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HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, OBJECTS AROUND US
Artillery gun. History of invention and production
Directory / The history of technology, technology, objects around us The emergence and spread of artillery, as already mentioned, had enormous consequences for world history. Since the Europeans, before others, appreciated the merits of firearms and began to vigorously improve them, they gained a military advantage over other peoples and gradually established their dominant position throughout the globe. Meanwhile, the Europeans can by no means be considered the inventors of the cannon. The first samples of firearms were created by the Chinese. Its prototype was a special tool "hoqiang", invented in 1132 by a certain Chen Gui. Huoqiang was a kind of flamethrower: a hollow bamboo trunk, clogged on one side, was stuffed with gunpowder, when ignited, fire flew out of the trunk with force and hit the enemy. Very important in this invention was the idea of a barrel - a deaf chamber with only one exit. In the future, the barrel became an integral part of any firearm. The next important step was taken a few years later - one of the gunsmiths of the city of Chou-chunfu came up with the "tuhoqiang" - a bamboo gun, from which a bullet was ejected by the power of powder gases. From the Chinese, these weapons were borrowed by the Jurchens, and then by the Mongols. When, after 1260, a long war began in Syria between the Mongols and the Arabs, samples of firearms (at that time the trunks were no longer made of bamboo, but cast from copper) fell into the hands of the Arabs, who soon learned how to make it themselves. The first Arab firearms (modfa) had the form of an iron thin-walled tube with a wooden tip or rod, by which it was held when firing. The tube was filled with gunpowder, a bullet was inserted, and then the charge was set on fire with a red-hot rod. In the last quarter of the XNUMXth century, the Arabs already widely used gunpowder for throwing arrows and bullets. Almost all the chronicles describing the struggle of the Spaniards with the Moors report the use of the latest guns, throwing shells with noise and crackle. From the Arabs, this invention passed to the European peoples.
When did artillery in the true sense of the word first appear? One of the medieval chronicles claims that cannons were first used in Germany in 1313, and attributes this invention to the monk Berthold Schwarz. It is well known that in 1326 metal bullets and iron cannons were already being made in Florence. This innovation quickly spread throughout Western Europe. However, contemporaries mentioned the first experiments with the use of cannons in passing, without details - clear evidence that their influence on the outcome of the battle was then completely negligible. The battle of Crécy in 1346 between the English and the French can be considered the first major battle where artillery was widely used. The first guns were small. Until the middle of the XIV century, the weight of the projectile rarely reached 2 kg. At that time, the Arabs had more advanced guns. It is mentioned that in 1342 they fired at the Spanish camp from the walls of Algeziras with iron balls the size of an apple. The destructive effect of the shells of the first guns almost did not exceed, and sometimes was inferior to, the effect of firing from throwing machines. But gradually, artillery became an increasingly formidable weapon. In the second half of the 200th century, all European armies were already armed with heavy bombards, throwing cores up to 1377 pounds or more (for example, the bombard of the Duke of Burgundy in 437 threw shells weighing 70 pounds). Such guns could crush the walls of cities and castles with their fire. They fired stone balls, which were given a rough spherical shape. Due to the low transverse load, these cores quickly lost their speed. To increase the destructive power of shells, it was necessary to increase the size of the cores and the caliber of the barrel, which soon began to reach enormous sizes. They write that an adult could sit in the trunks of some large bombards without bending his head. With such dimensions of the barrel, the bombards came out excessively heavy and required up to XNUMX pairs of oxen to be transported.
Shooting from such huge guns was so difficult and slow that no more than four shots could be fired from them a day. During the siege of Pisa in 1370, the besiegers had a bombard, which took a whole day to load and fire. In field battles, heavy guns were rarely used, they were delivered to a position with difficulty and could no longer leave this position. Often the guns fell into the hands of the enemy without having had time to fire a single shot. However, with a successful hit, the enemy's losses were very high, since the infantry advanced in those days in tightly closed ranks. In addition, the shots of the guns, accompanying their smoke and crackling, had an overwhelming moral impact on the enemy. By the end of the XNUMXth century, firearms were not inferior in power to other throwing machines, but still they could not displace them for a long time. Catapults and ballistas were more accurate and less dangerous to use, while cannons were often so fragile that they burst when fired. Before each shot, the servants hid behind the parapet or in holes dug near the battery. However, gunpowder had an important advantage over ballistas and catapults. The throwing machine required for each shot a huge preparatory mechanical work, much greater than the work of the projectile. And the force that threw the projectile from the gun appeared in the course of a chemical reaction. The shot did not require any physical effort from the person, and the effect from it was the same.
Practical experience has determined the best ratio for bombard sizes. The charge was supposed to weigh 1/9 of the weight of the stone core. The length of the chamber was to be five times its diameter. Gunpowder, laid at the bottom of the chamber, occupied 3/5 of its length. A void of 1/5 of the length of the chamber was left above the charge. Then they closed the chamber with a well-fitted wad of soft wood. It occupied the last fifth of the length. The stone projectile was rounded so that it tightly closed the bottom of the channel; after charging, it was held by four small wedges of strong wood. Sometimes they even caulked the space around the core to eliminate the gap and in order to reduce the loss of gases. The flight range of such nuclei reached 2000 steps. Sometimes, instead of a stone core, several small stones were placed on top of the wad. It was a prototype of buckshot. To destroy a tower or break through a wall, special rules were followed. Each core was fastened crosswise with two iron rings to increase its strength; they fired in such a way that the cannonballs punched a furrow at a height of twice the height of a person from the sole of the wall. Special incendiary projectiles were used to set fire to cities. To this end, each stone core was dipped in a mixture of melted sulfur, resin and lime. The first layer of the composition was wrapped with cloth, the projectile was again impregnated with a combustible composition and again wrapped with cloth. So did several layers. The tools were attached to the machine either by means of ropes or iron fasteners almost horizontally to the ground. This achieved recoil mitigation, but guidance worsened. At first there was no sight and aiming at all, and the elevation angles did not change. Then the trunks began to be placed in special gutters, which, with the help of simple devices, could be given several different positions. To change the elevation angle, wooden arcs with holes were arranged on the machines, into which checks were inserted that supported the breech of the gun at a greater or lesser height. But still, the aiming of the shots was very small. Artillery experienced its true flourishing in the 1th and 2th centuries. In these two centuries, several fundamental solutions were found that significantly increased the effectiveness of gunfire. The largest steps along this path were: 3) the spread of iron production; 4) improvement in the technique of casting tools; 5) granulation of gunpowder; XNUMX) manufacture of wheel carriages; XNUMX) the distribution of guns by caliber and the establishment of a relationship between the caliber of the barrel and the weight of the core. Let's take a closer look at each of these innovations. Metal cores (bronze and lead) were rarely used in the XNUMXth century because of their high cost. But soon the successes of metallurgy placed at the disposal of the gunners cheap cast iron in large quantities. When, towards the end of the XNUMXth century, they began to receive and prepare cast iron, massive cores became the first cast iron castings. In the middle of the XNUMXth century, cast-iron cores began to be cast in Flanders, then this art became widespread in France.
Gradually, cast-iron cores completely replaced stone ones from use. This entailed great changes in the entire artillery business. Due to the high density of cast iron, the weight of the cores increased, and their volume decreased (cast iron is 2 times denser than stone). There was no need to make huge trunks. The caliber of the guns has decreased, and the thickness of the barrel walls has increased. There was also an opportunity to increase the length of the barrel (previously, the barrels had to be made short so as not to further increase the weight of the guns). With the achievement of greater strength, they were able to significantly increase the strength of the charge. The cast-iron cannonballs received such an initial flight speed that the stone ones never had. They flew further and hit with more force. Huge bombards gradually disappear. The main type of weapon becomes the "cannon" itself. (In the Middle Ages, there were three main types of artillery pieces, which differed in the type of fire. Mortars fired hinged fire, in which the shells described a steep arc, hitting the enemy from above. The cannons themselves fired so that the cannonballs flew along a gentle trajectory, almost parallel to the surface of the earth. Howitzers occupied an intermediate position.) The guns had the simplest device, were much lighter than bombards, were easy to use and had a significant rate of fire. Small-caliber cannons were widely used, firing lead cannonballs weighing from 1/4 to 2 pounds. Due to their lightness, such guns could be easily transported and moved from place to place, they were quickly aimed and easily pierced through even the most durable knightly armor.
In the XIV century, in addition to cast bronze, there were also forged iron tools. The latter was preferred, since bronze was not strong enough and rather expensive material. Iron cannons were forged from longitudinal strips welded together that made up the barrel, on which, for strength, iron rings were pressed in a continuous row, so that the cannon had a ribbed surface. Then, after the cannonballs, the cannons themselves began to be cast from cast iron. Cast iron proved to be a very convenient material, as it was stronger than bronze and easier to work than malleable iron. At first, only charging chambers were cast. The barrel remained welded from iron strips and rings for some time. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, small cannons appeared, entirely cast from cast iron, and in the second half of this century, cannon casting was already flourishing. The first cast-iron guns were still of unsatisfactory quality, and they were often torn to pieces after the first shot, but gradually they learned how to make high-quality cast iron. The barrels were cast in clay molds made according to special patterns, and the barrel bore was drilled on special machines. In parallel, the improvement of gun carriages went on. There were several requirements for the gun carriage. It was supposed to help change the direction and elevation of the guns, have sufficient strength to withstand recoil, and, finally, facilitate the transportation of guns during the campaign. Medieval craftsmen suffered many setbacks before they found a carriage design that satisfied all these conditions. The recoil especially annoyed the first gunners. The most durable carriages fell apart after a few shots, as they took on the main force of the blow. To save them, they had to sacrifice the power of the shot and use small charges. In addition, it was impossible to make tolerable aiming devices - they weakened the strength of the gun. In the second half of the XNUMXth century, the Swiss were the first to come up with the idea of installing a cannon on wheels and thus immediately solved several problems. The gun became more mobile and maneuverable, and after the shot it rolled back without any harm to the gun carriage. Then the aiming mechanism was improved. The gun was put on the axis of the carriage and allowed to rotate freely in different directions. To change the angular elevation, instead of wedges, they began to use a lifting screw.
Cast-iron cannonballs and wheeled carriages immediately turned artillery into a dangerous weapon. She quickly moved across the battlefield, easily and quickly aimed and threw cores that destroyed the strongest walls. At a time when the fortifications of castles and cities at every step presented their walls and towers to cannons, the artillery gun became a true "god of war." Cannons began to be used everywhere - on land and at sea, during the siege of cities and on the battlefield. Batteries of heavy guns from a distance supported the advance of their troops, and small artillery was in the thick of the battle. The importance of improved artillery was demonstrated by the famous campaign of the French king Charles VIII in Italy in 1494. In this war, the French had with them a wide variety of weapons and therefore easily captured one city after another. They write that near Naples, after a four-hour bombardment, they took a fortress on Mount St. John, which in former times was considered impregnable (during the previous war waged by the Spaniards, this fortress surrendered only after a seven-year siege).
In the XNUMXth century, artillery science took a noticeable step forward. Masters began to pay great attention to the caliber of the barrel and the unification of shells. The cores began to be cast in such a way that they exactly corresponded to the width of the trunk. Very important in this regard were the works of the Italian mathematician Nikolai Tartaglia, who first established a method for determining the calibers of guns by proportionality of the weight of a cast-iron projectile to the cube of its diameter. To the modern eye, there is nothing special in these calculations, but for that time they were of great importance, since they finally established the connection between the gun and the core. In addition, Tartagli invented the quadrant and was the first to attempt to calculate the trajectory of a projectile. He is justifiably called the creator of artillery science. Shooting in the XNUMXth century was done like this. Before each shot, they cleaned the channel of the gun with a banner, the block of which was lined with sheepskin, brought a barrel of gunpowder to the gun, took part of the charge from it and sent it to the bottom with a shuffle, then turned the shuffle over, put a breaker into the channel and nailed the charge with the breaker until gunpowder did not enter the ignition channel on the breech. Then they took the rest of the charge and again acted in the same way. Having sent the entire charge, they sent a wad, collecting all the gunpowder from the walls of the canal, again cleaned the canal with a banner and put in a core wrapped in several layers of tow. The sight did not yet exist, but several flies were already arranged on the barrel, which looked like elevated platforms. The charge was ignited using a wick. Hand firearms - the arquebus - until the end of the XNUMXth century did not have the same importance as artillery. It was heavy, capricious, inferior in rate of fire and lethal force to the crossbow (while one shot was fired from the arquebus, the crossbowman managed to shoot three arrows, and the archer - six). The gunpowder in the arquebus before each shot was set on fire, like in cannons, with a wick, which was very inconvenient. However, after the first matchlock and then the flintlock were invented at the end of the XNUMXth century and the musket appeared, the infantry armed with firearms began to exert an ever greater influence on the outcome of the battle. Author: Ryzhov K.V.
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