Description
This scarce type of cannon is known as a gunade, which is a cross between a carronade
and a regular cannon (gun). The carronade, first made by the Carron Iron Company in
Scotland in 1778, offered the advantages of lighter weight, smaller size, and lower cost as
compared to traditional cannons of the time. It could fire the same size shot as a larger and
more expensive gun, but had a shorter range. The true carronade had a cast pivot ring on
the bottom for mounting as opposed to the more common trunions. Most warships of the
early 19th C carried larger carronades (from 12-68 pounders) on their main decks. While the
carronade was very effective and quite popular for nearly 100 years, a hybrid known as the
gunade started appearing around the end of the 18th C. This retained the smaller size,
weight, and basic shape of the true carronade, but replaced the pivot ring with trunions.
This required a normal naval carriage instead of the simpler one used on carronades, but
was generally more effective. The gunade was in use from about 1800-1840’s, with some
remaining in arsenals at the time of the American Civil War. This examples would have
likely been carried on a merchant vessel and was designed to fire a hollow shot at close
range. Cast iron 40″ barrel, weighing 210 pounds, with 2 1/2″ bore, integral trunions,
molding, and round cascabel with breeching loop; marked with raised crown and “2″ on the
breech. Mounted on an antique teak(?) 4-wheeled naval carriage with iron mounts.
Pivoting trunnion caps with securing wedges attached to the carriage with small chains.
Barrel painted black; carriage with a protective oil finish for outside display. Similar, though
somewhat larger, gunades can be found at Fort Ticonderoga in New York. Total weight of
the gun is 260 pounds. Listed price includes motor freight shipping to commercial address or freight terminal in the contiguous 48 US states and Canada. Residential delivery surcharge applies, if applicable.