Schmidtchen (1977b), p. 226
  7. ^ "Geometry of War - Pg. 6" (PDF). http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~mathelmr/gem-projects/maa/Geometry_of_War.pdf. 

Sources

  • Ffoulkes, Charles, "The 'Dardanelles' Gun at the Tower", Antiquarian Journal, Vol. 10 (1930), pp. 217–227
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977a), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (2): 153–173 (153–157)
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (3): 213–237 (226–228)

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dardanelles Operation — For the World War I operations in the Dardanelles, see Dardanelles Campaign. Dardanelles Operation Part of the Anglo Turkish War …   Wikipedia

  • Dardanelles Fortified Area Command — The Dardanelles defenses in February/March 1915, showing minefields, anti submarine nets and major gun batteries. Active …   Wikipedia

  • Dardanelles — /dadəˈnɛlz/ (say dahduh nelz) plural noun the strait between European and Asiatic Turkey, connecting the Aegean with the Sea of Marmara; campaign by the Allies in World War I to take control of this from Turkey was costly and unsuccessful. 64 km… …  

  • Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign — Part of Gallipoli Campaign in the First World War Th …   Wikipedia

  • Great Turkish Bombard — infobox weapon caption = Diagram of the weapon barrel origin = Edirne type = Cannon is ranged = yes is bladed = no is explosive = no is artillery = yes is vehicle = no is missile = no is UK = service = used by = Ottoman Empire wars = Fall of… …   Wikipedia

  • Supergun — For the arcade game hardware, see SuperGun. For the 1990s United Kingdom political scandal known as the Supergun affair , see Arms to Iraq. Adolf Gun, a Nazi German cross channel firing gun A supergun is a …   Wikipedia

  • Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages — The earliest illustration of a European cannon, from around 1327. Artillery in the Middle Ages primarily consisted of the introduction of the cannon, large tubular firearms designed to fire a heavy projectile over a long distance. They …   Wikipedia

  • Cannon — A cannon is a type of artillery, usually large and tubular, that uses gunpowder or other explosive based propellants to launch a projectile over a distance. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower;… …   Wikipedia

  • History of cannon — The history of cannon spans several hundred years. First used in China, they were among the earliest forms of gunpowder artillery, and over time replaced siege engines mdash;among other forms of aging weaponry mdash;on the battlefield. The first… …   Wikipedia

  • Artillery — For other uses of the term, see Artillery (disambiguation). Warfare Military history Eras Prehistoric Ancient …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”