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The C/30 was a German naval 20 mm anti-aircraft gun in service from 1934 through the Second World War. It had a practical rate of fire of 120 rounds- per-minute from a 20-round magazine and a range of 4900 meters, and an anti- aircraft ceiling of 3700 metres.
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The C/38 was a German naval 20 mm anti-aircraft gun in service from 1934 through the Second World War. It had a practical rate of fire of 220 rounds- per-minute from a 40-round magazine and a range of 4900 meters, and an anti- aircraft ceiling of 3700 metres.
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The C801 Ying-ji (Eagle Strike) is a Chinese inertial cruise anti-ship missile first seen in 1984, with active radar homing to a range of 40 km at a sea-skimming flight speed of 0.9 Mach. They carry a 165 kg warhead.
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The C90 is a Spanish, shoulder fired, 90 mm calibre, rocket-launcher weapon system, originally an anti-tank rocket launcher it has been upgraded and developed to be used in various combat roles, depending upon the fitted rocket warhead. The C90-C standard anti-tank model has an effective range of 200 metres and can penetrate 500 mm of armour (the original C90 could penetrate 250 mm) or 1200 mm of concrete. The C90-CR model can penetrate over 400 mm of armour, and the C90-CR-BK is fitted with a double charge warhead, a first charge penetrates the target and then the second charge, a fragmentation grenade, explodes inside the target to deal with the occupants.
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The MECAR CAN-90 is two models (CAN-90H and CAN-90L) of Belgian light guns designed primarily for an anti-tank role. The CAN-90 has a calibre of 90 mm and fires HEAT, smoke, and fragmentation rounds with a muzzle velocity of 633 metres per second to an effective range of 1000 metres for HEAT, being able to penetrate 350 mm of armour or 1200 mm of concrete. The fragmentation ammunition consists of a canister round containing over 1100 steel pellets and can be fired to a range of 300 metres and has a lethal radius of 50 metres from the burst point.
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Canister shot was a kind of case shot for cannons, in which a number of lead or iron balls in layers were enclosed in a case fitting the gun.
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In modern warfare, the term cannon is applied to a shell-firing gun of a heavier calibre than a machine gun. They have a lower rate of fire, but are more destructive than machine guns. Before the Great War, all big guns which we would now refer to as howitzers and anti-tank guns etc were called cannons, irrespective of whether they were muzzle or breech loaded.
In older warfare, the term cannon was applied to a big gun or piece of ordnance. The precise period at which engines for projecting missiles by mechanical force (catapults, etc) were supplanted by those utilizing explosive materials is a matter of controversy, the invention of cannon being attributed to the Chinese, from whom the Saracens may have acquired the knowledge. A doubtful authority asserts their use at the siege of Belgrade in 1073; but they were certainly brought into use in France as early as 1338. At first they were made of wood, well secured by iron hoops, the earliest shape being somewhat conical, with wide muzzles, and afterwards cylindrical. They were then made of iron bars firmly bound together with iron hoops like casks, Mons Meg at Edinburgh being a good example.
The first cannons used in Britain appeared around 1335. Edward III used cannons at the Battle of Cressy. In the reign of Elizabeth I, the British cannon was a muzzle-loading gun with an 8-inch bore that fired a 60 lb projectile. Bronze was used in the second half of the 14th century, towards the close of which and during the 15th century cast-iron ordnance came into use. A form of breech-loading cannon was introduced in the 16th century.
Cannon formerly received the following distinctive names: cannon royal, or carthoun, carrying 48 pounds; culverin, 18; demi-culverin, 9; falcon, 6; basilisk, 48; siren, 60; etc. They were afterwards named from the weight of the balls which they carried: 6-pounders, 12-pounders, etc; but by 1900 were often, especially the large ones, designated by their weight, as a 25-ton gun, a 67-ton gun, an 80-ton gun, etc. Their calibre or diameter of bore was also used in designating them: a 6-inch gun, a 12-inch gun, etc.
Around the 19th century the classification of cannons into muzzle-loading and breech-loading came into use though all the guns of the improved types of the 19th century were breech-loading. Quick-firing guns and machine-guns were classes of introduced late in the 19th century.
Great improvements and changes in the manufacture of cannon were introduced in the late 19th century. Not long before they were all made of iron, brass, or gun-metal (a variety of bronze) by casting. The introduction of rifled small-arms led the way to that of rifled cannon, and the adoption of heavy armour for ships of war rendered guns of enormous power and magnitude necessary in order to penetrate their sides. For round balls projectiles of considerable length were substituted in the rifled ordnance; and the increased weight and inertia of the projectiles and their rapid rotation in these rifled guns try the piece so severely that cast-iron and bronze were superseded, and the old methods of making guns given up. Guns built up in different ways are now in general use, and the construction and connected mechanism is now somewhat complicated, so that to turn out a large gun of modern type is a long and expensive process. In England steel and wrought-iron guns came in for all heavy artillery by 1900, and they were manufactured for foreign powers on a large scale, especially by the Elswick Ordnance Company.
The former heavy guns of the British service, made on the 'Woolwich' system, had a steel tube to form the bore, over which were shrunk coils of wrought-iron, increasing in thickness about the breech, This method of manufacture was first introduced by Sir William Armstrong about 1858. Such guns present the hard steel to meet the wear and tear on the bore of the gun, while great support is given by shrinking on the wrought-iron hoops, which contract with a tight grip upon the steel. Hoops of steel were later preferred to those of wrought-iron; and later still the guns were strengthened by flat steel wire or a narrow ribbon of steel coiled round it.
Steel guns of very high quality were long made by Krupp of Essen, and Sir J. Whitworth's guns also gained a high name. The Whitworth guns were made of mild steel of a special quality, massive hoops being forced over a central tube, and over one another, by shrinkage or by hydraulic pressure. These guns had comparatively small hexagonal bores, with a very rapid twist, and fire long projectiles, made to fit mechanically, with remarkable accuracy to a great range.
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The Cannon-petro was a British cannon with a 6-inch bore firing a 24.5 lb shot.
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The Canon de 105mm Schneider Mle was a French field gun developed just prior to and used throughout the Great War. The Canon de 105mm Schneider Mle was a 105 mm calibre gun that fired a 16 kg high-explosive shell to a range of 12700 metres at a muzzle velocity of 550 meters-per-second.
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The Canon de 240 L Model 1884 was a French heavy gun of the Great War originally designed and used as a coastal defence gun, they were withdrawn from coastal fortresses and mounted on a St Chammond field carriage in 1914. Later they were used in 1939 and 1940 before being captured by the Germans and returned to use as coastal defence guns. The Canon de 240 L Model 1884 fired a 240 mm calibre 140 kg high-explosive shell to a range of 17300 metres with a muzzle velocity of 575 meters-per-second.
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The Canone de 75 Mle 1897 ('Famous French 75') was a French field artillery weapon which introduced the quick-firing concept to artillery, making all other guns obsolete, used not just by the French army but also by the Germans, Americans, Poles, Portuguese, Greek, Romanian, Irish and several Baltic states. The Canone de 75 Mle 1897 was chambered in 75 mm calibre and fired a 7.24 kg shrapnel shell to a range of 8500 metres. The Canone de 75 Mle 1897 was used by the French army until 1940, and then by the Germans as a stopgap anti-tank weapon in 1941. The US Army adopted the Canone de 75 Mle 1897 in 1917 and continued using it until 1945, some being mounted on B-25 bombers as an anti-ship gun.
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The Bofors Carl Gustaf M2 is a Swedish, one-man, recoilless anti-tank gun. The M2 is an 84 mm calibre breech-loading recoilless gun with a range of 450 metres HEAT and 1000 metres HE, and able to penetrate more than 400 mm of armour.
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The Bofors Carl Gustaf M2-550 (FFV 550) is a Swedish, one-man, recoilless anti-tank gun developed from the Carl Gustaf M2. The M2-550 is an 84 mm calibre breech-loading recoilless gun with a range of 700 metres and able to penetrate more than 400 mm of armour.
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A carronade is a short, large calibre, short-range ship's gun. It was invented in 1759 by General Melville - or maybe Mr Gascoigne, director of the Carron foundry in Scotland - who called it a 'smasher' on account of its devastating effect at shirt range. Carronades entered service with the British navy in 1779 and were manufactured at the Carron ironworks in Stirling, from whence they got the name 'Carronade'. Carronades remained in service with the British navy until the mid-19th century and ranged in size from the 12-pounder with a calibre of 4.52 inches, which was 2 feet 2 inches in length, up to the 68 pounder which had a calibre of 8.05 inches and was 5 feet 2 inches in length and weighed 36 cwt. Carronades were carried on the upper deck, poop and forecastle only.
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The carthoun (cannon royal) was a cannon carrying a 48 lb shot.
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A catapult was an ancient military engine for throwing arrows, darts, or stones, consisting of a strong wooden framework supporting a bow of wood or steel, which was bent by means of a windlass, the cord being finally released by a spring.
Catapults are thought to have been invented by Dionysius in 399 BC.
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Centaure is a French, twin, manually-operated, towed anti-aircraft gun fitted with two 20 mm F2 cannons on a light two-wheeled trailer for operation by a single soldier. Centaure operates by delayed blowback and fires 900 rounds-per-minute from a dual disintegrating link belt to an effective range of 2000 metres with a muzzle velocity of 1050 meters-per-second.
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Cerbere is a French, twin, power-operated, single-operator towed anti-aircraft gun fitted with two 20 mm F2 cannons. Cerbere operates by delayed blowback and fires 900 rounds-per-minute from a dual disintegrating link belt to an effective range of 2000 metres with a muzzle velocity of 1050 meters-per-second. Cerbere is based upon the German Rh 202 AA Gun, but is fitted with F2 cannons in place of the German Rh 202 cannons.
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Chaff is a device comprising strips of metal foil, used to confuse enemy radar systems including those in guided missiles.
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Chain-shot was a type of projectile invented around 1665 consisting of two cannon balls joined by a chain which when fired from a cannon revolved upon the shorter axis and were hence effective for mowing down masts and rigging.
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Chaparral is an American surface-to-air battlefield missile system developed from the AIM-9 (Sidewinder) missile. Chaparral was first produced in 1966 following test firings in 1965. Chaparral was target by a gunner in the launch vehicle keeping an optical sight aligned with the target.
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In guns, the chase is the part of the gun bewteen the trunnions and the swell of the muzzle, or in more modern guns, in which the muzzle has no swell, the whole of that part of the gun which is in front of the trunnions.
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The CIS 40AGL is a Singapore automatic grenade launcher. The weapon uses a blowback operation and is air-cooled, firing standard high-velocity 40 mm grenades to a maximum range of 2200 metres at a rate of fire of single shot at automatic at between 350 and 500 rounds-per-minute, fed from a disintegrating link belt. The CIS 40-AGL can be mounted on a tripod for infantry use, or in the turret of a light armoured vehicle.
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The CIS 40GL is a Singapore multi-purpose break open, single-shot 40 mm calibre grenade launcher that can be used as a stand-alone weapon or fitted to various assault rifles. The CIS 40GL has a maximum range of 400 metres.
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The CIS-40-AFL is a Singapore made, blowback operated automatic grenade launcher. The CIS-40-AFL is fed from a disintegrating link belt and has a maximum range of 2200 metres.
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A coehorn was a small howitzer of about 4.5 inches calibre. They were named after Baron von Coehorn of Holland.
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The Contraves Italiana Indigo was an Italian short-range surface-to-air land-based guided missile developed in 1966. The Contraves Italiana Indigo was armed with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead and had a top speed of Mach 2.5 and a range of 10 km to a ceiling of 6000 metres.
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The Contraves Italiana Nettuno was an Italian short-range ship-based surface-to-surface guided missile similar to the Contraves Italiana Indigo, and similarly developed in the mid-1960's. The Contraves Italiana Nettuno was armed with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead with a proximity/impact fuse and had a top speed of Mach 1.9 and a range of between 3 and 10 km.
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The Contraves-Oerlikon Mosquito is a Swiss simple wire-guided infantry anti-tank weapon designed to be deployed by a single soldier. The Contraves-Oerlikon Mosquito entered production in 1961 and has a cruising speed of 330 kmh and a range of between 360 and 2375 metres. The Contraves-Oerlikon Mosquito can be armed with various warheads including a hollow-charge type capable of penetrating more than 660 mm of conventional armour plate and a fragmentation warhead.
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Crakys of war was a term used for cannons during the regn of Edward III.
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Cross-bar shot was cannon balls with iron bars crossing through them. The bars would extend some six to eight inches out of the cannon ball at both sides.
Cross-bar shot was used for destroying rigging and palisading.
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The Cruise Missile is a long-range guided missile that has a terrain-seeking radar system and flies at moderate speed and low altitude. It is descended from the German V1 of the Second World War. Initial trials in the 1950s demonstrated the limitations of cruise missiles, which included high fuel consumption and relatively slow speeds as well as inaccuracy and a small warhead. The Tomahawk cruise missile is an American missile capable of having a nuclear warhead. It has a range of 583 km and a flight speed of mach 0.7.
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The culverin was a French cannon, introduced into England in 1534. It had a bore of 5.5 inches and fired a 17.5 lb ball. The term culverin was generally used in Britain to describe a long, slender, long-range artillery piece or pistol.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
