14th century naval cannon found

[Micael]

Very neat to find such an old cannon. Gives a better idea of the earliest stage of cannon manufacture in Europe.

The ship's cannon outside Marstrand may be Europe's oldest artillery piece

Published
September 12, 2023
at
Department of History
studies
An international research group led by naval archaeologist Staffan von Arbin at the University of Gothenburg has investigated what may be Europe's oldest ship's cannon. The cannon was found in the sea off Marstrand on the Swedish west coast and dates to the 14th century.
The result of the interdisciplinary study provides new knowledge about the early development of artillery both on land and at sea, but also testifies to a troubled time for both seafarers and coastal populations.
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The small funnel-shaped muzzle-loaded copper cannon, found by a recreational diver at a depth of 20 meters in the sea off Marstrand, is believed to come from a sunken ship. The fact that the researchers consider it to be a ship's cannon, and not a cannon transported as cargo, is due to the fact that it still had parts of a charge left in the powder chamber when it was found. The cannon was thus loaded and ready to be used in battle when it ended up on the seabed.

- Thanks to the preserved charge remains, it has been possible to date the find using the carbon 14 method, says Staffan von Arbin, marine archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg.

- The result shows that the Marstrand cannon most likely originates from the 14th century, which makes it one of the absolute oldest pieces of artillery found in Europe.

A5B5926D-AD4B-46C6-B448-AE1DAF9C3A6A.jpeg

The canon in its entirety.
Photo: Photo: Bo Niklasson/Bohuslän museum.
Analyzed the metal

The researchers have documented the find through 3D scanning, and they have also carried out a chemical analysis of the metal used in the casting of the cannon. The analysis shows that it is a copper alloy containing about 14 percent lead and only smaller amounts of tin.

This alloy is far from optimal for cannon casting, say the researchers, and it is likely that the cannon would have broken and become unusable if too intensively used.

- Quite obviously, whoever cast the cannon did not have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the properties of various copper alloys, says Staffan von Arbin.

- It shows that the noble art of cannon casting was not yet fully mastered at this time and that production was largely based on "trial and error".

The analysis also indicates that the copper ore used in the manufacture of the cannon is mined in present-day Slovakia, while the lead probably comes from England or the border area between Poland and the Czech Republic.

In the interdisciplinary study, published in the English maritime history journal The Mariner's Mirror , the researchers present the results of the analyzes carried out but also discuss the cannon find in the light of written, iconographic and archaeological sources. The town of Marstrand, with its famously good port, was during the 14th century an important junction for commercial shipping between Western Europe and the Baltic Sea area. But the sea was an arena of war and conflict, and the civilian population was often severely affected. In addition, there was always a risk of pirate attacks.

Find the wreck that the cannon belonged to?

The new types of firearms developed at this time provided great tactical advantages in sea battles. However, it was not only warships that were equipped with equipment - during the late Middle Ages, merchant ships also increasingly began to be equipped with cannons in order to defend themselves against pirates and other hostile ships. The examination of the Marstrand cannon provides new knowledge and perspectives on this military technical development.

Funnel-shaped cannons of the Marstrandkanon type are usually attributed to the 15th and 16th centuries, but the find thus testifies that the model existed already in the 14th century. The preserved charge remnants in the cannon's powder chamber also show that the use of cartridges, a type of prepackaged gunpowder charges, came into use much earlier than was known.

- Now, of course, we also want to try to locate and document the ship that the cannon belonged to. Although it is likely badly decomposed and smashed, it should be possible to find scattered wreckage during a careful inventory of the find site and its surroundings, says Staffan von Arbin.

The study in full: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 23.2225311

[jemhouston]

I wonder if they needed a cannon in a hurry and this is the result.