Unicorn: Shuvalov's cannon in Russian artillery

The use of propelling machines to defeat the enemy at a distance has been practiced since ancient times. A significant breakthrough in the improvement of artillery weapons occurred after the appearance of gunpowder. Throwing vehicles are a thing of the past, their place was taken by various models of guns, howitzers and mortars. The changing tactics of the battle entailed the improvement of artillery weapons. One of the most perfect examples of the 18th century is the cannon unicorn Shuvalov.

Smoothbore artillery reform

In the period from the XVIII to the XIX century in the army armament of tsarist Russia, the material part was reformed: it was simplified and unified. The changes affected the length of the artillery pieces and the thickness of their walls. The number of gauges and friezes - ornaments on trunks - has significantly decreased. As a result of unification it became possible to apply the same parts for different guns. Under the command of General-Feldsegmehmeister (Chief of Artillery) Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov, a new weapon was approved - a unicorn (gun). The howitzer has since been removed from the armament of the tsarist army. The reform carried out determined the face of Russian artillery in the war of 1812.

Design work

The team of design officers under the leadership of Count Shuvalov took several years to work on the creation of a new advanced weapon, until the model that suited them was successful - a new gun - the Shuvalov unicorn. "Do it yourself", - offer specialized sites to modern craftsmen, providing for this all necessary drawings and developments. Create a tool for the existing ready-made drawings is a much simpler task than the one that the cannon authors had to solve. Since science at that time was far from theoretical calculations, work on a new model of the gun was carried out by trial and error.

As a result of numerous experiments, other than unicorns, various other gun models appeared, most of which were rejected. One of such samples, not adopted by the Russian army for armament, are twin-barreled twin guns. This artillery gun consisted of two barrels mounted on a single carriage.

The shooting from these weapons was conducted by a grapeshot, which consisted of chopped iron rods. It was assumed that the effect of firing such a shell would be enormous. After testing, it turned out that in terms of effectiveness, the double gun is not better than the conventional one-barrel.

What is a unicorn (gun)?

Russian artillery since 1757 was equipped with a new weapon, developed by officers MV Danilov and MG Martynov. Weapons were created to replace long-barreled guns and howitzers. Its name - a unicorn - a gun received from a mythical animal, which was depicted on the coat of arms of Count PI Shuvalov.

This weapon, specific for Russian artillery, combined the properties of cannons and howitzers intended for conducting a flat and hanging fire. Unicorns are short cannons. Shuvalov's article has an oval trunk channel, in which the horizontal diameter is several times greater than the vertical one. This is different from the classic artillery guns. The trunk of the unicorn has the shape of an oval cone. At shooting from it the horizontal trajectory of movement of a small bag is provided. At the predecessor guns, most of the charge went down into the ground, or flew over the enemy's heads.

The result of the reformation of the royal artillery

After the modernization of the material part, a unicorn appeared in the Russian army. The gun, the photo of which is located below, was a modernized artillery gun, in which the best features of the previous shooting devices were combined.

The product of Martynov and Danilov at that time was considered the most perfect, since it favorably differed from similar samples by its lightness and maneuverability. For about a hundred years the tsarist army used a unicorn cannon, whose designs in 1760 were requested from Russia by its Austrian allies.

What was the difference between the new model and the classic artillery pieces?

To improve the accuracy of targeting weapons on the target, designers designed the simplest diopter, which was equipped with a unicorn. The gun was equipped with a sight, which is a slot with a front sight. The shooting range of the Shuvalov product was three times larger than that of other artillery pieces. Unicorns possessed a smaller mass than conventional cannons, but with a higher rate of fire and the power of the charge. They differed in the conduct of fire. The ability to shoot through the heads of soldiers on a trajectory is a characteristic feature of such a weapon as a unicorn. The gun, the predecessor of the new weapon, was able to carry out exclusively ground shooting.

What shells did the advanced model shoot?

Artillery gun Shuvalov could fire bombs, which were hollow spherical shells filled with black powder and equipped with wooden firing tubes. These unicorns are similar to short-barreled howitzers. They differed in their charging speed and range. The unicorns were twice as high as the howitzers.

In addition, the unicorn was distinguished by the wide use of cores and carters. The cannon (classical) was designed only for conducting ground shooting. In order to fire on the enemy, the old guns had to advance in front of the infantry: their elevation angle did not exceed 15 degrees, while the Shuvalov unicorn barrel rose to shoot at 45 degrees.

The device of a charging chamber

Before the unicorns, the Russian and European armies used guns of caliber 18-25 and howitzers of caliber 6-8. The caliber was determined by the ratio of the length of the gun and the diameter of its trunk. The classic cannon at that time was not equipped with a charging chamber, so it was also called beskamornoy. The trunk canal in this gun went to the bottom, which had a flat shape or was in the form of a hemisphere. The howitzer had a cylindrical charging chamber.

Unicorns were equipped with charging chambers, which were conical in shape. The Camora was a rear part with a reduced diameter in the artillery gun and was intended for placing the charges.

In form it was a truncated cone, which ended in a spherical bottom with a depth of 2 calibers. Due to this design, when aiming the gun on the target, the centering and ballistics of the projectile were ensured.

The process of charging the conical chambers of new guns occurred easier and faster than the cylindrical chambers of howitzers. Due to the successful design, the unicorn had less weight, which positively affected its maneuvering. After 1808, the Shuvalov cannon was replaced by a flat bottom with rounding. The depth of the chamber diminished.

What artillery was the advanced cannon used for?

For the production of unicorns, copper and cast iron were used. Field artillery was equipped with copper three-pound guns. Pood guns from this material were used by siege artillery. Pious unicorns made of cast iron were intended for the serf.

The gun of 1757 year of release

In its destructive effect, a single-pound unicorn was not inferior to the eighteen-pound gun. Its weight was 1048 kg. This is 64 poods less than a gun. Due to this, the Shuvalov gun was characterized by high maneuverability. According to its tactical and technical characteristics, a single-pound unicorn surpassed the six-pounder gun, which in 1734 was considered to be the lightest field artillery gun. Shuvalov's brain was ten poods lighter than a cannon and had a great destructive effect when shooting a grape shot. The single-bulldog unicorn surpassed the identical howitzers. The destructive effect of firing fragmentation or high-explosive bombs from an improved cannon on fortifications of the enemy was twice as much as from conventional bombs, which were used by a single-hammer howitzer.

How was the caliber determined?

Until the 19th century, the caliber was measured not by the diameter of the barrel channel. For this purpose, the estimated weight of the core used by the artillery gun was taken. After testing a three-pound unicorn, whose caliber was 320 mm, it turned out that this tool is too heavy and laborious when loading. The design team stopped working with this artillery model.

On what basis did Shuvalov's guns work?

• Before shooting, the unicorn was aimed at the target.
• The raising and lowering of the breech block of the gun was carried out with the help of sighting devices - screws.
• For the turn of the weapon in the horizontal direction, special levers were provided by the designers.
• The fixation of the weapon aimed at the enemy was carried out by wedges.
• The ignition of the gunpowder was done through a wick, which equipped the igniter.
• For cannons and unicorns, muzzle loading was provided: the nuclei, bombs and tin cans filled with finely chopped wire (grapeshot) were placed in the gun through the barrel. In the unicorns, the projectile from the apex of the barrel fell into a tapered cone and, with its weight, tightly sealed the already existing charge of black powder, which performed the knockout function.
• During the combustion of gunpowder, sufficient energy was generated to expel the projectile from the muzzle. After the invention of unicorns, the efficiency of artillery guns was significantly improved. In Shuvalov's products, when the powder charge was burned, the energy was completely delivered to the knocked-out projectile, and not consumed through gaps in the barrel walls, as was the case with conventional guns.
• After each shot, the barrel of the artillery pieces was cleaned with bannies - special brushes, for the manufacture of which lamb skins were used.

What is the advantage of short-barreled guns?

• The artillery design of the unicorn is smaller than the conventional cannon, but larger than the mortar.
• The item of Count Shuvalov was calculated for a distance of up to 3 thousand meters. This distance at that time was considered significant.
• The short trunk of the unicorn increased its accuracy. This is due to the fact that the production of barrels for artillery guns was not perfect then: the presence of microscopic irregularities on the inner surface of the barrel, capable of changing the predetermined trajectory of the projectile, was often encountered. The larger the trunk, the greater the likelihood of such unevenness. Reduction of the barrel reduced the frequency of deviations and unpredictable rotations of projectiles during the shooting, and this, in turn, improved the accuracy of hits.
• Reducing the size of the barrel positively affected the loading speed. Before the appearance of unicorns in conventional cannons, one shot took at least 15 minutes.
• In the Shuvalov guns, the process of guidance and control was easier. In addition, the short barrel increased the degree of recovery to 45. This indicator could not reach a conventional gun.

Shuvalovsky unicorn. Do it yourself

Craftsmen who want to create their own models of weapons for their collection, you should know that before you start making a unicorn layout, you need to have a sample of the future product before your eyes. The master model is easy to do with paper. In the process of work it is important to observe a single scale. For this, a toy soldier can be used, with the help of which the future layout of the artillery gun will be linked to the conventional dimensions of the human body. If you have a correctly executed cardboard master-model, you can start making a similar, but already made of wood.

In working with this material, it is recommended to use a varnish that will secure the small parts and prevent their displacement. To ensure that the tools have a flat surface, they should be processed with a file. The product is recommended to impregnate with ordinary copper vitriol, which can be purchased at a hardware store. The process of impregnation is not time-consuming: copper sulfate should be diluted in a small container, into which one should alternately douse the guns. As the guns begin to darken, they need to be removed from the solution and treated with felt and paste (goy or asidol). This procedure can be performed several times. After processing the surface of the guns will have a believable bronze color.

Conclusion

In the XVIII century steelmaking factories in the Urals were considered a giant industrial complex, producing more metal than in any Western European state. A huge amount of necessary material enabled Count Shuvalov to realize his design project. As a result of mass production, by the year 1759, 477 different unicorn models were cast by workers: the guns had six calibers and weighed from 340 kg to 3.5 tons.

Unicorns proved their effectiveness in the war against the Turks, the victory over which gave the tsarist Russia the Crimea and Novorossiya. The presence of these artillery guns in the 18th century allowed the Russian army to become the strongest in Europe.