When did ships first use cannon?

Armed conflicts in the history of humanity from the ancient times to the 20th Century.
Nathan Hinchey
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When did ships first use cannon?

Post by Nathan Hinchey »

This is a question I haven't been able to find answered on the internet (including searches on this forum). What's the earliest documented naval battle involving cannon?

I've been trying to find out about the earliest application of shipboard cannon. This came from researching the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and a curiosity about their use of gunpowder weapons generally, and the composition of their navy.
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RF
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Re: When did ships first use cannon?

Post by RF »

Without doing any research, I would suggest Lepanto. One question is of definition, as early ''cannon'' were rather strange contraptions.
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RF
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Re: When did ships first use cannon?

Post by RF »

And of course welcome to the forum Nathan.
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lwd
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Re: When did ships first use cannon?

Post by lwd »

From what I remember the number of cannon used at Lepanto was fairly large so proably earlier than that. Doing a quick google I found the followoing at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cannon
Throughout the Seven Year War in Korea, the Chinese-Korean coalition used artillery widely, in both land and naval battles
The "Seven Years War" dated to 1592-1598 see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_i ... 80%931598)
Of course Lepanto is 1571. But the above page lead me to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panokseon
Where it states:
Korean cannons first saw action in 1380 against a large fleet of Japanese pirate ships
Also the Mary Rose had cannon and she was built between 1509 and 1511 and defintily had cannon in 1536.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tu ... e_01.shtml
This site mentions that the earliest record of a ship armed with cannon is an English ship with 4 in 1336
http://www.google.com/search?q=ship+can ... CGoQyQEoAQ
and lists a battle in 1372 between a Castillian fleet and one lead by the English.
Byron Angel
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Re: When did ships first use cannon?

Post by Byron Angel »

Nathan Hinchey wrote:This is a question I haven't been able to find answered on the internet (including searches on this forum). What's the earliest documented naval battle involving cannon?

I've been trying to find out about the earliest application of shipboard cannon. This came from researching the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and a curiosity about their use of gunpowder weapons generally, and the composition of their navy.

"History of Naval Tactics" by Robison cites cannon as "commonplace" aboard Mediterranean galleys by the year 1365. "Guns at Sea" by Padfield describes in detail a large naval battle featuring extensive use of heavy artillery that took place in 1501 between a Portuguese fleet under Vasco de Gama and a Muslim fleet off the coast of India.

Hope this helps.

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Thorsten Wahl
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Re: When did ships first use cannon?

Post by Thorsten Wahl »

during the first dansk - hanseatic war 1362-65,
Christoffer son of the dansk king Waldemar IV. Atterdag was killed in action by a cannonball on 11th of june 1363 during a sea fight
Meine Herren, es kann ein siebenjähriger, es kann ein dreißigjähriger Krieg werden – und wehe dem, der zuerst die Lunte in das Pulverfaß schleudert!
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