What Leonardo da Vinci invention used 33 gun barrels arranged on a wheeled frame?

Leonardo da Vinci’s 33-barrel organ used 33 gun barrels arranged on a wheeled frame.

Leonardo sketched the weapon in the 15th century as a way to fire multiple small cannon in rapid succession. The barrels were arranged in three rows of eleven on a triangular or organ-like frame. The name “organ” refers to the visual arrangement of the barrels, which resembled the pipes of a musical organ.

The frame was designed to be moved and elevated, allowing one row to fire while another was prepared. By spreading the barrels across several rows, the weapon could potentially produce repeated volleys rather than relying on one slow-loading cannon.

It was not a machine gun in the modern sense. Each barrel still required its own loading and firing process, and surviving sketches do not prove that Leonardo’s exact design was built or used in battle. The weapon belongs to the broad family of volley guns.