Evening star., 1937-04-04
The Story of Ordnance
Through the Ages
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

StdLcS mas JOlEeO 10 tne extent OF IN
creasing its Navy and bringing its Army
to the height of mechanized efficiency.
In view of these actions, it is interesting
p to trace the history of ordnance-the art
OF building and using heavy guns.
1t is fascinating to realize how ancient
such guns are. Today 1t seems natural
to think OF great guns as modern in
ventions and, Of course, there are points
about the latest types which do repre-
sent Improvements unknown to earlier
peoples
Sidney R. Freemantle. a captain in the
royal navy OF Great Britain, observes
that heavy guns have two purposes. Ono
is to destroy lives or property, and the
second is to terrify the enemy by noise.
The noise made by heavy ordnance
is indeed, bewildering thing and, in
earlier days, the thunder of cannon had
as distinct an effect as the destruction
by direct hits.
There is some dispute among anti
quarians as to where cannon first were
produced. Some experts contend for
China and some for Arabia. Gibbon
tells of gun In the Byzantine days at
Constantinople which was Of such size
that fugitive was found hiding in its
barrel.
The earliest known representation Of
a gun in England is found in an ancient
Illuminated manuscript known as De
Offciis Regum, done in the reign Of
Edward II about 1926. 1t is kept at
Christ Church in oxford. But this was
not very large piece. However, about
the same time there existed. according
to clear evidence, breech-loading cannon.
One of the biggest guns in the world,
not excepting the great American naval
guns or Coast Artillery guns which
shoot % to 80 miles, was the Dulle
Griete of Ghent. People in earlier days
gave what amounted to personal names
to pieces of ordnance. In Washington
there are many cannon of beautiful
workmanship. with coats of arms and
names chased upon them. They were
taken by American forces from the
French and the Spanish in various wars.
One will notice, for example a bitter
looking gun coyly named Marguerite.
And. at the War Department. one can
see two guns which were taken in the
Mexican War, one named-with the
name cast in the metal-San Mateo and
the other San Marco
Reverting to the Dulle Griete of
Ghent, which was made toward the close
Of the fourteenth century, 1t is of iron
and weighs 13 tons. There is an inner
lining Of longitudinal iron bars, welded
together, and surrounded by rings of
wrought iron. The gun is 1877 inches
long and its bore is Is inches.
These early guns fired entirely differ
ent projectiles from those in use today.
Some OF the earlier pieces fired arrows.
AS many as 25 arrows would be placed
in the barrel of the gun and then powder
would be packed in behind. On ignition
there would be burst of flame and
the arrows would go hurting through
the air toward the enemy. 1t was the
sort OF barrage that was almost certain
to hit some one, and If the discharge
were maoe into massed body of troops
there was amazing carnage. Also, the
arrows were incendiary in that they car.
ried a sort of Greek fire.
Later stones were used. The great
gun of Ghent fired granite boulder
weighing 700 pounds. 1t was not a
weldy piece. 1t had to be set in a
fixed place, in sort of cradle. 1t could
not be readily moved upward or down.
ward to effect desired trajectory. The
operators had to point the gun toward
wall or mass OF troops and fire.
Then in Edinburgh Castle there is
| gun which has most Of the character
| istics of the earliest 1t is known as
| Mons Meg. Just when it was made is
| uncertain. but 1t is known that 1t was
| used by the English at the siege of
! Mont Saint Michel, of the coast Of
| Normandy, in 1923 Mons Meg has a
caliber OF 20 inches and fired a granite
boulder of $50 pounds weight
Soon after the date of Mons Meg.
| bronze guns began to be cast first at
| Constantinople. Later they were in
| troduced into Europe and were much
| employed by the armies which never
| seemed to cease their warfares One
| OF these which now is at Woolwich,
where the British artillery school Is
| located has a caliber of IS inches. It
| fired stone weighing 675 pounds. This
| gun weighs 1874 tons. Another early
| bronze gun is retained at Dover Castle.
| This is OF newer type. Instead of the
| tremendously wide caliber, its bore meas
| ures only ATS inches. But it is 24h feet
| long. 1t bears the enhancing name of
| Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol!
Metallurgical progress is said to be
due in large measure to the desire of
masters of ordnance to improve their
weapons. These weapons frequently ex.
| ploded, killing their own crews. Expert.
ments were constantly being made and
some of them were costly experiments
costly in human lives as well as money.
For long time, indeed up to the middle
of the last century, steel was mistrusted
and cast iron, wrought iron, bronze and
brass were chung to as the only safe
materials for heavy guns.
There still are to be seen in many
places in the United States, and notably
| at Washington, enormous iron mortarS
and siege guns. They are museum pieces
| today, of course, but once upon a time
they we're the last thing in ordnance
It was long time-centuries-
heavy guns were mounted on wheels.
In fact it was not until the heavier
types went out of fashion that gun
carriages were used. 1t would have
been difficult to construct a carriage
| which would bear the tons which some
| of the earlier pieces weighed Probably
still the most famous piece Of field
| artillery in the world is the French rs.
| or as most soldiers call it, the French
| seyenty-flye It was first employed in