Ottoman Cannons (pre-1800s)

     In the 1400's, the Ottoman Empire used super-sized cannons, called bombards, that could supposedly fire a cannon ball approximately one mile. In the Anglo-Turkish war, the Ottomans changed the design of their cannons. Instead of having a cannon made out of one solid piece of metal, the cannon was split into two parts. The two parts, the chase and the breech, these were screwed together to make the final piece. These cannons were generally called the Dardanelles Guns because of their use in the Dardanelles operation. These cannons were mainly used for seige purposes, as they took a long time to travel and they could not keep up easily with a moving army. These cannons were usually made out of metal while their ammunition was usually made out of stone.

The stone balls next to the cannon in the image below would typically weigh over one ton.