Naval gun
Cañón naval
- Date
- c. 1338 · confidence medium
- Place
- English Channel (Battle of Arnemuiden), Flanders / England
- Credited to
- English and French fleets; Yuan/Ming China
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The mounting of small artillery pieces on warships; the first recorded use was at Arnemuiden (1338). Marks the start of the shift from boarding to combat at range.
China also mounted gunpowder weapons on ships in the 14th century; the Arnemuiden dating comes from chronicles.
What it led to
- the gun-armed ships of Iberian expansion and European oceanic superiority
- gun ports and 16th-century galleons
- commercial domination by force in the Indian Ocean
Built on
- Cannonc. 1288
- Caravelc. 1440
- Cannon
- cog (ship)