1800-1900 Cannons

This is a French Cannon, called the cannon-obusier, which literally means shell cannon. This cannon used shells, balls or canisters, which was a great improvement from the past cannons which shot only metal balls. This cannon was primarily used during the American Civil War. The cannon pictured is the a cannon called the Paixhans gun from 1842. This cannon was designed to shoot explosive shells, the first of its kind. This cannon used a delay mechanism, which allowed the explosives to be shot at such a high velocity. The shells were equipped with a fuse that was ignited upon being shot, and would later explode.

This is a type of canet gun, which were developed by French engineer Gustave Canet. These guns were chosen to equip the Empirial Japanese Navy in 1887. This gun was a 12.6 inch weapon, which was very powerful compared to other weapons of its time. The gun used almost overwhelming firepower, on a small unit.