Saker (cannon)

:"For other uses, see Saker" The saker was a medium cannon slightly smaller than a culverin developed during the early 16th century and often used by the English. [http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/cannon.htm] It was named after the Saker falcon, a large hawk native to the middle east. [http://www.regimental-art.com/history_greys.htm]
A saker's barrel was approximately 9.5ft (2.9m) long, had a calibre of 3.25 inches (8.25cm) and weighed approximately 1900lb (860kg). It could fire round shot weighing 5.25lb (2.4kg) approximately 7400ft (2250m) using 4lb (1.8kg) of black powder. [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/source/is3/is3c.htm "Artillery through the ages"] ] [http://www.portsdown.demon.co.uk/ord.htm "English ordinance 1626 to 1643"] ] The shot was designed not to explode but bounce along the ground to cause as much damage as possible. [http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/makingOfBritain/page2-1.shtml]
Tests performed in France during the 1950s show a saker's range was over 3000ft when fired at a 45 degree angle. [http://www.hisentco.com/Private/Downloads/BallisticCharts.xls]
Henry VIII amassed a large arsenal of sakers in the early 1500s as he expanded the Royal Navy and came into conflict with France. Henry's foundries used so much bronze that there was a world shortage of tin. A few sakers have been found on the wreck of the Mary Rose though most were recovered by divers soon after the disaster as bronze was valuable. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=prWvd65Oq7UC&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=saker+cannon&source=web&ots=elUSCSQxL3&sig=SzJR29l2M-bOT5zZzZz4HnYzcr0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result]
Sakers were heavily used during the English Civil War, [http://www.dimacleod.co.uk/history/ecwshots.htm] especially during sieges when they were used by both attackers and defenders of fortified towns. [http://www.eventplan.co.uk/newarksiege.htm] They also saw action in the Jacobite rising and were used by the armies of both William III and James II at the Battle of the Boyne. [http://www.battleoftheboyne.ie/artilleryusedatthebattle/]
A French version of the saker, the "moyenne", meaning "middle sized", was often used at sea. Venetian merchant ships often carried sakers to defend themselves from pirates, and similar cannons have been found on Spanish Armada wrecks. [http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=261&atype=m] In the New World the colonists removed the naval guns from their ships for use in land engagements, often installed in the forts they built to protect their newly-founded towns from French, Spanish and hostile Indians. [http://www.stmaryscity.org/Archaeology/Forts%20of%20St.%20Mary%27s/Forts.html]

Further reading

* [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/source/is3/is3toc.htm "Artillery through the ages"]

References