Steam cannon

The steam cannon was an artillery gun in the ancient times and goes back to Archimedes. It consisted essentially of a straight pipe made ​​of copper, which was closed at one end. In the first gun, a small amount of water was added and then a tailored 8 kg heavy ball. By applying a fire at the closed end of the water should be suddenly converted into steam; the resulting pressure should propel the projectile from the tube. According to the calculations of Leonardo da Vinci, the range of this gun should be at about 1250 m.

To what extent this gun by Archimedes has also been put into practice, is now no longer traceable. However, modern replicas have demonstrated the operability of the steam gun. At least in theory, Archimedes used the steam technically.

In later times the concept of a steam gun was occasionally taken up, so it was among other things to 1826-28 in the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom during the Second World War ( Holman Projector ) to experimental prototypes whose military benefits, however, was very low.