Changes

[[Image:5-54-Mark-45-firing edit.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A modern cannon mounted on a ship.]]

[[Image:5-54-Mark-45-firing edit.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A modern cannon mounted on a ship.]]

A '''cannon''' is a type of heavy weapon used from the [[Middle Ages]] until the 19th century.

A '''cannon''' (Spanish: cañón, French: canon, German: Kanone, Greek: κανόνι, Italian: cannone, Japanese: 大砲 ) is a type of heavy weapon usually mounted on a carriage used since the [[Middle Ages]].

They came about due to the development of [[gunpowder]] and [[metallurgy]]. They consisted of a heavy barrel cast in one piece, generally of [[bronze]] or [[iron]], mounted on a wooden carriage. Ammunition ranged from solid iron balls, to [[chain shot]] and [[cannister]]. They were muzzle loaded and thus slow to reload. Massed batteries were used on both land and sea. Their relatively short range limited them to direct fire only, as opposed to modern [[artillery]] which uses [[indirect fire]].

They came about due to the development of [[gunpowder]] and [[metallurgy]]. They consisted of a heavy barrel cast in one piece, generally of [[bronze]] or [[iron]], mounted on a wooden carriage. Ammunition ranged from solid iron balls, to [[chain shot]] and [[cannister]]. They were muzzle loaded and thus slow to reload. Massed batteries were used on both land and sea. Their relatively short range limited them to direct fire only, as opposed to modern [[artillery]] which uses [[indirect fire]].

[[category:weapons]]

[[category:weapons]]