WWA Info Exchange

Hey Zulu,

I just got back from a road trip to San Fransisco, and while there, I stopped in at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate bridge. When I saw the Barbette carriage, I knew I had to snap some photos for you. Although it is a "restored" carriage, it looks as though the iron parts are original.







Thanks to my niece for standing in for scale.



The actual Barbette battery is on the fourth floor of the masonry fort, so where the gun is now, is not where it was mounted. They were never fired in anger.



Cheers,
Tom

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"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."
Mohandas K. Ghandi

Thanks for thinking about me Tom.
I love the pictures.
Here is the link where I tried to make a 1/3 scale 100 Pounder Parrott rifle on a Barbette carriage.

I think I was pretty close on it!
Zulu

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26660

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Zulu's website
http://www.jmelledge.com

Hey Zulu,

That's exactly why I thought of you when I saw it.

Well done,
Tom

_________________
"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."
Mohandas K. Ghandi

Hey Guys.
A little education, please.
I do not understand the purpose of the big wheels on the sides.

Thanks
Duan

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Duan Packard
Kerrville, Texas

dum vivimus, vivamus

Duan,
When that big gun fired, it recoiled uphill to the rear position of the carriage shown in one of the pictures.

It was wormed, swabbed out, and reloaded. Then big wooden hand spikes (think very large baseball bats) were placed between the spokes and the gun was levered against the carriage rails and rolled back into a firing position. In that position, the muzzle of the barrel would be through the gun port of the stone wall.

These guns were monstrous and could fire a 32 pound round ball 4 or 5 miles.

The worm, sponge, and ram rod can be seen on the right hand wall of the picture with Tom's Niece in it.

Zulu

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Zulu's website
http://www.jmelledge.com

I made a worm, sponge and ram rod for an 18 pounder for the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston.
The rods were 10' long!!!
The heads were 5" diameter.

Zulu

_________________
Zulu's website
http://www.jmelledge.com