Ordnance Artillery Index
Hub
Artillery — the heavy ranged weapons of organised warfare, from torsion-spring catapults through gunpowder cannon to modern self-propelled howitzers and missile systems — is a defining research domain in the long history of military technology. The subdomain covers artillery as a research subject across every era and civilisation: the Assyrian and Hellenistic siege catapults (gastraphetes, lithobolos, oxybeles) and Roman ballista and onager; the Byzantine and Arab fire-projecting machines and Greek-fire siphons; the Chinese counterweight trebuchet (huihui pao) and its westward transmission via the Mongols to medieval Europe; the great medieval and early-modern bombards (the Mons Meg, the Dardanelles Gun, the bombards of Mehmed II at Constantinople 1453); the gunpowder-era smoothbore tradition that produced the European field-gun and naval-cannon families (long gun, demi-cannon, culverin, carronade, mortar, howitzer); the rating system of guns classified by ball weight (4-, 8-, 12-, 24-, 32-, 42-pounders); the Indian and Ottoman large-bore gunfounding traditions; the rifled breech-loading revolution of the long nineteenth century (Armstrong, Krupp, Whitworth, French 75); the world-war heavy and naval artillery (Paris Gun, German railway guns, Yamato’s 46-cm main armament); the modern self-propelled artillery and the multi-launch rocket systems (M109, 2S19 Msta, BM-21 Grad, HIMARS); the contemporary precision-guided artillery (Excalibur, GLMRS); and the long-range strike missile complexes that have absorbed many traditional artillery functions. Notes examine gun design and ballistics, carriage and platform, ammunition types, proof and inspection, the institutional arrangements for supply (the Board of Ordnance, the French artillery committee, modern programme offices), and the recurring tactical revolutions that artillery has driven. The eighteenth-century smoothbore naval and land artillery (32-pounders, carronades, Gribeauval and British field systems) the current vault focus visits is one chapter of this much longer story. Adjacent to MOC_Weapons_Technology, MOC_Ships_Maritime, MOC_Military_Forces, and MOC_Science_Knowledge (Engineering and Innovation).
Primary Notes
Naval Long Guns — Age of Sail
- 32-Pounder Naval Cannon — main armament of British first-rate ships of the line
Roadmap
(planned notes as red-links — add as research identifies gaps)
Methodology
- Artillery as Research Subject — Ballistics, Carriage, and the Treatise Tradition
- Reading Gun Proof Records and Ordnance Manuals
Ancient and Pre-Gunpowder
- Greek and Hellenistic Torsion Artillery — Gastraphetes, Oxybeles, Lithobolos
- Roman Ballista and Onager — Republican to Late Imperial
- Byzantine Fire-Projecting Machines and Greek-Fire Siphons
- Chinese Counterweight Trebuchet — The Huihui Pao and Its Westward Transmission
- Medieval European Trebuchet and Mangonel Tradition
Early Gunpowder
- The Mons Meg, the Dardanelles Gun, and Great Medieval Bombards
- Ottoman Bombards at Constantinople 1453
- Indian Gunfounding Tradition — Mughal and Maratha Heavy Cannon
- European Smoothbore Cannon — Demi-Cannon, Culverin, Saker, Falcon
- Mortar Development — From Medieval Bombards to Modern Trench Mortars
Age of Sail (current vault focus)
- Naval Cannon Types — Long Gun, Carronade, Swivel
- Carronade — Development and Tactical Impact
- Board of Ordnance — Supply Chain and Inspection
- Napoleon’s Artillery System — Horse, Foot, and Reserve
- Mortar Vessels — Bomb Ketches and Coastal Bombardment
- Gribeauval System — French Field Artillery Reform
- British Field Artillery — Royal Horse Artillery and Foot Brigades
Long Nineteenth Century
- Rifled Breech-Loading Artillery — Armstrong, Krupp, Whitworth
- The French 75 — Quick-Firing Field Gun Revolution
- Coastal Defence Artillery — From Dahlgren to Disappearing Carriages
Twentieth Century
- Paris Gun and German Long-Range Strategic Artillery
- Naval Gunnery in the Dreadnought Era
- Yamato’s 46-cm Main Armament and the Limits of Naval Gunfire
- WWII Self-Propelled Artillery — StuG, Wespe, Hummel, M7 Priest
- Soviet Artillery Doctrine — Mass Fire and Operational Manoeuvre
Modern
- Cold-War Self-Propelled Artillery — M109, 2S19 Msta, AS-90
- Multiple Launch Rocket Systems — BM-21 Grad, M270 MLRS, HIMARS
- Precision-Guided Artillery — Excalibur and GMLRS
- Modern Naval Gunfire and the Decline of Heavy Naval Artillery
- Loitering Munitions and the Convergence of Artillery and Drone
Cross-Cutting
- See also: MOC_Weapons_Technology
- See also: _Home