Author Topic: Scotch that reading, Squire Neuman, you're getting too darned smart! (Read 1272 times)

Cannoneer · « **on:** December 01, 2009, 03:04:53 AM »

This is the first installment of "Tomes for Tom," the first of many, oh, so much many more posts yet to come.

A Turkish Cannon in the Tower

carronader · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:26:03 AM »

just another Haggis Boiler you should know I don't like 'em. and the only decent stuff the Turks ever made is in the jewel rooms in the Hermitage. aaaaaaaaand the best things ever to grace the Tower were Scotsmen...........and women & children kept in cages hanging ouside the walls. You ain't impressing here !

subdjoe · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:12:24 AM »

Quote from: carronader on December 01, 2009, 05:26:03 AM

just another Haggis Boiler you should know I don't like 'em. and the only decent stuff the Turks ever made is in the jewel rooms in the Hermitage. aaaaaaaaand the best things ever to grace the Tower were Scotsmen...........and women & children kept in cages hanging ouside the walls. You ain't impressing here !

I wonder if we could get Adam and Jaime to buy a myth about haggis being fired from cannon, and get them to test it?

dan610324 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:27:46 AM »

I wouldnt call it a haggis boiler

if its size that counts this is a real cannon

Cannoneer · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2009, 01:43:44 PM »

And on top of that, it's a screw gun!

Cannoneer · « **Reply #5 on:** December 02, 2009, 05:59:04 AM »

Shortly after first seeing this bombard my imagination came up with the reason for the raised rings with indentations on the muzzle, breech, and where the two halves join, but this is the first time I've seen the function of these rings confirmed anywhere.

The Cannon of Mehmed II

Double D · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2009, 06:23:31 AM »

This gun use to be referred to as the largest bronze casting ever made

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #7 on:** December 02, 2009, 06:28:23 AM »

Cool article. The photomicrographs look very similar to some that I've seen (when a fellow classmate took them in a metalurgy class) of a copper penny.

dan610324 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 02, 2009, 07:14:21 AM »

to call them the largest casting in the world would ba a somewhat modificated truth
ships bronze propellers are both larger and heavier
ok today they are manufactured in pieces as they are adjustable
but if you goes back some 50 - 80 years then they was cast in one piece and hughe

I dont got any fact on the size of the dardanell cannon
but by looking at the photo I would guess that the largest diameter is approximately 5 ft
length of the bore piece maybe 15 ft , chamber slightly shorter

does anyone have the correct sizes ??

yeah the rings with the columns are to get a grip with poles to screw the pieces together
its a bit difficult to take one piece in each hand and do it

I have read somewhere about it a long time ago , Im not really sure but if I remember the correct numbers it needed somewhere in the region of 72 oxes and 400 men just to move the 2 pieces
they also used oxes to screw the parts together

cannonmn · « **Reply #9 on:** December 02, 2009, 12:23:43 PM »

Quote

they also used oxes to screw the parts together

Yes Dan, their front hooves fit right into those slots and they stand up on their hind legs just cranking away as long as you feed 'em enough.

RocklockI · « **Reply #10 on:** December 02, 2009, 06:31:18 PM »

Like an outside Dia. squirrel cage !

Those turks and their dancing Oxen you gotta love em ,and that Turkish sense of humor ? "Well hello Jimmy ,have you ever actually been in a Turkish prison ?"

And for the record I have not and even if I was I'd never tell ! DD you ever been in a turkish prison ? As a gaurd I mean ? Would you tell if you were where ?

Sorry DD I'm one happy CLAM tonight (Morko succcssesesese'ss and all) , AND ,I'm taking it out on YOU !

I read that 'taking it out on... thinngage' somewhere , as I did not make it up .

Gary

Cannoneer · « **Reply #11 on:** December 03, 2009, 01:54:03 AM »

Quote from: cannonmn on December 02, 2009, 12:23:43 PM

Quote
they also used oxes to screw the parts together

Yes Dan, their front hooves fit right into those slots and they stand up on their hind legs just cranking away as long as you feed 'em enough.

I think that I remember reading that these prima donna Ottoman oxen also adamantly refused to lift so much as hoof towards getting the two pieces screwed together, until they were given their daily ration of rum.

Victor3 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 03, 2009, 02:17:21 AM »

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun...."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon

dan610324 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 03, 2009, 06:44:28 AM »

noooo noooo noooo
absolutely no rum at all until the gun is ready to fire
if they had their bathtub of rum before the work is finished they just dont know whats muzzle and breech
so the turks find that out after the first time the oxen assembled that gun pointing in the wrong direction, and from that time the gun was always pointing in the correct direction

Cannoneer · « **Reply #14 on:** December 03, 2009, 10:43:30 AM »

Quote from: dan610324 on December 03, 2009, 06:44:28 AM

noooo noooo noooo
absolutely no rum at all until the gun is ready to fire
if they had their bathtub of rum before the work is finished they just dont know whats muzzle and breech
so the turks find that out after the first time the oxen assembled that gun pointing in the wrong direction, and from that time the gun was always pointing in the correct direction

I just thought of something, Dan, these obstinate oxen couldn't have been given any booze, they were Muslim oxen, they would have been bribed with hashish.

RocklockI · « **Reply #15 on:** December 03, 2009, 10:53:28 AM »

Well BoomJ ,How come you always two Muslims with you when fishing ?

(Dont get uppity DD its cute not hatefull)

Cause if you only take one he'll drink up all your beer .

Gary

Cannoneer · « **Reply #16 on:** December 03, 2009, 01:52:04 PM »

Yeah, weren't a couple of those kamikazes documented by the FBI as known to have frequented bars, and drank. Heaven is waiting boys, fifteeen virgins and a bottle of hooch.

RocklockI · « **Reply #17 on:** December 03, 2009, 02:02:48 PM »

BoomJ you made some sence after all these years .

The MORE the MERRIER TOO !

That may have been Hatefull , DD sorry I repentageishage ...yea , you're right ,.... NOT !!!!!!

dan610324 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 04, 2009, 11:26:54 AM »

I think there are both christian and muslim oxen in turkey

Cannoneer · « **Reply #19 on:** December 05, 2009, 08:00:05 PM »

Yes, at that time the Turks had Christian oxen, along with a lot of Christian people, and they borrowed both from Europe.

Cannoneer · « **Reply #20 on:** December 05, 2009, 09:21:26 PM »

Yesterday I saw a preview of an upcoming show on the History Channel called Ancient Discoveries: Mega-Fort. I think it's the last segment in this episode, and its about this same kind of huge 'split' bronze bombard. They try to demonstrate what kind of damage one of these bombards would have caused to the masonry walls of the stronghold at Constantinople. I don't know if the iron bombard that they used was made specifically for this show, but it was made in one piece, and obviously it wasn't anywhere near the size of Mehmed's cannon. The short clip I saw showed a carved stone projectile being fired from the cannon at a stone wall, and what kind of damage it did. These cannons are cited as being the primary reason for the defeat of Constantinople in 1453.

dan610324 · « **Reply #21 on:** December 05, 2009, 09:56:34 PM »

here you can see something similar been fired
dont know exact what it is , just an picture I found on the net
probably a copy of a scaled down bombard or a full size very early cannon
doesnt matter what it is , it looks soooooo impressive
to the right of the vent smoke you can see a man

Cannoneer · « **Reply #22 on:** December 06, 2009, 08:57:01 AM »

That's a great pic Dan, and that looks very similar to what was shown in the clip, including the way in which the bombard is mounted on a wood plank. I'm going to try and catch the show next Friday.

Double D · « **Reply #23 on:** December 06, 2009, 09:45:29 AM »

bigger is better.

Cannoneer · « **Reply #24 on:** December 12, 2009, 07:24:12 PM »

I watched the History Channel show Ancient Mega-Forts on Friday night, and it was pretty good. They built a stone wall that was meant to replicate the walls of the Christian fortress at Constantinople, and they fired a couple of carved stone balls out of a replica iron bombard at the wall. Both shots caused severe damage to the wall, but I think they had the gun aimed to low, if the shots had hit higher I think they would have been even more effective. The iron bombard was the stand in for one the huge original bronze bombards that Mehmed II used to batter Constantinople's walls in the siege of 1453. The super slo-mo of the ball in flight, and then the impact on the wall, was excellent.

Zulu · « **Reply #25 on:** December 13, 2009, 03:45:18 AM »

Multiple shots to the lower half of the wall caused it to cave in thus allowing access.
Zulu

Cannoneer · « **Reply #26 on:** December 23, 2009, 06:49:53 PM »

The Guns of Constantinople

dan610324 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 24, 2009, 02:41:35 AM »

very interesting reading

1Southpaw · « **Reply #28 on:** December 24, 2009, 08:39:03 AM »

one link leads to another and so goes the day !