Definitions; cannon, howitzer, mortar

[Col. Batguano]

Can someone help out with the definitions of what actually IS, and is not considered artillery?

I've heard that anything that is designed as a "half-pounder" or greater in size is actually considered artillery.

But, all these smaller pieces are not. I have a 1" bored gun on a naval carriage, but, because it's only about a 4-bore, I don't consider it a cannon. Some do. Same thing with many of the smaller caliber models out there.

When does a cannon become a howitzer? When it has a sub-caliber powder chamber?

If that is true, then aren't most of these smaller mortars really just fixed-angle howitzers?

I'd be interested to hear what others have to say on the matter.

 

[KABAR2]

What era are we talking 17th, 18th, 19th century’s?

a wall gun in the 18th century might be considered the lightest form of artillery most with a 1 in bore it could be used as counter battery work to harass/kill the crews...

Cannon: low arc, fired solid shot, grape & canister....
used for battering and antipersonnel later in the 19th century this roll changes when cannon became rifled and could fire exploding shell then they could be used not only for battering but for material destruction and anti-personal

Howitzers: short barrel rebated chamber with large bore these fired at higher arc and fired a explosive shell it could be used to fire over a fort or city wall and destroy material and personal.....

Mortar: short barrel rebated chamber large bore firing an explosive ball in even a higher arc to get over fortress or city walls again to destroy material and personal.....

Modern small caliber cannon considered models though I have heard of at least one case of a 1 in bore cannon in use as a ships swivel gun....

Hope this helps... :hatsoff:

 

[robinghewitt]

It may be a mistake to try and hang any kind of definition on these words.

Humpty Dumpty was a cannon which became a nursery rhyme and was later brought to life by Lewis Carrol. Humpty tells us that 'when he uses a word it means exactly what he wants it to mean' and I think the same goes for this.

Is cannon a generic word for the ordnance/artillery/crakes? Or is it a bore size? Eight inches to be imprecise?

Carbine was a boresize :idunno:

 

[tenngun]

Until moderen times things carried multipal names and names covered mutipal things.. Some times swivils were counted as ships guns and some time they wern't. The napoleon cannon was called 12 pound gun howetzer though most of its use was flat tragectory anti personal. Bomb ships often had two large mortars but several had regular field howetzers. I bet most scots called there basket hilts claymores, but dont call one a claymore today.

 

An howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent. Up till the Second World War, such weapons were characterized by a barrel length 15 to 25 times the caliber of the gun.

Offical Commonwealth of Massachusets Definitions

Cannon. Any gun designed to be fired from a carriage resting on the ground and which is loaded from the muzzle with rigid non-combustible black powder cartridge.

Mortar. Any cannon whose length is less than six times its bore diameter, or any cannon fired at angle elevation of 45° or more from the horizontal.

 

[JohnnyO]

 

[54ball]

The napoleon cannon was called 12 pound gun howetzer

The Napoleon was not a Howitzer it was a 12lb smooth bored field gun. The Napoleon was named for Napoleon III of France. It's light weight barrel design allowed it to be carried on roughly the same carriage as the older 6lb guns.

It could fire solid shot, grape, canister and exploding shells.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have a beat-up, once flooded copy of Round Shot and Rammers that is my 'bible' for cannon info. They are still available. I suggest you get a copy. Great book.

 

[crockett]

Interesting, I'll relate something I read- don't know for sure it is true. There was a Confederate Colonel (Gen?)called Mc-something,from Virginia that hit upon the idea that using trajectory the cannon/howitzer could actually be behind a hill or rise of land, out of view, and by using the trajectory the shells could land upon the enemy who had no idea where the cannons were located. Maybe someone else knows more on that one. I'm wondering now if howitzers were used for this.

 

[pargent]

Pretty sure he just reinvented the wheel from 150 years before his time