Artillery
Kathryn Hopper
Background
Artillery is the compilation of all large siege weapons used in warfare. There is non-gunpowder and gunpowder siege artillery. The simplest of siege artillery are known as siege engines and were used almost exclusively to knock things such as walls and gates down. Throwing engines, a type of siege artillery, were used to launch projectiles.[1]
The gastraphetes was the first non-torsion artillery piece that was essentially a large and powerful bow. It was limited in force and power by the strength and flexibility of the bow. The first torsion-spring catapults were made in Macedonia around 350 B.C. Catapult is a “generic term used to describe all ancient and medieval non-gunpowder propelled missile-throwing artillery.”[2]The onager, the simplest of the catapult designs,[3] unlike previous designs used no bowstring where instead there was a single arm with a sling that held a projectile, most likely a stone.[4]A ballista is a larger version of a torsion catapult that could toss large and heavy rocks over 500 yards with relative accuracy.[5]Catapult design evolved over time to better suit the needs of the armies using them. A few improvements made include washers being added to springs to allow for the adjustment of length of arms on the catapult, having the springs covered in bronze in order to keep them dry from the environment lessening the need for repairs, and mounting the catapult on a tripod swivel allowing for a rapid change in firing direction.[6]
Trebuchets are another type of siege weapons. Traction trebuchets relied on the force exerted by the crew so they gave inconsistent results in power and range. Counterweight trebuchets used a fixed counterweight in place of a crew which not only allowed for a more consistent discharge but were probably more powerful than a traction trebuchet.[7]
Turning Point
Gunpowder or black powder is a combination of saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon in the form of charcoal of varying amounts. Gunpowder was first reported in use by the Chinese over 1000 years ago, several centuries before Marco Polo reported it being used in Cathay in 1295. Roger Bacon in 1267 described gunpowder in Opus tertium: “By the flash and combustion of fires, and by the horror of sounds, wonders can be wrought, and at any distance that we wish-so that a man can hardly protect himself or endure it. There is a child’s toy of sound and fire made in various parts of the world with powder of saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal of hazel wood. This powder is enclosed in an instrument of parchment the size of a finger, and since this can make such a noise that it seriously distressed the ears of men….If the instrument were made of solid material the violence of the explosion would be much greater.”[8]
The term cannonwas derived from the word canna, which means hollow reed or tube.[9] The first cannon was named pots-de-fer (iron pots), which was a vessel filled with gunpowder with a projectile placed at the opening.As with catapults, a cannon’s design was experimented on and changed over time to adjust to different needs and to improve upon different aspects of the cannon. Another type of cannon,a bombard,hadaconicalbarrel that hadawide muzzle andnarrowed to the rear sothat almostany rockwouldfit snugly with the appropriate amount of gunpowderloaded behind it. By 1338 cannonsbegun to be castout ofbrass andcopper which provided safer conditionsfor thecannoneers.[10]The first reported instance of cannons being installed at castles was in Dover and Southampton in England in 1370 to protect the castles from attacks from the sea.[11]Around 1450, cannons began to be mounted on wheelsforeasier transport and they were easier to shift firingdirection during battle.[12]
Effect
Rifled guns were first madein1676 at The Hague and 1691 in Nuremburg.[13]By the 1820s rifled hand guns had “superior accuracy” that had a spinning bullet that stabilized it in flight.[14]The French 75, first made in 1897, is a light fieldpiece thathas a gun tube “mounted on anewdeviceforabsorbingrecoil.Whenthegun wasfired, the tube recoiledrearwardwhiletherestofthecarriage, including the wheels and trail,remainedin position. The shockofrecoilwasabsorbedby a cylinder full ofglycerin and compressed airactingasabuffer between the tube and the carriage.” “The crew could achieve the unheard-of rateoffireof25roundsperminute!” All artillery pieces were now rifled and loaded from the breech which resulted in a safer and faster artillery piece.[15]
By World War I, Germany had a 420-millimeter Krupp gun, nicknamed “Big Bertha,” which used 1800-pound shells, and the Paris Gun which had a110 footlong barrel firing 210-millimeter shells that firedmore than 75 miles. The Paris Gun was first used March 23, 1917 on Paris.[16] Military aircrafts were also equipped with machine guns and light bombs to be used on enemy ground troops. Artillery in air warfare became more advanced as the airplanes did. High altitude weapons had to be developed for high altitude planes. Other technology had to be incorporated in planes and on the ground including tracking systems, sound systems, and searchlights to detect warfare planes.[17] Anti-aircraft guns also had to be made that could effectively take down planes from the ground. This was Japan’s main priority in April 1944 by producing75-millimeter and 120-millimeter anti-aircraft guns. The heaviestgun commonly found in the German artillery was a170-millimeter motorized gun which could firea136-pound projectile 30,000 yards.[18] The United States, in 1956, developed a way to fire nuclear weapons from an 8-inch howitzer therefore combining the new and old.[19]
[1] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages. U.S. 1956: 2.
[2]DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology.2012: 117.
[3]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages: 3.
[4]DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology: 120.
[5]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages: 6.
[6]DeVries, Kelly, Medieval Military Technology: 119.
[7] DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology: 125-127.
[8] DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology:138.
[9]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 14.
[10] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 12-17.
[11]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages:92
[12] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 18.
[13]“Artillery”. Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/.
[14] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 59.
[15] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 105.
[16] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 112-113.
[17]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 134.
[18]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 143-147.
[19] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 172.
Bibliography
“Artillery”.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition: 1970-1979.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Artillery.
DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology. University of Toronto Press Incorporated.
Toronto, Canada. 2012. 117-138.
Little, A.G., editor.Part of the Opus Tertium of Roger Bacon. Aberdeen: The University Press.
1912.
Snodgrass, A.M. “Ancient Artillery”. The Classical Review, 21.1. March 1971.
Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages. U.S. Army, Franklin Watts, INC. New
York. 1956. 2-178.
Kathryn Hopper
Background
Artillery is the compilation of all large siege weapons used in warfare. There is non-gunpowder and gunpowder siege artillery. The simplest of siege artillery are known as siege engines and were used almost exclusively to knock things such as walls and gates down. Throwing engines, a type of siege artillery, were used to launch projectiles.[1]
The gastraphetes was the first non-torsion artillery piece that was essentially a large and powerful bow. It was limited in force and power by the strength and flexibility of the bow. The first torsion-spring catapults were made in Macedonia around 350 B.C. Catapult is a “generic term used to describe all ancient and medieval non-gunpowder propelled missile-throwing artillery.”[2]The onager, the simplest of the catapult designs,[3] unlike previous designs used no bowstring where instead there was a single arm with a sling that held a projectile, most likely a stone.[4]A ballista is a larger version of a torsion catapult that could toss large and heavy rocks over 500 yards with relative accuracy.[5]Catapult design evolved over time to better suit the needs of the armies using them. A few improvements made include washers being added to springs to allow for the adjustment of length of arms on the catapult, having the springs covered in bronze in order to keep them dry from the environment lessening the need for repairs, and mounting the catapult on a tripod swivel allowing for a rapid change in firing direction.[6]
Trebuchets are another type of siege weapons. Traction trebuchets relied on the force exerted by the crew so they gave inconsistent results in power and range. Counterweight trebuchets used a fixed counterweight in place of a crew which not only allowed for a more consistent discharge but were probably more powerful than a traction trebuchet.[7]
Turning Point
Gunpowder or black powder is a combination of saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon in the form of charcoal of varying amounts. Gunpowder was first reported in use by the Chinese over 1000 years ago, several centuries before Marco Polo reported it being used in Cathay in 1295. Roger Bacon in 1267 described gunpowder in Opus tertium: “By the flash and combustion of fires, and by the horror of sounds, wonders can be wrought, and at any distance that we wish-so that a man can hardly protect himself or endure it. There is a child’s toy of sound and fire made in various parts of the world with powder of saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal of hazel wood. This powder is enclosed in an instrument of parchment the size of a finger, and since this can make such a noise that it seriously distressed the ears of men….If the instrument were made of solid material the violence of the explosion would be much greater.”[8]
The term cannonwas derived from the word canna, which means hollow reed or tube.[9] The first cannon was named pots-de-fer (iron pots), which was a vessel filled with gunpowder with a projectile placed at the opening.As with catapults, a cannon’s design was experimented on and changed over time to adjust to different needs and to improve upon different aspects of the cannon. Another type of cannon,a bombard,hadaconicalbarrel that hadawide muzzle andnarrowed to the rear sothat almostany rockwouldfit snugly with the appropriate amount of gunpowderloaded behind it. By 1338 cannonsbegun to be castout ofbrass andcopper which provided safer conditionsfor thecannoneers.[10]The first reported instance of cannons being installed at castles was in Dover and Southampton in England in 1370 to protect the castles from attacks from the sea.[11]Around 1450, cannons began to be mounted on wheelsforeasier transport and they were easier to shift firingdirection during battle.[12]
Effect
Rifled guns were first madein1676 at The Hague and 1691 in Nuremburg.[13]By the 1820s rifled hand guns had “superior accuracy” that had a spinning bullet that stabilized it in flight.[14]The French 75, first made in 1897, is a light fieldpiece thathas a gun tube “mounted on anewdeviceforabsorbingrecoil.Whenthegun wasfired, the tube recoiledrearwardwhiletherestofthecarriage, including the wheels and trail,remainedin position. The shockofrecoilwasabsorbedby a cylinder full ofglycerin and compressed airactingasabuffer between the tube and the carriage.” “The crew could achieve the unheard-of rateoffireof25roundsperminute!” All artillery pieces were now rifled and loaded from the breech which resulted in a safer and faster artillery piece.[15]
By World War I, Germany had a 420-millimeter Krupp gun, nicknamed “Big Bertha,” which used 1800-pound shells, and the Paris Gun which had a110 footlong barrel firing 210-millimeter shells that firedmore than 75 miles. The Paris Gun was first used March 23, 1917 on Paris.[16] Military aircrafts were also equipped with machine guns and light bombs to be used on enemy ground troops. Artillery in air warfare became more advanced as the airplanes did. High altitude weapons had to be developed for high altitude planes. Other technology had to be incorporated in planes and on the ground including tracking systems, sound systems, and searchlights to detect warfare planes.[17] Anti-aircraft guns also had to be made that could effectively take down planes from the ground. This was Japan’s main priority in April 1944 by producing75-millimeter and 120-millimeter anti-aircraft guns. The heaviestgun commonly found in the German artillery was a170-millimeter motorized gun which could firea136-pound projectile 30,000 yards.[18] The United States, in 1956, developed a way to fire nuclear weapons from an 8-inch howitzer therefore combining the new and old.[19]
[1] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages. U.S. 1956: 2.
[2]DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology.2012: 117.
[3]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages: 3.
[4]DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology: 120.
[5]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages: 6.
[6]DeVries, Kelly, Medieval Military Technology: 119.
[7] DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology: 125-127.
[8] DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology:138.
[9]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 14.
[10] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 12-17.
[11]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery Through the Ages:92
[12] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 18.
[13]“Artillery”. Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/.
[14] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 59.
[15] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 105.
[16] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 112-113.
[17]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 134.
[18]Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 143-147.
[19] Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages: 172.
Bibliography
“Artillery”.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition: 1970-1979.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Artillery.
DeVries, Kelly. Medieval Military Technology. University of Toronto Press Incorporated.
Toronto, Canada. 2012. 117-138.
Little, A.G., editor.Part of the Opus Tertium of Roger Bacon. Aberdeen: The University Press.
1912.
Snodgrass, A.M. “Ancient Artillery”. The Classical Review, 21.1. March 1971.
Stevens, Major Philip H. Artillery through the Ages. U.S. Army, Franklin Watts, INC. New
York. 1956. 2-178.