# How damaging would a cannonball be today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163 "2024-02-27T12:39:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/21 "2024-02-27T15:54:25Z")
On Napoleonic era, the size was 3 or 4 £ for small caliber guns at the battalion level, 6£ and 8£ for the standard artillery and 12£ for the heavy artillery. On ships, guns were more of 24, 36 or 42£, the 12£ being seen as a small gun. A single ship of the line had more gun than an entire land army. As of the French 12£, it was heavy (1,5 tonne for the gun and 250 kg for the stand), the tube was 2,5 m long and the diameter of the ball was 120 mm. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/22 "2024-02-27T16:17:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Conversely, the office building is mostly made of … air. It has a thin cladding of glass or stone, a bunch of rather thin support columns and the interior is otherwise air & furnishings. > > The cladding of course offers no material resistance to cannonballs. So so one the lower floor(s) look like a riot or a hurricane came through. But given the craptacular accuracy of plain iron balls and plain iron cannon, the building might absorb thousands of rounds with no material _structural_ damage. Lotta wrecked desks and computers and filing cabinets, maybe a spewing plumbing leak or three, but the building will stand there impassively indefinitely. I gotta wonder what happens when a ball finally hits one of those load-bearing columns. You don’t need to break/cut the column, you just need to bend/damage it enough so that it becomes vulnerable to buckling failure. Googling gets a mix of results: some columns are a steel jacket filled with concrete, while some are just gigantic I-beams 2-3 feet on a side with flange thicknesses approaching 1 inch. Sounds pretty sturdy, but a 12-pound ball coming in at well over Mach 1 carries a lot of energy. No doubt there’s plenty of safety factor and redundancy of load paths in a well-designed tower, so you’d probably need to compromise several adjacent columns before the whole building is at risk for a major collapse. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/23 "2024-02-27T18:49:18Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > No doubt there’s plenty of safety factor and redundancy of load paths in a well-designed tower, so you’d probably need to compromise several adjacent columns before the whole building is at risk for a major collapse. IANA civil engineer, but that’s my take. We see plenty of controlled demolitions gone awry on YouTube. In many case they take big divots out of many of the support columns and the building just sits there. Assuming starting from an intact reasonably modern building any one column is certainly redundant. A few here and there may well be too. A batch in a cluster, not so much. Clearly there is an upper limit to how much non-explosive cannon fire any given building can take. But it’s a big number of rounds. Heck, even the current pictures from Ukraine or Gaza show plenty of buildings attacked by modern explosive artillery or aerial bombs that are mostly wrecked as to functional habitation, but are still almost entirely standing. So evidently structurally sound enough to support their own weight. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/24 "2024-02-27T20:40:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I gotta wonder what happens when a ball finally hits one of those load-bearing columns. The effect is exaggerated but minor bump=collapse always reminds me of warehouse rack accidents. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wV0umLAetUA/hqdefault.jpg "Forklift accidents in warehouse") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0umLAetUA) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/25 "2024-02-27T21:07:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The [Crimson Permament Assurance Company](https://vimeo.com/111458975) would like a word with you I am ashamed to say, I have never seen that short before. But my sister and her husband are accountants so thank you, I will pass it on. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/26 "2024-02-27T21:16:55Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > How damaging would a cannonball be today? I can’t be the only one assuming you were concerned about throwing out your back while leaping from a diving board. mmm ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/27 "2024-02-27T21:32:52Z")
too bad dear departed @kopek wasn’t here… he owned a few cannons and fired it often… ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/28 "2024-02-27T21:34:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But I’m going to say that battering a hole in a fort wall is very different from trying to take down an e.g. 15-story office building. > > The fort wall is solid, but if you can keep hitting near the same spot, eventually a hole appears. Yeah - but we are talking about considerably more than a single cannonball. [This site](https://www.marinersmuseum.org/2022/06/the-siege-of-fort-pulaski/#:~:text=Most%20importantly%20was%20the%20impact,in%20clouds%20of%20brick%20dust) seems to say somewhere between 36-40 guns, and a bombardment lasting some 36 hrs. Leaving aside the question of why any individual skyscraper would merit such an onslaught, I doubt many skyscrapers of any construction would be able to withstand that level of bombardment. A COUPLE of those balls are eventually gonna carom around and take out enough adjoining pillars. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/29 "2024-02-27T21:52:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But I’m going to say that battering a hole in a fort wall is very different from trying to take down an e.g. 15-story office building. Also forts built in the era of gunpowder were specifically designed with very thick earthen walls, to absorb cannonballs (the cost of building them was one of the things that caused the rise of the modern nation state and its tax structure in the early modern period). Fortifications from before the gunpowder era did not hold up to bombardment very well, I imagine modern buildings (not being to design to siege of any kind) would fare even worse. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/30 "2024-02-27T23:52:10Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > The effect is exaggerated but minor bump=collapse always reminds me of warehouse rack accidents I’ve watched a bunch of vids, but that is by far the most extensive failure from the smallest impetus that I’ve ever seen. Thanks for a great cite! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/31 "2024-02-28T00:36:54Z")
I don’t think I’d seen this one before today, either. The set up is great with the careful drive straight for about 1000 yards, the slightest of brushes on the rack, then 20 seconds of comical chaos. I’m half expecting Austin Powers and Michael Scott to come crawling out from under the wreckage, wearing each others’ clothes or something. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/32 "2024-02-28T01:12:08Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > then 20 seconds of comical chaos. I’m not so sure it’s comical. I’m not convinced that the guy at the bottom right made it out alive. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/33 "2024-02-28T01:40:48Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > But I’m going to say that battering a hole in a fort wall is very different from trying to take down an e.g. 15-story office building. > > Also forts built in the era of gunpowder were specifically designed with very thick earthen walls, to absorb cannonballs (the cost of building them was one of the things that caused the rise of the modern nation state and its tax structure in the early modern period). Fortifications from before the gunpowder era did not hold up to bombardment very well, I imagine modern buildings (not being to design to siege of any kind) would fare even worse. A modern office building is mostly a big glass box. I suspect that the poured reinforced concrete or steel that comprises the actual structure s a lot stronger than old stone and mortar castle walls. It usually takes either prepared demolition charges or modern high explosive munitions to bring something like that down. But an office building certainly wouldn’t provide much cover for the people inside it. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/34 "2024-02-28T01:49:07Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Assume I have a perfectly good cannon with unlimited cannonballs (Civil War model? I don’t know cannons) and decided to start firing it off in the middle of a big city. What size? Most replies deal with field and naval pieces, but siege and coastal artillery pieces could get considerably larger. Very considerably larger. For example, the [Parrott gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrott_rifle) was a mainstay of both sides of the US Civil War, field pieces would run 10, 20 or 30 lbs. Heavier naval Parrott guns would run up to 60 and 100lbs. As for siege guns, the Union brought 9-100lb, 6-200lb and a single 300lb Parrott gun in the attempt to retake Fort Sumter. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/35 "2024-02-28T02:31:31Z")
I think the question is how much damage can a cannon ball do to the steel I-beams larger building are usually supported by. Civil War era cannons don’t have a good record against just plain iron, let alone modern steel. In the Civil War, two iron clad ships fired solid round shot into each other for hours leaving both still afloat at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/36 "2024-02-28T02:57:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The [Crimson Permament Assurance Company](https://vimeo.com/111458975) would like a word with you. Wonderful documentary, but note that CPAC didn’t face _inbound_ cannonballs. Their filecannons did seem to create problems with morale in the other companies. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/37 "2024-02-28T05:05:17Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > I’m not so sure it’s comical. I’m not convinced that the guy at the bottom right made it out alive. We can’t be sure, but I think it’s him wiggling out from under that pallet and walking away at the very end of the video. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/38 "2024-02-28T12:31:12Z")
[This armour didn’t help](https://www.twz.com/43766/heres-the-story-behind-that-viral-video-of-napoleonic-armor-smashed-through-by-a-cannonball) when the wearer was struck by a cannonball. Napoleonic era but the American Civil War was only 50 years later and artillery was still pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/39 "2024-02-28T13:25:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IANA civil engineer, but that’s my take. We see plenty of controlled demolitions gone awry on YouTube. In many case they take big divots out of many of the support columns and the building just sits there. > > Assuming starting from an intact reasonably modern building any one column is certainly redundant. A few here and there may well be too. A batch in a cluster, not so much. > > Clearly there is an upper limit to how much non-explosive cannon fire any given building can take. But it’s a big number of rounds. > > Heck, even the current pictures from Ukraine or Gaza show plenty of buildings attacked by modern explosive artillery or aerial bombs that are mostly wrecked as to functional habitation, but are still almost entirely standing. So evidently structurally sound enough to support their own weight. somewhat related: As a witness to the 2010 earthquake (8.3 Richter) in Santiago, I can confirm that there is a LOT of structural redundancy in high rise buildings … This was the 5th strongest quake ever registered on the planet (it made Chile 4 meters wider - and made the earth-axis wobble) … And there are 1000s of high rise buildings and there was **ONE** of which toppled over… most of the deaths came from the tsunami. So muy (mildly educated) guess is that a few cannonballs to a highrise building would do little to bring it down. As LSL mentioned, especially those skycrapers of today are mostly bird-cages lined with windows. And when taking a shotgun to a bird-cage there is just too much negative space … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nauCLQDUj58/maxresdefault.jpg "Recopilación terremoto chile 2010 / A 10 años del 27-F: El terremoto que remeció y cambió a Chile") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nauCLQDUj58&t=423) ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163/40 "2024-02-29T01:14:29Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > We can’t be sure, but I think it’s him wiggling out from under that pallet and walking away at the very end of the video. Or that could be the guy on the left. Definitely hard to tell. Hopefully they were both okay. That’s some scary shit. I’ve seen something similar, although on a smaller scale, in person. Took weeks to clean up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-damaging-would-a-cannonball-be-today/998163.md?page=3)