List of the largest cannon by caliber explained

This list contains all types of cannon through the ages listed in decreasing caliber size. For the purpose of this list, the development of large-calibre artillery can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projectiles used, due to their dissimilar characteristics, and being practically incommensurable in terms of their bore size:

• Stone balls: Cannon of extraordinary bore, which fired stone balls, were first introduced at the turn of the 14th to 15th century in Western Europe. Following a logic of increasing performance through size, they had evolved from small handguns to giant wrought-iron or cast-bronze bombards within a span of just several decades.
• Iron balls and shot: By the 16th century, however, a general switch from stone balls to smaller, but much more effective iron projectiles was in full swing. This and the parallel tendency towards standardized, rapid-firing cannon made the enormously costly and logistically demanding giant guns soon obsolete in the European theatre (with the exception of the odd showpiece).
• Explosive shells: In the Industrial Age, artillery was again revolutionized by the introduction of explosive shells, beginning with the Paixhans guns. Breakthroughs in metallurgy and modes of production were followed up by new experimentation with super-sized caliber weapons, culminating in the steel colossi of the two World Wars. In the post-war era, the development of extremely overpowered artillery was gradually abandoned in favour of missile technology, while heavy guns are still demanded by various arms of the service.

The list includes only cannons that were actually built, that is, cannons that existed only as concepts, ideas, proposals, plans, drawings or diagrams ("paper cannons" if you will) are excluded. Also excluded are those cannons that were only partially built (not a single complete artillery piece of the cannon type in question built). The list includes cannons that were completed (fully built) but did not fire even once (or there is debate/insufficient evidence about whether the cannons were ever fired). Also cannons that never were used in combat are included. Naturally the list only includes real cannons (made from metal and meant to be fired with gunpowder and a projectile to cause major destruction) and replicas etc. (made from plastic or fiberglass for example) and other non-real cannons (meaning those cannon-like pieces that were not meant to be fired with gunpowder and a projectile capable of causing major destruction) are excluded.

Cannon by caliber

Stone balls

Heyday: 15th to 17th centuries

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	890[1]	Tsar Cannon	Bombard	1586	Tsardom of Russia	Andrey Chokhov	1 made; it is debated whether the cannon was ever fired (evidence of gunpowder residue in the gun has been found in some studies); never used in combat; 1 survives
	820[2] [3]	Pumhart von Steyr	Bombard		House of Habsburg,		1 made; 1 survives
	745	Basilic	Bombard	1453	Ottoman Empire	Orban	1 made; used in combat; none survive
	735[4] [5]	Faule Mette	Bombard	1411	City of Brunswick,	Henning Bussenschutte	1 made; fired 12 times during its existence; none survive
	700	Malik-i-Maidan	Bombard		City of Bijapur, Adil Shahi dynasty	Muhammad Bin Husain Rumi	1 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	660[6]	Dulle Griet	Bombard		City of Ghent, County of, Duchy of		3 made (the Dulle Griet, the Mons Meg, and a third piece that went to France); used in combat; 2 survive (the Dulle Griet and the Mons Meg)
	635	Thanjavur cannon (Rajagopala Beerangi)	Bombard	1620	Thanjavur Nayaks	Vikas Naikwade	1 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	635[7] [8]	Dardanelles Gun or Great Bronze Gun	Bombard	1464	Ottoman Empire	Munir Ali	1 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	530[9]	Galeazzesca Vittoriosa	Bombard	1471	Duchy of MilanCaliber: 530 mm (ball diameter); Mass: ~ 8.6-8.8 t; Shell weight: 209 kg[10]	Giovanni Garbagnate
	520[11]	Faule Grete	Bombard	1409	Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights	Heynrich Dumechen	1 made; used in combat
	520-820	Grose Bochse	Bombard	1408	Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights		1 made
	520[12]	Mons Meg	Bombard	1449	Mons, County of Hainaut, Duchy of Burgundy	Jehan Cambier	3 made (the Mons Meg, the Dulle Griet, and a third piece that went to France); used in combat; 2 survive (the Mons Meg and the Dulle Griet)
	510[13]		Bombard	1480	Knights Hospitaller

Iron balls and shot

Heyday: 16th to 19th centuries

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	280[14]	Kanone Greif	Scharfmetze ("medium size")	1524	Electorate of Trier	Master Simon	1 made; evidence of being fired exists; no evidence of use in combat exists; 1 survives
	280	Jaivana		1720	Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur Riyasat		1 made; fired once; never used in combat; 1 survives
	286	Dal Madal Kaman/Dala Mardana		1565[15] or 1742[16] (differing sources)		Jagannath Karmakar[17]	1 made; according to an Indian local legend of divine intervention, fired only once in battle;[18] 1 survives
	152	Jahan Kosha Cannon		1637[19] [20]	Bengal Subah, Mughal Empire	Janardan Karmakar	1 made; 1 survives
	240	Zamzama		1757	Durrani Empire	Shah Nazir	2 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	390	Roaring Meg		1646	Kingdom of England	Created by Colonel Birch for the Siege of Goodrich Castle
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons, XX inch		1864	American Civil War	John A. Dahlgren	4 made; never used in combat
	508	M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun		1864	American Civil War	Thomas Jackson Rodman	2 made; 2 survive
	508	20 inch Perm Tsar Cannon/"Perm Giant"		1868	Russian Empire	Motovilikha manufacturing plant	1 made; never used in combat; 1 survives

Twenty-inch (508 mm) Rodman and Dahlgren smoothbore cannons were cast in 1864 during the American Civil War. The Rodmans were used as seacoast defense. Although not used as intended, two 20-inch Dahlgrens were intended to be mounted in the turrets of and . Both Rodman gun and Dahlgren gun were designed to fire both shot and explosive shell.

Explosive shells

Heyday: 19th to 20th centuries. List contains cannons of 16 inch and greater caliber.

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	914	Mallet's mortar		1857	United Kingdom	Robert Mallet	2 made; never used in combat; 2 survive
	914	Little David		1945	United States		1 made; never used in combat; 1 survives
	800	Schwerer Gustav	Railway gun	1941		Krupp	1 made; used in combat; sister gun to Dora; none survive
	800	Dora	Railway gun	1942		Krupp	1 made; unknown if used in combat (that is, unknown if fired in anger); sister gun to Schwerer Gustav; none survive
	610[21] [22]	Mortier monstre		1832	Belgium	Henri-Joseph Paixhans	2 made; used in combat; at least 1 survives
	600 (later, 540)	Karl-Gerät	Mortar	1940		Rheinmetall	7 made; used in combat; one survives
	520	Obusier de 520 modèle 1916	Railway howitzer	1918	France	Schneider et Cie	2 made; used in combat; none survive
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons, XX inch	Naval gun	1864	United States	John A. Dahlgren	4 made; never used in combat
	508	M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun	Naval gun	1864	United States	Thomas Jackson Rodman	2 made; 2 survive
	508	20 inch Perm Tsar Cannon/"Perm Giant"		1868	Russian Empire	Motovilikha manufacturing plant	1 made; never used in combat; 1 survives
	480	45 caliber 5 Year Type 36 cm gun	Naval gun	1918–1922		Kure Naval Arsenal
	460	46 cm/45 Type 94	Naval gun	1940		Kure Naval Arsenal	~27 made; used in combat; main guns of battleships Yamato and Musashi; the largest ever ship-installed gun by caliber; none survives
	457.2	BL 18 inch railway howitzer	Railway howitzer	1920	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company	5 made; never used in combat; one survives
	457.2	BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1916	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company	3 made; used in combat; the largest ever ship-installed gun by shell weight; none survives
	457	18"/48 caliber Mark 1 gun	Naval gun	1942	United States		1 made; never used in combat; one survives
	450	100-ton gun(RML 17.72 inch gun)	Naval gun	1877	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company	15 made; 2 survive
	432	432 mm (17 in) guns	Naval gun	(?)1877	(?) United Kingdom	(?)Elswick Ordnance Company
	420	Big Bertha	Howitzer	1910s		Krupp	12 made; used in combat; none survive
	420	42 cm Gamma Mörser	Mortar	1910s	/	Krupp	10 made; used in combat; no known survivors
	420	2B1 Oka	Self-propelled artillery	1957		KBM, Kirov Plant	4 made; never used in combat; at least one survives
	420	42 cm Haubitze M. 14/16	Howitzer	1914-1918		Škoda	8 made; used in combat
	412.8	BL 16.25 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1888		Elswick Ordnance Company	12 made; never used in combat
	410	41 cm/45 3rd Year Type	Naval gun	1920			about 40 made
	410	Experimental 41-cm-Howitzer	Howitzer	1926	Empire of Japan	Japan Steel Works
	406	16-inch gun M1895	Coastal Artillery	1895	United States	Watervliet Arsenal	1 made; never used in combat; none survive
	406	16"/50 caliber M1919 gun	Coastal Artillery	1919	United States	Watervliet Arsenal	at least 7 made; never used in combat
	406	16-inch howitzer M1920	Coastal Artillery	1920	United States	Watervliet Arsenal	probably 5 made, 4 deployed; never used in combat; none survive
	406	16"/45 caliber gun	Naval gun	1914-1920	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., Bethlehem Steel	41 made
	406	16"/50 caliber Mark 2 gun	Naval gun	1917-1922	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., Bethlehem Steel	71 made
	406	80-ton gun (RML 16 inch gun)	Naval gun	1874	United Kingdom	Royal Gun Factory	8 made; 2 survive
	406	BL 16 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1927	United Kingdom		29 made
	406	40.6 cm SK C/34 gun	Naval gun	1934		Krupp	at least 12 made
	406	2A3 Kondensator 2P	Self-propelled artillery	1956		KB SM, Kirov Plant	5 made (1 prototype, 4 production); never used in combat; at least one survives
	406	406 mm/50 B-37 naval gun for s	Naval gun	1937		Barrikady Plant, Stalingrad
	406	16"/45 caliber Mark 6 gun	Naval gun	1941	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
	406	16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun for the s	Naval gun	1943	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
	417	Project HARP 16.4 inch gun	Research gun	1962-1968	United States Canada		Repurposed American 16 inch naval guns used for high-altitude atmosphere studies. 1 made, located in Barbados; never used in combat; 1 survive
	406	Project HARP 16 inch gun	Research gun	1962-1968	United States Canada		Repurposed American 16 inch naval guns used for high-altitude atmosphere studies. 2 made, located in Highwater Range in Quebec and in the Yuma Proving Ground; never used in combat

See also

• List of artillery
• M65 Atomic Cannon

Notes

1. The bombard has a conical bore of 82.5–90 cm.
2. The bombard has a conical bore of 76–88 cm.

3. ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).

4. The bombard has a conical bore of 67–80 cm.

5. ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).

6. ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).

7. Web site: Gun - Turkish Bombard - 1464 . . 2024-10-02.
8. ffoulkes . Charles . Charles ffoulkes . July 1930 . The 'Dardanelles' Gun at the Tower . . 10 . 3 . 217–227 . 10.1017/S0003581500041032 . subscription.
9. E. Rocchi, Le artiglierie italiane nel Rinascimento, Rome, 1899
10. L. Beltrami, La Galeazesca Vittoriosa, Milan, 1916

11. ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).

12. ball diameter is 20 mm less (p. 171, Fn. 41).

13. The bombard has a conical bore of 45–58 cm.
14. Archiv für die Officiere der Königlich Preußischen Artillerie- und Ingenieur-Korps, Vol. 19, Berlin, Posen, Bromberg 1846, p. 101
15. Web site: ASI, Kolkata Circle.
16. Book: Sengupta . Kaustubh Mani . Das . Tista . 2009 . Heritage Tourism: An Anthropological Journey to Bishnupur . Mittal Publications . 55 . 9788183242943 . 2009310777.
17. News: Chatterjee. Annesha. 27 June 2019. Bengal's artillery. live. The Statesman (India). Kolkata. https://web.archive.org/web/20240927150025/https://www.thestatesman.com/supplements/voices/bengals-artillery-1502770581.html. 27 September 2024. 27 September 2024. Jagannath Karmakar, an experienced blacksmith and engineer from the district of Bishnupur was the principle man behind the manufacture of the cannon..
18. Book: Sengupta . Kaustubh Mani . Das . Tista . 12 August 2021 . Rethinking the Local in Indian History: Perspectives from Southern Bengal . Taylor & Francis . . 9781000425529 . 2021007732 . Narrating the legend of Madanmohan, the patron god of Bishnupur, who assumed human form and fired the famous Dalmadal Cannon to oust the bargis (Maratha invaders), she argues that divine myths have deep cultural roots that influenced the production of local histories..
19. https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q88AQAAIAAJ&q Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh: Humanities, Volumes 36-38
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=TrWS_ELC4JQC The Land of the rupee
21. [Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon]
22. Journal des Sciences Militaires, 2nd series, Vol. 22, Paris 1838: caliber of 22 pouces = 59,6 cm (p. 49); outer diameter of the barrel: 1 m (p. 54)