| 16 inch Coastal Defense Gun M1895 | |
|---|---|
 Crowds in New York watch the shipment of the 16 inch Coastal Defense Gun M1895 January 1915 | |
| Type | Coastal Artillery |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1915—1943 |
| Used by | United States Army |
| Wars | World War I |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Watervliet Arsenal |
| Designed | 1895 |
| Manufacturer | Watervliet Arsenal |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 284,000 pounds (129,000 kg) [1] |
| Length | 35 calibers (56 feet (17 m)) |
|
| |
| Shell | 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) shell |
| Caliber | 16 in (406 mm) |
| Carriage | M1912 disappearing |
The 16 inch Coastal Defense Gun M1895 was a large artillery piece installed to defend major American seaports. Only one was built and it was installed in Fort Grant on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal Zone.[2] It was operated by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps.
History[]
Under President Grover Cleveland administration in 1885 William C. Endicott was ordered to investigate the value and state of America's coastal defenses. The Endicott found that America had fallen behind and that new naval technology made many forts, coastal defense weaponry had been made obsolete. The 1886 report recommended a massive $127 million ($ 3,334,000,000 in 2025) construction program of breech-loading cannons, mortars, floating batteries, and submarine mines for some 29 locations on the US coast-line. New fortifications built in the following decades as a result of this report were called Endicott Period fortifications.[3]
Finding a need for long range weaponry, America ordered a 16-inch (406 mm) gun started construction in 1895 at the Watervliet Arsenal.[2][4] The massive artillery piece was designated the M1895 and was completed in 1902; only one was built. The gun was massive and at 284,000 pounds (129,000 kg) weighed more than any gun that had ever been created up to that point.[1] The 32-wheeled train car alone weighed 192,420 pounds (87,280 kg). The 56 feet (17 m) long gun could launch a 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) shell 21 miles (34 km).[5]
The weapon was shipped from the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, New York to Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts to be packed for shipment to the Panama Canal Zone. It was installed on an M1912 disappearing carriage in Fort Grant on the Pacific side of the Canal in 1915, where it protected the Fort until it was scrapped in 1943.[1][2][6] The muzzle section was later preserved and displayed at the Watervliet Arsenal museum, which closed in 2013.[7]
See also[]
- List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation
- Coastal artillery
- List of the largest cannon by caliber
- Seacoast defense in the United States
- 12-inch Gun M1895
- 16"/50 caliber M1919 gun
- Fort Grant
- Coast Artillery fire control system
- Watervliet Arsenal
Bibliography[]
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Harrisburg Telegraph 1915, p. Front Cover
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The History of Fort Tilden 2007
- ↑ history.army.mil 2001
- ↑ Anonymous 2015
- ↑ The Manning Times 1915, p. Front Page
- ↑ Berhow 2004, pp. 168–169, 221
- ↑ Crowe 2014
- References
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 16 inch Coast Gun M1895. |
- Anonymous (2015). "The new 16 inch (40.5 cm) Coastal cannon of the United States of America". Polytechnischen Journals. http://dingler.culture.hu-berlin.de/article/pj316/mi316mi02_2. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- Berhow, Mark A. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide. Coast Defense Study Group Press. ISBN 9780974816708. - Total pages: 632
- Crowe, Kenneth C. (August 8, 2014). "Plans dropped for revamped Watervliet Arsenal Museum". Times Union. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Watervliet-Arsenal-Museum-won-t-reopend-5676595.php. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- Harrisburg Telegraph (January 29, 1915). "Largest Single Piece of Ordance ever made Being Shipped By Uncle Sam To Protect Panama Canal". Harrisburg, Pa. OCLC 12396379. Archived from the original on 2015. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038411/1915-01-29/ed-1/seq-1/. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- history.army.mil (March 2, 2001). "William Crowninshield Endicott". history.army.mil. http://www.history.army.mil/books/Sw-SA/Endicott.htm. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- The History of Fort Tilden (2007). "12) 16-inch Gun Technical Data". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1241644173344109. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- The Manning Times (February 10, 1915). "Biggest Gun Ready". ISSN 2330-8826. OCLC 13611767. Archived from the original on 2015. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063760/1915-02-10/ed-1/seq-1/. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
External links[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The original article can be found at 16-inch gun M1895 and the edit history here.