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.

Cannon by caliber

Stone balls

Heyday: 15th to 17th centuries

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by
	890^[1]	Tsar Cannon	Bombard	1586	Tsardom of Russia	Andrey Chokhov
	820^[2] ^[3]	Pumhart von Steyr	Bombard		House of Habsburg,
	745	Basilic	Bombard	1453	Ottoman Empire	Orban
	735^[4] ^[5]	Faule Mette	Bombard	1411	City of Brunswick,	Henning Bussenschutte
	700	Malik-i-Maidan	Bombard		City of Bijapur, Adil Shahi dynasty	Muhammad Bin Husain Rumi
	660^[6]	Dulle Griet	Bombard		City of Ghent, County of, Duchy of
	635	Thanjavur cannon (Rajagopala Beerangi)	Bombard	1620	Thanjavur Nayaks	Vikas Naikwade
	918^[7]	Dardanelles Gun or Great Turkish Bombard	Bombard	1464	Ottoman Empire	Munir Ali
	530^[8]	Galeazzesca Vittoriosa	Bombard	1471	Duchy of MilanCaliber: 530 mm (ball diameter); Mass: ~ 8.6-8.8 t; Shell weight: 209 kg^[9]	Giovanni Garbagnate
	520^[10]	Faule Grete	Bombard	1409	Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights	Heynrich Dumechen
	520^[11]	Mons Meg	Bombard	1449	Mons, County of Hainaut, Duchy of Burgundy	Jehan Cambier
	510^[12]		Bombard	1480	Knights Hospitaller

Iron balls and shot

Heyday: 16th to 19th centuries

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by
	280^[13]	Kanone Greif	Scharfmetze ("medium size")	1524	Electorate of Trier	Master Simon
	280	Jaivana		1720	Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur Riyasat,
	286	Dal Madal Kaman/Dala Mardana		1565^[14]		Jagannath Karmakar
	152	Jahan Kosha Cannon		1637^[15] ^[16]	Bengal Subah, Mughal Empire	Janardan Karmakar
	240	Zamzama		1757	Durrani Empire	Shah Nazir
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons		1864	American Civil War	John A. Dahlgren
	508	Rodman gun		1864	American Civil War	Thomas Jackson Rodman

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

	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by
	914	Mallet's mortar		1857	United Kingdom	Robert Mallet
	914	Little David		1945	United States
	800	Schwerer Gustav	Railway gun	1941		Krupp
	800	Dora	Railway gun	1942		Krupp
	610^[17] ^[18]	Mortier monstre		1832	Belgium	Henri-Joseph Paixhans
	600 (later, 540)	Karl-Gerät	Mortar	1940		Rheinmetall
	520	Obusier de 520 modèle 1916	Railway howitzer	1918	France	Schneider et Cie
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons	Naval gun	1864	United States	John A. Dahlgren
	508	M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun	Naval gun	1864	United States	Thomas Jackson Rodman
	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
	457.2	BL 18 inch railway howitzer	Railway howitzer	1920	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company
	457.2	BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1916	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company
	457	18"/48 caliber Mark 1 gun	Naval gun	1942	United States
	450	100-ton gun(RML 17.72 inch gun)	Naval gun	1877	United Kingdom	Elswick Ordnance Company
	432	432 mm (17 in) guns	Naval gun	(?)1877	(?) United Kingdom	(?)Elswick Ordnance Company
	420	Big Bertha	Howitzer	1910s		Krupp
	420	42 cm Gamma Mörser	Mortar	1910s	/	Krupp
	420	2B1 Oka	Self-propelled artillery	1957		KBM Kirov Plant
	420	42 cm Haubitze M. 14/16	Howitzer	1914-1918		Škoda
	412.8	BL 16.25 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1888		Elswick Ordnance Company
	410	41 cm/45 3rd Year Type	Naval gun	1920
	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
	406	16"/50 caliber M1919 gun	Coastal Artillery	1919	United States	Watervliet Arsenal
	406	16-inch howitzer M1920	Coastal Artillery	1920	United States	Watervliet Arsenal
	406	16"/45 caliber gun	Naval gun	1914-1920	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., Bethlehem Steel
	406	16"/50 caliber Mark 2 gun	Naval gun	1917-1922	United States	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., Bethlehem Steel
	406	80-ton gun(RML 16 inch gun)	Naval gun	1874	United Kingdom	Royal Gun Factory
	406	BL 16 inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1927	United Kingdom
	406	40.6 cm SK C/34 gun	Naval gun	1934
	406	2A3 Kondensator 2P	Self-propelled artillery	1956		KB SM Kirov Plant
	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.

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. http://www.royalarmouries.org/visit-us/fort-nelson/galleries Royal Armouries
8. E. Rocchi, Le artiglierie italiane nel Rinascimento, Rome, 1899
9. L. Beltrami, La Galeazesca Vittoriosa, Milan, 1916

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

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

12. The bombard has a conical bore of 45–58 cm.
13. Archiv für die Officiere der Königlich Preußischen Artillerie- und Ingenieur-Korps, Vol. 19, Berlin, Posen, Bromberg 1846, p. 101
14. Web site: ASI, Kolkata Circle.
15. https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q88AQAAIAAJ&q Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh: Humanities, Volumes 36-38
16. https://books.google.com/books?id=TrWS_ELC4JQC The Land of the rupee
17. [Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon]
18. 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)