A 15th century cannon as found on the Mary Rose. Scale 1 : 1. Construction, description and research.

[tartane]

A 15th century cannon as found on the Mary Rose.  Scale 1 : 1. Construction, description and research.

1

As some of you will know, I have built a model of the city of Zutphen, where I live, as the city looked like in 1485. It took me five years to build on it and, together with two other people, I also did the long-term research. The construction took 6500 hours and the result is a large model on a scale of 1:500 which also gave us a lot of the history of the city.

This model will be given a permanent place in a heavy artillery tower from 1457. A tower with a wall thickness of 4 meters, the Burgundy Tower.  The interior of the tower is currently being modified to accommodate the model. In this way, a new museum is being created around the model.

There have been a number of gun emplacements in the tower. One of those  will now house a full-size replica of a 15th century cannon.

This also required a lot of research. Good examples were found in museums in the Netherlands and especially in England. We also looked at the various cannons of the Mary Rose. Obviously, there was no standardization in such artillery. Each cannon was different, but all according to the same principle. I started building that cannon and made drawings in advance.

From accounts of the city around about 1450 we know that they were ordered and also what they looked like. They were referred to there as “ Slang” (snake), the name that the replica will also be given. Afterwards, especially after 1500, these cannons were referred to as culverein. But we are not going to use that name because of the specific name in the Zutphen archives.

 

First, the drawing of the cannon in its entirety. The black lines all around are the exact dimensions of the existing gun emplacement from 1457. Within that, I had to stick to the dimensions. The embrasure is round with a diameter of 20 cm. So the barrel had to be able to pass through that. As a result, the caliber of the barrel was also roughly fixed. It looks like one of the cannons of the Mary Rose, but smaller.

It should be clear that the cannon may have looked different, but the working method, the caliber, the construction of the gun carriage and the use of stone balls are certain. It is mainly intended to give visitors an idea about a cannon from the 15th century.

A photo of the niche in which such a cannon stood. In the background the loophole with a short slit above it.

 

A photo of such a cannon in the National Military Museum in the Netherlands.

 

Constant

 

[tartane]

 

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A photo of the niche in which such a cannon stood. In the background the loophole with a short slit above it.

A photo of such a cannon in the National Military Museum in the Netherlands.

Constant

 

[Louie da fly]

I've put quite a bit of study into guns of this period, and you're certainly on the right track. You might be interested in this gun  from the Genoese ship La Lomellina which sank in 1516 (which I believe was probably built in 1503).

And this picture which I believe shows the Lomellina's predecessor, which sank in 1503, as it is flying the flag of the Lomellini family, and which has some interesting cannons.

 

Steven

 

[tartane]

 

2

 

The barrel was originally manufactured from long, flat hammered iron bars girded by hoops, the normal way to make gun barrels at the time.

The rather small embrasure with a diameter of 200 mm had to be able to allow the barrel with the forged rings to pass through. Existing barrels show that these rings were often only 20 mm thick. I applied this here and so the tube couldn't be much thicker than 110 mm.

This results in the internal diameter of the barrel, the caliber. I ended up with 70 mm, after comparing it with existing barrels.

All those measurements are approximate, and the barrel had to be made according them.

I made the barrel from two PVC sewer pipes, which had the required diameters, namely 115 mm and 75 mm (with an internal size of 68 mm)

Pushed together, the outer circumference and the inner diameter provided the required dimensions.

 

The two PVC pipes with spacers around the inner tube.

 

The two tubes pushed together

 

A total of 38 rings of MDF had to be cut out in thicknesses of 8 and 12 mm. I did that manually with the fret- saw. At least three rings glued together now formed a ring.

Those rings were slid around the tube in the right places and secured with superglue. The course between the rings was now much too slippery. We agreed that the barrel would have the appearance of an excavated barrel and would therefore be heavily rusted and rusted in here and there. So the slipperiness had to disappear.

 

Around the tube, between the rings, there was first double-sided tape. Very tight thin rope was wound over it, without gaps in between, on the left of the photo. I needed about 145 meter. Then a thin layer of liquid MDF was smeared on top of it, on the right side of the photo. After which it became a rough surface after drying. That surface was filed and trimmed again until a lumpy surface was created, which was then painted in a rust color.

The MDF rings were also smeared with liquid MDF at the same time as the gaps. In this way, it became a unity.

 

 

[Louie da fly]

That's looking very good. Quite convincing - I look forward to seeing the barrel once this process is complete

Steven

[tartane]

3

 

After all surfaces were treated, the barrel looked like the photo. The length is 120 cm.

The painting was done with two shades of brown and black to get a weathered rusty surface. The inside of the barrel still needs to be made matt black.

The mouth of the barrel is a bit rounder, as the examples often show.

The breech has to be slid into the back.

The breech during the assembly of the parts. Which was entirely according to the method of the barrel.

The breech ready to be painted.

 

In the Dutch language, a breech was called a "snelleke". It resembled a beer mug in appearance and the medieval name of a beer mug was "snelleke". In reality, this barrel would have weighed 95 kg but now only 40 kg.

This is the situation on this day. It will take somewhat longer before I can show you more

 

Constant

 

[Roger Pellett]

An interesting project, well done!
 

Since this will be on public display just hope that kids don’t sneak in and try to shoot this thing!😀😀  But then Dutch kids are probably better behaved then American ones.

 

Roger

[druxey]

Nicely textured and colored!

[tartane]

I do not know if Dutch kids better behave then American kids, but that is the risk one has to take who build a Cannon.

Constant

[tartane]

 

4

 

The Burgundian Tower in Zutphen, the final residence for the cannon. It was built in 1457 because of the threat of war by the Burgundian Empire. The building has the floor plan of a horseshoe with a maximum wall thickness of four meters. In that wall there are three gun emplacements on the ground floor and five on the first floor. Below were heavier cannons.

This cannon will be placed on the first floor in one of the gun emplacements. Not all gun emplacements had cannons. In the event of a threat, the cannons could easily be moved inside the building.

This also must have happened to the cannons on ships. The many gun ports on Willem Barentz's ship will not all have been equipped with cannons. If you have 14 openings and there are 16 people on that ship, it's already clear

 

 

A gun gate of the first floor.

The gun emplacement for the cannon I am building.

The floor plan of the floor, with the five configurations. This cannon will soon be placed in place A. After the renovation, that place will be accessible by stairs, the others will not. The museum is scheduled to be completed by July 13 of this year.

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[Ferrus Manus]

On 5/14/2024 at 1:19 PM, tartane said:

I do not know if Dutch kids better behave then American kids,

As an American myself, I can confidently say that everyone behaves better than American kids. 

[tartane]

 

5

 

The gun carriage is made in a carpenter’s workshop.  The medieval Dutch name was "lade" (drawer). It is carved out of an oak tree trunk. The barrel is then placed in a semi-circular floor in which the spaces for the rings are also saved. That way, the barrel couldn't move on a shot, the rings stopped it. As can be seen on many old depictions and also on the recovered cannons of the Mary Rose, the barrel was tied to the carriage with rope. In this way, the gun could be taken apart and transported on a campaign. The wheels could also be removed.

Behind the breech the wedges. In this way, the breech could be clamped into the back of the barrel.

 

The carpenter warned me that the carriage would be very heavy. I did the math and indeed it would weigh about 650 kilos. Too heavy to carry him up the stairs in the tower to the place where he will stand. We decided that he would cut the carriage in the lenget into two parts. That sounds crazy, but I can imagine that this was also done in the 15th century to facilitate transport. The two parts are then attached to each other by large bolts fitted with wedges.

 

Behind the wedges a white ball, that's the cannonball. I carved it out of a slab of aerated concrete. In reality, it was natural granite or something like that. The ball still has to be provided with the correct color. In granite, the bullet would weigh about 500 grams, so a pound.

Constant

[tartane]

 

The cannonballs are ready. I made them out of aerated concrete. The photo shows how the process went. A block was sawn out and touched up with a box cutter. The bullet had to fit exactly in a mold that has the diameter of the barrel. Then I filled the holes in the concrete with a filler and they were painted in the right color.

Next to the cannon there will be a wooden tray with six cannonballs in it. To prevent anyone from taking them, they are screwed into the bottom of the box from the bottom. Attached to the barge is a chain that will soon be attached to the cannon so that no one can take the barge in its entirety.

In reality, such a granite bullet would weigh about 500 grams.

The carpenter is still working on the wooden carriage. We are waiting for a few parts that a local blacksmith is making.