Gun carriage

A gun carriage is a frame or a mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also used on ships to facilitate the movement and aiming of large cannons and guns. These are also used in the funeral procession of any higher authority of any state and country.
The earliest guns were laid directly onto the ground, with earth being piled up under the muzzle end of the barrel to increase the elevation. As the size of guns increased, they began to be attached to heavy wooden frames or beds that were held down by stakes. These began to be replaced by wheeled carriages in the early 16th century.
From the 16th to the mid-19th century, the main form of artillery remained the smoothbore cannon. By this time, the trunnion (a short axle protruding from either side of the gun barrel) had been developed, with the result that the barrel could be held in two recesses in the carriage and secured with an iron band, the "capsquare". This simplified elevation, which was achieved by raising or lowering the breech of the gun by means of a wedge called a quoin or later by a steel screw. During this time, the design of gun carriages evolved only slowly, with the trend being towards lighter carriages carrying barrels that were able to throw a heavier projectile. There were two main categories of gun carriages:
These were designed for use aboard a ship or within a fortification and consisted of two large wooden slabs called "cheeks" held apart by bracing pieces called "transoms". The trunnions of the gun barrel sat on the top of the cheeks; the rearward part of each cheek was stepped so that the breech could be lifted by iron levers called "handspikes". Because these guns were not required to travel about, they were only provided with four small solid wooden wheels called "trucks", whose main function was to roll backwards with the recoil of the gun and then allow it to be moved forward into a firing position after reloading. Traversing the gun was achieved by levering the rear of the carriage sideways with handspikes. An improvement on this arrangement started at the end of the 18th century with the introduction of the traversing carriage, initially in fortifications but later on ships as well. This consisted of a stout wooden (and later iron) beam on which the entire gun carriage was mounted. The beam was fitted to a pivot at the centre, and to one or more trucks or "racers" at the front; the racers ran along a semi-circular iron track set in the floor called a "race". This allowed the gun to be swung in an arc over a parapet. Alternatively, the pivot could be fitted to the front of the beam and the racers at the rear, allowing the gun to fire through an embrasure. The traversing beam sloped upwards towards the rear, allowing the gun and its carriage to recoil up the slope.
These were designed to allow guns to be deployed on the battlefield and were provided with a pair of large wheels similar to those used on carts or wagons. The cheeks of field carriages were much narrower than those on the naval carriage and the rear end, called a "trail", rested on the ground. When the gun needed to be moved any distance, the trail could be lifted onto a second separate axle called a limber, which could then be towed by a team of horses or oxen. Limbers had been invented in France in about 1550. An innovation from the mid-18th century was the invention of the "block trail", which replaced the heavy cheeks and transoms of the "double-bracket" carriage with a single wooden spar reinforced with iron.
The First World War is often considered the dawn of modern artillery because, like repeating firearms, the majority of barrels were rifled, the projectiles were conical, the guns were breech loaded and many used fixed ammunition or separate loading charges and projectiles.
Some of the features of modern carriages are listed below and illustrated in the photo gallery:
Gun carriages have been used to carry the coffin of fallen soldiers and officers at military funerals and holders of high office with a military connection in state funerals to their final resting place. The practice has its origins in war and appears in the nineteenth century in the Queens regulations of the British Army.
In the United Kingdom, in a state funeral, the Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by sailors from the Royal Navy rather than horses. (This tradition dates from the funeral of Queen Victoria; the horses drawing the gun carriage bolted, so ratings from the Royal Navy hauled it to the Royal Chapel at Windsor.) This distinguishing feature is not invariable, however, as shown by the use of naval ratings rather than horses at the ceremonial funeral for Lord Mountbatten in 1979, which was one of a number of features on that occasion which emphasized Mountbatten's lifelong links with the Royal Navy. In state funerals in the United States, a caisson (a two-wheeled ammunition wagon), is used in place of a gun carriage. At the 2015 state funeral of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, the coffin was mounted on a 25-pounder gun towed by a Land Rover.