What is "saker"

Saker \Sa"ker\ (s[=a]"k[~e]r), n. [F. sacre (cf. It. sagro, Sp. & Pg. sacre), either fr. L. sacer sacred, holy, as a translation of Gr. "ie`rax falcon, from "iero`s holy, or more probably from Ar. [,c]aqr hawk.] [Written also sacar, sacre.]

1. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. A falcon ( Falco sacer) native of Southern Europe and Asia, closely resembling the lanner.

      Note: The female is called chargh, and the male charghela, or sakeret.

   2. The peregrine falcon. [Prov. Eng.]

2. (Mil.) A small piece of artillery.
   --Wilhelm.

   On the bastions were planted culverins and sakers.
   --Macaulay.

   The culverins and sakers showing their deadly muzzles over the rampart.
   --Hawthorne.

n. 1 A falcon (''http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falco%20cherrug'') native of Southern Europe and Asia. 2 A medium cannon slightly smaller than a culverin developed during the early 17th century.

Saker may refer to:

• Saker falcon (Falco cherrug), a species of falcon
• Saker (cannon), a type of cannon
• Saker Baptist College, an all-girls secondary school in Limbe, Cameroon
• Grupo Saker-Ti, a Guatemalan writers group formed in 1947
• Changwon LG Sakers, a South Korean basketball team
• Saker Cars, a sports car designed in New Zealand

The saker was a medium cannon, slightly smaller than a culverin, developed during the early 16th century and often used by the English. It was named after the saker falcon, a large falconry bird native to the Middle East.

A saker's barrel was approximately 9.5 ft (2.9m) long, had a calibre of 3.25 inches (8.26 cm), and weighed approximately 1,900 lb (860 kg). It could fire round shot weighing 5.25 lb (2.4 kg) approximately 7,400 ft (2.3 km) using 4 lb (1.8 kg) of black powder. The shot was intended to bounce along the ground to cause as much damage as possible, the explosive shell being rare before the 19th Century. Tests performed in France during the 1950s show that a saker's range was over 9,000 ft (2.7 km) when fired at a 45-degree angle.

Henry VIII amassed a large arsenal of sakers in the early 16th century as he expanded the Royal Navy and came into conflict with France. Henry's foundries used so much bronze that there was a world shortage of tin. According to the inventory in the Anthony Roll, the Mary Rose carried several sakers, though none have been found so far and may have been recovered by salvagers soon after the disaster. Sakers were heavily used during the English Civil War, especially during sieges, when they were used by both attackers and defenders of fortified towns. They also saw action in the Jacobite rising and were used by the armies of both William III and James II at the Battle of the Boyne.

A French version of the saker is the moyenne, meaning "middle sized", which was often used at sea. Venetian merchant ships often carried sakers to defend themselves from pirates, and similar cannons have been found on Spanish Armada wrecks.

In the New World, the pilgrims removed the naval guns from the Mayflower for use in possible land engagements, which they installed in the fort that they built to protect their newly founded Plimoth Plantation from French, Spanish, and hostile Native Americans.