Definition of "gunnery"

When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery— / When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery,—

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “I am the very pattern of a modern major-general”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, page 17

Originally, doubtless, that petty officer's function was the instruction of the men in the use of arms, sword, or cutlass. But very long ago, owing to the advance in gunnery, making hand-to-hand encounters less frequent, and giving to nitre and sulphur the preeminence over steel, that function ceased [...]

1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter VII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, page 244

Northward incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles, / Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war.

1920, Wilfred Owen, “Exposure”, in Poems‎, London: Chatto & Windus, page 18

The 12th march company telephoned claiming that someone in the office had heard that they were waiting to do some shooting practice at moveable targets and that they would only leave after gunnery practice under front conditions.

1973, Jaroslav Hašek, chapter 5, in Cecil Parrott, transl., The Good Soldier Švejk, London: William Heinemann, page 438

Basically, the problem was actually the British had too many ships! The Grand Fleet wasn't half bad with its gunnery, but there was so many battleships throwing fire at the battlecruisers and battleships of the High Seas Fleet that it was actually very difficult to tell "Is that splash from us? Is that splash from that ship? Is that splash from a ship in another division? We don't know!", so a lot of incorrect estimates and measures were taken, which lead to an awful lot of waterspouts going up, but not anywhere near the number of hits that you would otherwise expect […]

2021 May 2, Drachinifel, 3:59:19 from the start, in The Drydock - Episode 144‎, archived from the original on 26 September 2022