Rodman gun

<p>The Rodman gun is any of a series of <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a>–era <a href="/facts/Columbiad/mWR08pz2">columbiads</a> designed by <a href="/facts/Union_Army/WaDC9c06">Union</a> <a href="/facts/Artillery/GLpMYG9o">artillery</a> officer <a href="/facts/Thomas_Jackson_Rodman/naDDJNoT">Thomas Jackson Rodman</a> (1815–1871). The guns were designed to fire both <a href="/facts/Round_shot/SGXTvIIv">shot</a> and <a href="/facts/Shell_(projectile)/a51oDRdu">shell</a>. These heavy guns were intended to be mounted in seacoast fortifications. 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch <a href="/facts/Smoothbore/T6z0unC3">bore</a> (20, 25, 33, 38, and 51 cm) Rodman guns were produced. Other than size, the guns were all nearly identical in design, with a curving bottle shape, a large flat <a href="/facts/Cascabel_(artillery)/xdsISIxg">cascabels</a>, and ratchets or sockets for the elevating mechanism. Rodman guns were true guns that did not have a <a href="/facts/Howitzer/yVpgqIlk">howitzer</a>-like <a href="/facts/Gunpowder/AEcB6HCR">powder</a> chamber, as did many earlier columbiads. Rodman guns differed from all previous artillery because they were <a href="/facts/Hollow_cast/bQhIeG4v">hollow cast</a>, a new technology that Rodman developed that resulted in <a href="/facts/Cast_iron/lASt55k2">cast-iron</a> guns that were much stronger than their predecessors.
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Rodman gun open-in-new

Rodman gun