List of the largest cannon by caliber

This list contains all types of cannon through the ages listed in decreasing caliber size. For the purpose of this list, the development of large-calibre artillery can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projectiles used, due to their dissimilar characteristics, and being practically incommensurable in terms of their bore size:

• Stone balls: Cannon of extraordinary bore, which fired stone balls, were first introduced at the turn of the 14th to 15th century in Western Europe. Following a logic of increasing performance through size, they had evolved from small handguns to giant wrought-iron or cast-bronze bombards within a span of just several decades.^[1]
• Iron balls and shot: By the 16th century, however, a general switch from stone balls to smaller, but much more effective iron projectiles was in full swing. This and the parallel tendency towards standardized, rapid-firing cannon made the enormously costly and logistically demanding giant guns soon obsolete in the European theatre (with the exception of the odd showpiece).^[2]
• Explosive shells: In the Industrial Age, artillery was again revolutionized by the introduction of explosive shells, beginning with the Paixhans guns. Breakthroughs in metallurgy and modes of production were followed up by new experimentation with super-sized caliber weapons, culminating in the steel colossi of the two World Wars. In the post-war era, the development of extremely overpowered artillery was gradually abandoned in favour of missile technology, while heavy guns are still demanded by various arms of the service.

Early 15th-century Flemish giant cannon Dulle Griet at Ghent (caliber of 660 mm)

The list includes only cannons that were actually built, that is, cannons that existed only as concepts, ideas, proposals, plans, drawings or diagrams are excluded. Also excluded are those cannons that were only partially built (not a single complete artillery piece of the cannon type in question fully built). The list includes cannons that were completed (fully built) but did not fire even once (or there is debate/insufficient evidence about whether the cannons were ever fired). Also cannons that never were used in combat are included. Naturally, the list only includes real cannons (made from metal and meant to be fired with gunpowder and a projectile to cause major destruction) and replicas etc. (made from plastic or fiberglass, for example) and other non-real cannons (meaning those cannon-like pieces that were not meant to be fired with gunpowder and a projectile capable of causing major destruction) are excluded.

Cannon by caliber

Stone balls

Heyday: 15th to 17th centuries

Image	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	890[CB 1]	Tsar Cannon	Bombard	1586	Tsardom of Russia	Andrey Chokhov	1 made; it is debated whether the cannon was ever fired (evidence of gunpowder residue in the gun has been found in some studies); never used in combat; 1 made; 1 survives
	820[CB 2][3]	Pumhart von Steyr	Bombard	Early 15th century	House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire		1 made; 1 survives
	745[CB 3]	Basilic	Bombard	1453	Ottoman Empire	Orban	1 made; used in combat; none survive
	735[CB 4][6]	Faule Mette	Bombard	1411	City of Brunswick, Holy Roman Empire	Henning Bussenschutte	1 made; fired 12 times during its existence; none survive
	700	Malik-i-Maidan	Bombard	1549	City of Bijapur, Adil Shahi dynasty	Muhammad Bin Husain Rumi	1 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	660[7]	Dulle Griet	Bombard	First half of 15th century	City of Ghent, County of Flanders, Duchy of Burgundy		3 made (the Dulle Griet, the Mons Meg, and a third piece that went to France); used in combat; 2 survive (those named)
	635	Thanjavur cannon (Rajagopala Beerangi)	Bombard	1620	Thanjavur Nayaks	Vikas Naikwade	1 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	635[8][9]	Dardanelles Gun or Great Bronze Gun	Bombard	1464	Ottoman Empire	Munir Ali	3 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	530[10]	Galeazzesca Vittoriosa	Bombard	1471	Duchy of Milan Caliber: 530 mm (ball diameter); Mass: ~ 8.6-8.8 t; Shell weight: 209 kg[11]	Giovanni Garbagnate
	520[12]	Faule Grete	Bombard	1409	Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights	Heynrich Dumechen	1 made; used in combat
	520–820	Grose Bochse	Bombard	1408	Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights		1 made
	520[13]	Mons Meg	Bombard	1449	Mons, County of Hainaut, Duchy of Burgundy	Jehan Cambier	3 made (the Mons Meg, the Dulle Griet, and a third piece that went to France); used in combat; 2 survive (those named)
	510[CB 5][14]		Bombard	1480	Knights Hospitaller

Iron balls and shot

Heyday: 16th to 19th centuries

Image	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons, XX inch		1864	American Civil War	John A. Dahlgren	4 made; never used in combat
	508	M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun		1864	American Civil War	Thomas Jackson Rodman	2 made; 2 survive
	508	20 inch Perm Tsar Cannon/"Perm Giant"		1868	Russian Empire	Motovilikha manufacturing plant	1 made; never used in combat; 1 survives
	390	Roaring Meg	Mortar	1646	Kingdom of England	Created by Colonel Birch for the Siege of Goodrich Castle
	305	12-inch gun M1895	Coastal artillery	1888	US	Watervliet Arsenal
	286	Dal Madal Kaman/Dala Mardana		1565[15][16] or 1742[17] (differing sources)	Mallabhum, Malla dynasty	Jagannath Karmakar[18]	1 made; according to an Indian local legend of divine intervention, fired only once in battle;[19] 1 survives
	280[20]	Kanone Greif	Scharfmetze ("medium size")	1524	Electorate of Trier	Master Simon	1 made; evidence of being fired exists; no evidence of use in combat exists; 1 survives
	280	Jaivana		1720	Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur Riyasat		1 made; fired once; never used in combat; 1 survives
	254	10-inch gun M1895		1888	United States	Watervliet Arsenal	used in World War I and World War II
	254[21]	Zamzama		1757	Lahore, Durrani Empire	Shah Nazir	2 made; used in combat; 1 survives
	206.2	68-pounder gun		1841	UK	William Dundas	No. built In excess of 2,000
	152	Jahan Kosha Cannon		1637[22][23]	Bengal Subah, Mughal Empire	Janardan Karmakar	1 made; 1 survives

Twenty-inch (508 mm) Rodman and Dahlgren smoothbore cannons were cast in 1864 during the American Civil War^{[citation needed]}. The Rodmans were used as seacoast defense. Although not used as intended, two 20-inch Dahlgrens were intended to be mounted in the turrets of USS Dictator and USS Puritan. Both Rodman gun and Dahlgren gun were designed to fire both shot and explosive shell.

Explosive shells

Heyday: 19th to 20th centuries. The list includes 16-inch (400 mm) guns and larger calibers.

Image	Caliber (mm)	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	914	Mallet's mortar	Mortar	1857	UK	Robert Mallet	2 made; a total of 19 rounds were fired in tests; never used in combat; 2 survive
	914	Little David	Mortar	1945	US		1 prototype made and used in testing only; the gun was fired; never used in combat; 1 survives
	800	Schwerer Gustav	Railway gun	1941	Nazi Germany	Krupp	1 made (sister gun to Dora); used in combat; largest cannon in history by projectile weight; none survive
	800	Dora	Railway gun	1942	Nazi Germany	Krupp	1 made (sister gun to Schwerer Gustav); unknown if used in combat; largest cannon in history by projectile weight; none survive
	610[24][25]	Mortier monstre	Mortar	1832 (1) and 1834 (1)	Belgium	Henri-Joseph Paixhans	2 made; used in combat (only one gun used during only two days of Siege of Antwerp (1832), firing about 15 shots and no other use in combat); at least 1 survives
	600 (later, 540)	Karl-Gerät	Mortar	1940	Nazi Germany	Rheinmetall	7 made; used in combat; one survives
	530	53 cm/52 Gerät 36 [it]	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1941	Nazi Germany	Krupp	1 made; only one protype gun made (with some secondary components never actually made); only fired experimentally; never used in combat; none survives
	520	Obusier de 520 modèle 1916	Railway gun	1918	France	Schneider et Cie	2 made; used in combat; none survive
	508	Dahlgren smoothbore cannons, XX inch	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1864	US	John A. Dahlgren	4 made; never used in combat
	508	M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1864	US	Thomas Jackson Rodman	2 made (some sources say 3: 2 for Fort Hamilton in New York and third for USS Puritan); fired 8 times; never used in combat; 2 survive
	508	20 inch Perm Tsar Cannon/"Perm Giant"		1868	Russian Empire	Motovilikha manufacturing plant	1 made; never used in combat; 1 survives
	480	45 caliber 5 Year Type 36 cm gun	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1918–1922	Empire of Japan	Kure Naval Arsenal	1 made (some sources say 2); only a prototype gun ever made; fired only experimentally; never used in battle; none survive[26]
	460	46 cm/45 Type 94 naval gun	Naval gun	1940	Empire of Japan	Kure Naval Arsenal	~27 made; used in combat (both Yamato and Musashi fired their guns against enemy only on one occasion (separate battles however)); main guns of battleships Yamato and Musashi; the largest ever ship-installed gun by caliber; none survives
	457.2	BL 18-inch railway howitzer	Railway gun	1920	UK	Elswick Ordnance Company	5 made; never used in combat; one survives
	457.2	BL 18-inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1916	UK	Elswick Ordnance Company	3 made; used in combat; the largest ever ship-installed gun by shell weight; none survives
	457	18-inch/47-caliber Mark A gun	Naval gun (experimental; never installed to a ship)	1942	US		[note 1]
	450	100-ton gun (RML 17.72 inch gun)	Naval gun	1877	UK	Elswick Ordnance Company	15 made; fired numerous times, though never in anger; never used in combat; 2 survive
	432	432 mm (17 in) guns	Naval gun	(?)1877	(?) UK	(?)Elswick Ordnance Company	Guns installed in Italia-class ironclad and Italian ironclad Andrea Doria
	420	Big Bertha	Howitzer	1910s	German Empire	Krupp	12 made; used in combat; none survive
	420	42 cm Gamma howitzer	Mortar	1910s	German Empire / Nazi Germany	Krupp	10 made; used in combat; no known survivors
	420	2B1 Oka	Self-propelled artillery	1957	Soviet Union	KBM, Kirov Plant	4 made; never used in combat; at least one survives
	420	42 cm Haubitze M. 14/16	Howitzer	1914-1918	Austria-Hungary	Škoda	8 made; used in combat
	412.8	BL 16.25-inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1888	UK	Elswick Ordnance Company	12 made; never used in combat
	410	41 cm/45 3rd Year Type	Naval gun	1920	Empire of Japan	Kure and Muroran Ironworks	about 40 made; used in combat; at least 2 survive
	410	Experimental 41-cm-Howitzer	Howitzer	1926	Empire of Japan	Japan Steel Works
	406	16-inch gun M1895	Coastal artillery	1895	US	Watervliet Arsenal	1 made; never used in combat; none survive
	406	16-inch/45-caliber Mark 6 gun	Naval gun	1936	US	US Navy
	406	16-inch railway howitzer M1918	Railway gun	1918	US		The US Army built a one-off experimental 16-inch (406 mm) railway howitzer M1918 with some influence from the French Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916
	406	16-inch/50-caliber M1919 gun	Coastal artillery	1919	US	Watervliet Arsenal	at least 7 made; never used in combat
	406	16-inch howitzer M1920	Coastal artillery	1920	US	Watervliet Arsenal	probably 5 made, 4 deployed; never used in combat; none survive
	406	16-inch/45-caliber gun	Naval gun	1914-1920	US	Washington Navy Yard, Bethlehem Steel	41 made
	406	16-inch/50-caliber Mark 2 gun	Naval gun	1917-1922	US	Washington Navy Yard, Bethlehem Steel	71 made
	406	16-inch/50-caliber Mark 3 gun	Naval gun		US	Washington Navy Yard, Bethlehem Steel
	406	80-ton gun (RML 16 inch gun)	Naval gun	1874	UK	Royal Gun Factory	8 made; used in combat; 2 survive
	406	406 mm/45 (16") Pattern 1914[27]	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1914	UK Russia	Vickers	made in UK for Russian battleships during WW1, although the battleships in question were never built; only 1 prototype gun made and proved (gun designated by Vickers as No. 1712A); never used in battle; none survive[28]
	406 (16 inch)	16 inch conversion of a BL 18-inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1921-1924	UK	Elswick Ordnance Company	1 made; 16-inch conversion of a 18-inch Mk I (40 caliber) gun; an experimental gun used for prototype for the 16"/45 (40.6 cm) Mark I guns destined for the Nelson-class battleships; never used in combat (this gun was not used in combat as 18-inch gun and not used in combat after conversion into 16-inch gun); none survives[29]
	406	BL 16-inch Mk I naval gun	Naval gun	1927	UK		29 made; used in combat
	406	BL 16-inch Mark II naval gun[30]	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1938	UK		2 or 3 made; never used in combat
	406	BL 16-inch Mark III naval gun[30]	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1938	UK		2 or 3 made; never used in combat
	406	BL 16-inch Mark IV naval gun[30]	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1943	UK		1 partial protype made; one BL 16-inch Mark III naval gun was converted into a partial prototype of BL 16-inch Mark IV naval gun; this partial prototype was experimentally fired; never used in combat
	406	40.6 cm SK C/34 gun	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1934	Nazi Germany	Krupp	at least 12 made
	406	2A3 Kondensator 2P	Self-propelled artillery	1956	Soviet Union	KB SM, Kirov Plant	5 made (1 prototype, 4 production); never used in combat; at least one survives
	406	406 mm/50 B-37 naval gun for Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1937	Soviet Union	Barrikady Plant, Stalingrad	12 made; only one gun proof fired; the proof fired gun was used in the defense of Leningrad in WW2 as land artillery; one survives[31]
	406	16-inch/56-caliber Mark 4 gun	Naval gun (never installed to a ship)	1927	US		1 made; never used in combat; one survives (although altered)[note 2]
	406	16-inch/45-caliber Mark 6 gun	Naval gun	1941	US	Washington Navy Yard	many made for the North Carolina-class battleships and South Dakota class ships; used in combat; many survive (for example onboard museum ships North Carolina, Massachusetts and Alabama)
	406	16-inch/50-caliber Mark 7 gun	Naval gun	1943	US	Washington Navy Yard	many made for the Iowa-class battleships; used in combat; many survive
	417	Project HARP 16.4 inch gun	Research gun	1962-1968	US Canada		Repurposed American 16 inch naval guns used for high-altitude atmosphere studies. 1 made, located in Barbados; never used in combat; 1 survive
	406	Project HARP 16 inch gun	Research gun	1962-1968	US Canada		Repurposed American 16 inch naval guns used for high-altitude atmosphere studies. 2 made, located in Highwater Range in Quebec and in the Yuma Proving Ground; never used in combat
	400	Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916	Railway gun	1915/1916	France		12 railway guns and 4 spare barrels (in total 16 barrels) were made; used in combat; none survive. Captured pieces known in German as 40 cm Haubitze (Eisenbahn) 752(f).

See also

• List of artillery
• M65 Atomic Cannon

Notes

1. The bombard has a conical bore of 82.5–90 cm.
2. The bombard has a conical bore of 76–88 cm.
3. Bown^[4] indicates a larger bore of 36 in (914 mm), but Hollenback^[5] says that Kritoboulos, a contemporary source, indicates a circumference of 12 spans and concludes that in this case the smallest of three possible sizes of span is the correct unit, giving 0.745 m for the bore. Hollenback also notes that granite cannonballs dating from the siege of Constantinople had a diameter of 0.711 m and could have been shot from this weapon using a wooden sabot.
4. The bombard has a conical bore of 67–80 cm.
5. The bombard has a conical bore of 45–58 cm.

Footnotes

1. 1 made; the individual gun in question, originally 18-inches (457 mm) in caliber and designated 18"/48 Mark 1, was used as an experimental testbed gun and was modified a couple of times in its life, most remarkably when it was converted into a 16-inch (406 mm) gun and designated 16"/56 Mark 4 and then again when it was restored to 18-inch gun and designated 18"/47 Mark A; the 18"/48 Mark 1 gun was never finished, with the prototype 18"/48 Mark 1 about halfway completed when its development was stopped and the decision was later made to complete the gun as 16-inch gun 16"/56 Mark 4, which was finished and fired experimentally multiple times; even later, the 16"/56 Mark 4 gun was decided to be restored to 18-inches and designated 18"/47 Mark A and fired a few times experimentally; this entry refers to the experimental gun 18"/47 Mark A; never used in combat; one survives
2. the individual gun in question, originally 18-inches (457 mm) in caliber and designated 18"/48 Mark 1, was used as an experimental test-bed gun and was modified a couple of times in its life, most remarkably when it was converted into a 16-inch (406 mm) gun and designated 16"/56 Mark 4 and then again when it was restored to 18-inch gun and designated 18"/47 Mark A; the 18"/48 Mark 1 gun was never finished, with the prototype 18"/48 Mark 1 about halfway completed when its development was stopped and the decision was later made to complete the gun as 16-inch gun 16"/56 Mark 4, which was finished and fired experimentally multiple times; even later, the 16"/56 Mark 4 gun was decided to be restored to 18-inches and designated 18"/47 Mark A and fired a few times experimentally; this entry refers to the experimental gun 16"/56 Mark 4