cannons

A cannon is a large-caliber artillery piece designed to fire projectiles over long distances. Cannons generally use an explosive propellant to launch a projectile, and they are typically mounted on a carriage to provide aiming and recoil management. Early cannons were muzzle-loaded and smoothbore; later designs included breech-loading mechanisms and rifled barrels to improve range and accuracy.

Cannons emerged in the medieval period, with bombards evolving into more compact, mobile weapons in China, the Islamic world, and Europe during the 13th to 16th centuries. Advances in metallurgy, the introduction of trunnions and standardized carriages, and the development of stronger powder charges allowed larger siege and field pieces. By the 19th century, rifling and breech-loading mechanisms further increased range, reliability, and rate of fire, and steel gradually replaced bronze in many designs.

In operation, a cannon is loaded with a propellant charge and a projectile, either from the muzzle or the breech depending on the design. Firing ignites the charge, generating high-pressure gas that propels the projectile through the barrel. Recoil is absorbed by the carriage and, in later years, by hydraulic or pneumatic systems. Ammunition types have included solid shot, explosive shells, grapeshot, and canister rounds, used for different targets and ranges.

Types include field cannons, siege guns, and naval cannons. Field and siege cannons served on land, while naval cannons formed shipboard armaments. In modern artillery practice the term cannon is often used interchangeably with gun, though many contemporary pieces are breech-loading and rifled, continuing the long tradition of large-caliber projectile weapons.