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Cannon Fire Research Paper

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The cannon first originated in the early Yuan Dynasty. The cannons that are thought of today are large tubes that have gunpowder, a cannonball, and a fuse inside of it. The fuse was where a spark could get to the gunpowder and set off an explosion. This explosion pushes the projectile through the cannon and sends it through the air. but, that isn't how it was when it was first invented. Today's cannons evolved from bombards, early handheld weapons that shot large stones through the air. Eventually, in the late Yuan dynasty, these bombards started to become bigger. As this weapon grew in size, the term cannon took over. Cannons were transformed from a vase-shaped tube to a long, iron barrel. To make the cannon balls more deadly, they were filled …show more content…

First recorded during a siege of Metz in 1324, the cannon quickly spread all over Western Europe. By the middle of the 14th century, they were in England, Scotland, France, Flanders, Germany, Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula. The cannonball later evolved through European innovation. They were made in into larger pieces that cast projectiles weighing several hundred pounds, leading to the introduction of stone cannonballs. Cannons reinvented warfare in the days of old. With the introduction of gunpowder, cannons became the most prominent weapon for sieges. The idea of the cannon is not to fire projectiles into the opposition’s fortress or territory, but to directly strike the defensive walls. As proximity to the defensive walls increases, the effectiveness of the cannon increases. Through these innovations, the cannon became a significant tool used in the …show more content…

Prior to the cannon, the sailing ship suffered major disadvantages in close-quarter combat. Difficult to maneuver and dependent on the wind, early sailing vessels were no match for galleys on calm steady waters. Once cannons were fitted to sailing ships, however, the smaller, more controllable galleys were unable to approach. The large guns could cause serious structural harm to ships. They functioned like the rams that were fitted onto galleys, but permitted the attacking ship to maintain some degree of distance. Cannons damaged the ropes and attacked the buoyancy of ships. Large cannonballs destroyed ships in the same way that they knocked down castle walls. Furthermore, cannonballs that impaled wooden ships showered the interior of the struck ship with dangerous splinters. Naval warfare was revolutionized after the introduction of the

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