Carronade, a short piece of iron ordnance, first constructed at 
the Carron foundery, Scotland, in 1779, for the use of the British 
navy, and first employed against the United States.” The 
carronades have no trunnions, but a loop under the middle of the 
piece, by which they are fastened to the carriage. The bore has a 
chamber, and the muzzle is scooped out like a cup. They are very 
short and light, there being about 60 or 70 lbs. of the gun to 1 lb. 
of the weight of the solid shot, the length varying from 7 to 8 
calibres. The charge, consequently, cannot but be weak, and 
ranges from '/i¢ to '/s the weight of the shot. 

Carronades, on their first introduction, found great favor with 
naval men. Their lightness and insignificant recoil allowed great 
numbers of them to be placed on board the small men-of-war of 
those times. Their ranges appeared proportionably great, which 
was caused: 1, by a reduced windage, and, 2, by their great angle 
of dispart, arising from the thickness of metal around the breech, 
and the shortness of the gun; and the great weight of metal 
projected by them rendered them at close quarters very formida- 
ble. They were adopted in the U.S. service about 1800. It was, 
however, soon discovered that this kind of cannon could not 
compete with longer and heavier guns, throwing their projectiles 
with full charge and at low elevations. Thus, it has been 
ascertained that the common long guns of the British service have 
at 2° elevation, and the shell guns at 3°, the same range as the 
carronades of corresponding calibre at 5° (viz., about 1,200 yards). 
And, as the chance of hitting decreases as the elevation increases, 
the use of carronades beyond 1,200 yards and an elevation of 5° is 
completely out of the question; whereas, long guns may with 

considerable effect be used at ranges up to a mile, and even 2,000 
yards. This was strikingly exemplified by the 2 contending 
squadrons on Lakes Erie and Ontario, during the Anglo-American 
war of 1812-714. The American vessels had long guns, while the 
British were mainly armed with carronades. The Americans 
manoeuvred so as to keep just out of range of the British 
carronades, while their own long guns told heavily on the hulls 
and rigging of their opponents. In consequence of these defects, 
carronades have now become almost obsolete. On shore they are 
used by the British, now and then, on the flanks of bastions and in 
casemates, where but a short extent of ditch is to be flanked by 
grape principally. The French navy possesses a carronade with 
trunnions (carronade a tourillons); but this is in reality a powerful 
gun.