Dardanelles Gun

Dardanelles Gun
Dismantled Dardanelles Gun at Fort Nelson, Hampshire, overlooking Portsmouth
Type Bombard
Service history
Used by Ottoman Empire
Wars Dardanelles Operation
Production history
Designer Munir Ali[1]
Designed 1464[1]
Specifications
Weight 16,800 kg (37,000 lb)[2]
Barrel length 518 cm (204 in)[1]
Diameter 1,054 mm (41.5 in)
Action slow match
Elevation none
Traverse none
Feed system muzzle loader

The Dardanelles Gun[3] or Great Turkish Bombard[2] (Turkish: Şahi topu or simply Şahi) is a 15th-century siege cannon, specifically a super-sized bombard, which saw action in the 1807 Dardanelles Operation.[4] It was designed and built in 1464 by Turkish military engineer Munir Ali.

History

The Dardanelles Gun was cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali with a weight of 16.8 t and a length of 5.18 m (17.0 ft), being capable of firing stone balls of up to 0.63 m diameter (24.8 in).[1] The powder chamber and the barrel are connected by the way of a screw mechanism, allowing easier transport of the unwieldy device.

Such super-sized bombards had been employed in Western European siege warfare since the beginning of the 15th century.[5] According to Schmidtchen, they were introduced to the Ottoman army in 1453 by the gun founder Orban (from Brassó, Kingdom of Hungary) on the occasion of the Siege of Constantinople,[6] and Ali's piece is assumed to have followed the outline of these guns closely.[6] According to Paul Hammer, however, the technology could have been introduced from other Islamic countries which had earlier used cannons.[7]

Along with other huge cannons, the Dardanelles Gun was still present for duty more than 340 years later in 1807, when a Royal Navy force appeared and commenced the Dardanelles Operation. Turkish forces loaded the ancient relics with propellant and projectiles, then fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 casualties from this bombardment.[4] A spheric round made of full iron, of 63 centimeters of diameter, has a weight of 1027.5 kilograms.

In 1866, on the occasion of a state visit, Sultan Abdülâziz gave the Dardanelles Gun to Queen Victoria as a present.[6] It became part of the Royal Armouries collection and was displayed to visitors at the Tower of London and was later moved to Fort Nelson, Hampshire, overlooking Portsmouth.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Schmidtchen (1977b), pp. 226–228
  2. 1 2 https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-6177.html
  3. ↑ Ffoulkes (1930), pp. 217–227; Schmidtchen (1977b), pp. 226–228
  4. 1 2 Schmidtchen (1977b), p. 228
  5. ↑ Schmidtchen (1977a), pp. 153–157
  6. 1 2 3 Schmidtchen (1977b), p. 226
  7. ↑ Paul E. J. Hammer (2007), Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450-1660, page 297, Ashgate Publishing
  8. ↑ "Geometry of War – Pg. 6" (PDF).

Sources

  • Ffoulkes, Charles, "The 'Dardanelles' Gun at the Tower", Antiquarian Journal, Vol. 10 (1930), pp. 217–227
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977a), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (2): 153–173 (153–157)
  • Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", Technikgeschichte 44 (3): 213–237 (226–228)

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