this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2024
275 points (98.2% liked)

NonCredibleDefense

6788 readers
977 users here now

A community for your defence shitposting needs

Rules

1. Be niceDo not make personal attacks against each other, call for violence against anyone, or intentionally antagonize people in the comment sections.

2. Explain incorrect defense articles and takes

If you want to post a non-credible take, it must be from a "credible" source (news article, politician, or military leader) and must have a comment laying out exactly why it's non-credible. Low-hanging fruit such as random Twitter and YouTube comments belong in the Matrix chat.

3. Content must be relevant

Posts must be about military hardware or international security/defense. This is not the page to fawn over Youtube personalities, simp over political leaders, or discuss other areas of international policy.

4. No racism / hatespeech

No slurs. No advocating for the killing of people or insulting them based on physical, religious, or ideological traits.

5. No politics

We don't care if you're Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Stalinist, Baathist, or some other hot mess. Leave it at the door. This applies to comments as well.

6. No seriousposting

We don't want your uncut war footage, fundraisers, credible news articles, or other such things. The world is already serious enough as it is.

7. No classified material

Classified ‘western’ information is off limits regardless of how "open source" and "easy to find" it is.

8. Source artwork

If you use somebody's art in your post or as your post, the OP must provide a direct link to the art's source in the comment section, or a good reason why this was not possible (such as the artist deleting their account). The source should be a place that the artist themselves uploaded the art. A booru is not a source. A watermark is not a source.

9. No low-effort posts

No egregiously low effort posts. E.g. screenshots, recent reposts, simple reaction & template memes, and images with the punchline in the title. Put these in weekly Matrix chat instead.

10. Don't get us banned

No brigading or harassing other communities. Do not post memes with a "haha people that I hate died… haha" punchline or violating the sh.itjust.works rules (below). This includes content illegal in Canada.

11. No misinformation

NCD exists to make fun of misinformation, not to spread it. Make outlandish claims, but if your take doesn’t show signs of satire or exaggeration it will be removed. Misleading content may result in a ban. Regardless of source, don’t post obvious propaganda or fake news. Double-check facts and don't be an idiot.


Join our Matrix chatroom


Other communities you may be interested in


Banner made by u/Fertility18

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In 1862, Georgia dentist, builder, and mechanic John Gilleland raised money from a coterie of Confederate citizens in Athens, Georgia to build the chain-shot gun for a cost of $350. Cast in one piece, the gun featured side-by-side bores, each a little over 3 inches in diameter and splayed slightly outward so the shots would diverge and stretch the chain taut. The two barrels have a divergence of 3 degrees, and the cannon was designed to shoot simultaneously two cannonballs connected with a chain to "mow down the enemy somewhat as a scythe cuts wheat". During tests, the Gilleland cannon effectively mowed down trees, tore up a cornfield, knocked down a chimney, and killed a cow. These experiments took place along Newton Bridge Road northwest of downtown Athens. None of the previously mentioned items were anywhere near the gun's intended target.
r*ddit

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] NineMileTower 25 points 5 months ago (5 children)

During tests, the Gilleland cannon effectively mowed down trees, tore up a cornfield, knocked down a chimney, and killed a cow

So, it worked?

[–] YarHarSuperstar 56 points 5 months ago (5 children)

None of the previously mentioned items were anywhere near the gun's intended target.

Reading is hard.

[–] colonelp4nic 25 points 5 months ago

Kindness is also hard (and takes practice). I believe in both of our abilities to keep improving!

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Which isn't necessarily an issue if your goal is to hit somewhere in a line of charging infantry. Why you wouldn't just use canister shot is beyond me, but accuracy isn't much of an issue if your target is an entire enemy formation.

[–] YarHarSuperstar 7 points 5 months ago

It's an issue if you need the chain to be stretched across parallel to the side by side group of soldiers charging at you.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I don't think you realize how much they missed by:

"On its second firing, the chain shot across the horizon and into a thicket of pine."

So, you'd miss the entire army you were shooting at, and hit a nearby forest.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Hey, it hit what was in front of it. The solution to the being "randomly inaccurate" problem is more of them!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

Solution: aim the Gilleland cannon at what you don't want to hit, then fire!

[–] NABDad 5 points 5 months ago

Unless one barrel misfires, then it hits whatever is standing next to it.

[–] setsneedtofeed 3 points 4 months ago

The key to victory is surprise. So. Surprise.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago
[–] NineMileTower 1 points 5 months ago

That's, like, the joke.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The cow was a yankee sympathizer.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Gilleland's invention was a failure. When it was first tested on 22 April 1862, it was aimed at a target of two upright poles. Uneven combustion of the powder and casting imperfections in the barrels gave the connected balls a spinning movement in an off-center direction, with witnesses reporting that on its first firing it "plowed up about an acre of ground, tore up a cornfield, mowed down saplings, and then the chain broke, the two balls going in different directions".

On its second firing, the chain shot across the horizon and into a thicket of pine. "[The] thicket of young pines at which it was aimed looked as if a narrow cyclone or a giant mowing machine had passed through," reported another witness.

On its third firing, the chain snapped immediately and one ball tore into a nearby cabin, knocking down its chimney; the other spun off erratically and struck a nearby cow, killing it instantly. Gilleland considered the test-firings a success.

The inventor seemed to think so.

The wikipedia article about it.

[–] njm1314 3 points 4 months ago

Yeah well he was a confederate so who gives a fuck what he thinks?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Not as intended.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Read the rest of the text