Author Topic: Anybody have an interest in Coast Artillery? (Read 2459 times)

Double D · « **on:** September 22, 2007, 09:04:36 PM »

jeeper1 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:05:31 AM »

Here's a Google Earth picture of the coastal cannon shown in the link. It's at Fort Casey State Park (WA).

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2007, 10:17:29 PM »

Yes, as a matter of fact, we do! That interesting link and site photos you posted, DD, is one our favorites even though most of their studies concentrate on the Endicott period of pre-WWI artillery. We always wanted to visit those big guns at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, Washington. Finally, in mid-August there was an opportunity. After doing a three day job in Sacramento, CA, we shot up there two see those big, bad 10 Inch Coast Artillery Rifles which had a range of eight miles. We were not disappointed; they are really impressive and the "Disappearing Gun Carriage" machinery was very unusual as well. We explored everywhere, of course, and found a few big shells and a shell lift with an unusual chain drive which lifted those 571 pound shells from the magazine handling room up to the guns. We had a great time there scampering up narrow, ribbon-like, 100 year old concrete stairs which went up to the range finding towers which assisted in laying the guns.

Jeeper1, that's a cool aerial view of the batteries; you can spot the armored roofs of the underground plotting and target acquisition rooms. due east of the westernmost gun.

Regards,

Tracy and Mike

Frank46 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 24, 2007, 10:30:23 PM »

In subic bay PI there is an island, this island is called grande island. I was there in 1966 during a westpac cruise. They had two 10" disappearing cannons mounted there and they were made by watervliet arsenal in the early 1900's. Supposedlu the smithsonian was to get these and restore them. Could these be one and the same??. Frank

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #4 on:** September 25, 2007, 06:13:04 AM »

These are most likely the same ones. Fort Casey information indicates they were moved in 1968 two years after you saw the ones you saw on Grande Island. Mike was over there on several Westpacs in the late 60s, early 70s, but did not know, at that time, that this type of artillery was mounted there. After a bit of research, he says I'm fairly certain that these guns are the same ones we saw on Whidbey Island, WA this past August.

Thank you for that information.

Mike and Tracy

Eyes Of Death · « **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2007, 07:32:37 AM »

From American Machinist Memories .

Frank46 · « **Reply #6 on:** September 26, 2007, 06:20:02 PM »

Mike & Tracy, how would you guys like to play sherlock holmes regarding those two 10" disappearing rifles. I was going through some of my old pics taken on grande island in 1966. I have about 17 or so photos taken of two 10' rifles in their origional settings and maybe you could match up the shell or shrapnel scars on one of the tubes to see if we are talking about the same ones. Will go to wally world and get copies made and send them to you. Grande island was where a lot of ship's parties were held. you know the drill, get blasted on beer, hot dogs, hamburgers and stuff like that. Send me an addy and will send the copies. The more I look at the photos on this forum the more I believe those are the ones I saw 40 years ago. Frank

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #7 on:** September 27, 2007, 09:40:21 AM »

Frank46,

We would really love to try and resolve this mystery! We have said many times before that it is the research and research trips that make all those longs hours in the shop worthwhile. We will do our best. We have quite a few pics of bomb damage to the carriage, the tube, the railings, the ladders, etc. Send them along; we will see. PM sent.

Regards,

Mike and Tracy

lance · « **Reply #8 on:** September 27, 2007, 02:58:58 PM »

been lurking, maybe one of you big gun guys can share some info......... i have a big brass? 8" shell casing, feels like it weighs 75 pounds? when i tell people about it, they all say 8" guns used powder bags. no 8" gun used a brass casing. i don't know, but i have a shell casing with alot of stampings on the base : NIV-15-0668 8IN.MK1 MOD3 the shell is 50 3/8" tall and the mouth is 8" across. any ideals on what gun it went to? and what time period it was used? heres a couple of pictures: i will add: if you are logged in, you can double click the pics and zoom the numbers on the shell base.

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #9 on:** September 27, 2007, 03:44:00 PM »

Lance,
The U.S. Heavy Cruisers Des Moines and Newport News WW2 era, both had a total of 9, 8 in.- 55 cal. automatic guns in three triple turrets. These guns used great big cartridge cases to hold the powder charge. I'm not sure if the case you have is for one of these guns as most naval guns have used steel cases for some decades, and during WW2 they may have used brass.
Hope this info. helps.

Mike

intoodeep · « **Reply #10 on:** September 27, 2007, 03:50:17 PM »

Lance,

I know this is not the exact detail you are looking for but, I believe your case was made by this company.

http://www.niindustries.com/index.php

I think that is what the "NI" part is in NIV-15-0668. At least this will give you a direction and a year range.

lance · « **Reply #11 on:** September 27, 2007, 04:04:17 PM »

Mike, one of the stamps my hand is covering up : 55 CAL............. i think it's brass, magnets don't stick to it. believe it or not, i found this shell in Floyd co. VA. bout 15 miles from here. an old man living in a cabin up on the mountain, had this shell hanging from a tree. big wind chime! anyway he said i could have it for 20 bucks. i never could find any info on it, THANKS!!! Mike, i believe you got it............. INTOODEEP, ya snuck up on me as i was thanking Mike. so i'll thank you too for that cool link. one day when i get some free time, i'll turn down a big wooden 8" point and paint it and add it to the top of the shell. THANKS AGAIN GUYS!!!

Double D · « **Reply #12 on:** September 27, 2007, 06:18:20 PM »

Lance,

Go to the website Intodeep found and click on contact us and send them and email with description of marking and pictures and ask them what you have...let us knw what they say. Oh and besure to mention something about pre 1899 cannons n your post so the moderators don't all fussy about topic drift. You know how sensitive Tim is about those things.

lance · « **Reply #13 on:** September 28, 2007, 02:53:50 PM »

will do Double D, i was hoping it was a pre 1899 shell, i was even holding a Goex can to try and keep from getting in trouble. i figured this was my only chance to get some info on this shell i've had for years. Thanks everyone for the info.............Tim, i'm sorry about Topic drift, please don't kick me off the board.

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2007, 03:22:30 PM »

Lance, if you weren't such a nice guy, I would not bother to help you out here. What you were thinking, but just forgot to express in the posting, was the fact that you wanted to drag that big powder can out to show everyone an example of separately loaded cannon ammunition. The relationship between the separately loaded powder can and shell used in the 8" naval gun and some 8" coast artillery is identical to the method used by both sides during the Civil War to load the popular 12 Pdr. field artillery piece made by Whitworth.

You're welcome,

Tracy and Mike

Tropico · « **Reply #15 on:** September 29, 2007, 05:31:29 AM »

January 8th thru the 31rst of 2008 I'll be taking my trip again to Cebu. At that time we will be doing to Corregidor - Grande Island tours. With Camera in hand I will take LOTS of photo. theres a few interesting things there. Usually I stay in the central visayas area., but this trip will require about a week in Manila so ., I will probably get pictures of the Intromuros again as well. I hope to make a good post on this topic when I get back. There is so much to do there its hard to get satisfied in 3 weeks ..., after all there is 7107 islands !!!

cannonmn · « **Reply #16 on:** September 29, 2007, 08:30:52 AM »

I like coast arty. I have some optical instruments that were used in C.A., and some books on it. There's an 8" Columbiad seacoast cannon in the yard.

lance · « **Reply #17 on:** September 29, 2007, 03:51:39 PM »

Quote from: cannonmn on September 29, 2007, 08:30:52 AM

I like coast arty. I have some optical instruments that were used in C.A., and some books on it. There's an 8" Columbiad seacoast cannon in the yard.

Cannonmn, that 8" Columbiad in the yard, do you mean in your yard? if yes, how about a few pics. i like them too!!!

Victor3 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 30, 2007, 12:26:31 AM »

In around 1980, a friend and I gave ourselves an 'unguided tour' inside of one of the gun batteries (Osgood or Farley, I don't remember which) at Fort MacArthur before it was turned into a museum in 1985. The big steel jail-type doors at the entrance we let ourselves into were only 'secured' by a loose chain hanging on the bars at the time. The batteries were at that time partially filled with dirt in some areas, but we did have an opportunity to walk through many areas of the massive concrete structure, including the observation post. I imagined myself as an observer during WWII, looking out of the viewing port with my binocular scanning for a Japanese periscope off of the South end Catalina Island. I remember that there were a lot of old oversize ceramic and bakelite light bulb bases on the floor, but not much else in the way of loose artifacts. There were still electrical boxes and speaking tubes(?) intact in some areas. It was fun to see, and I could almost feel the history of the place oozing out of the walls as we walked around in the dark corridors with our flashlights.

Today, the batteries have been fully excavated and turned into a great museum with many nice displays, including a scale fabricated (Sheet metal) model of one of the disappearing gun's barrels. Unfortunately, the originals were cut up and scrapped. The only evidence of a gun being mounted are the remnants of the round tracks that the guns rotated on.

If anyone gets to the area, Fort MacArthur is a must see for the cannon enthusiast (And please leave a donation if you visit!).

http://www.ftmac.org/

cannonmn · « **Reply #19 on:** September 30, 2007, 03:24:24 AM »

Lance wanted pix, here's one anyway. 8" Columbiad, C. Alger 1855

GGaskill · « **Reply #20 on:** September 30, 2007, 02:44:34 PM »

... including a scale fabricated (Sheet metal) model of one of the disappearing gun's barrels.

I think the barrel replica is full scale but not yet completed. I was at this year's Old Fort MacArthur Days and it had a card on it asking for help in completing it. So far, however, I have been unable to reach anyone responsible for it.

Frank46 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 01, 2007, 06:30:29 PM »

Mike & Tracy, dropped the pics of the 10" rifles from grande island off at the post office. Frank

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #22 on:** October 01, 2007, 08:44:30 PM »

OK, Frank, we will compare them to those we took a month ago and we will see if we get a match. Maybe, maybe not; we'll see.

Thanks,

Mike and Tracy

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #23 on:** October 04, 2007, 12:47:08 PM »

Frank, We have some good news for you. First of all your photos arrived in excellent condition. Mike and I did separate comparisons of our set of Whidbey Island Model 1895, 10" disappearing gun photos and yours from Grande Island, Philippines which date from 1966. Only two photos, one of yours and one of ours are truly apples to apples, but that's O.K., because those two show very distinct patterns of WWII Japanese bomb damage on that section of the tube very near the muzzle on both photos. Mike thinks we have a 90% match and I believe it's a good solid 85%, so when we get a chance later we will go to Walgreen's and scan a few of your photos onto a disc and post them alongside ours so everyone can make an assessment. We will get your matching photo and perhaps a couple of others posted late tonight or tomorrow. Only Tropico can make monkeys out of us on his upcoming trip to this area of the Philippines. Time will tell.

Regards,

Really sure, Mike and More cautious, Tracy

Double D · « **Reply #24 on:** October 04, 2007, 05:26:47 PM »

Ah a new TV show in the making...CSI Cannon board!!!

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #25 on:** October 04, 2007, 07:09:21 PM »

You'll have to offer the starring role to copdoc, DD. We never investigated that type of thing, ever. Just lots of aircraft, rocket, robot and British naval torpedo parts, that's all. Oh, almost forgot, we also inspected a broken trunnion on an 1800s mortar. Since there was no impact damage anywhere on the broken piece, we concluded it was most likely broken as a result of am excessive charge being fired, rather than a sledge hammer assault or a handling mishap.

Regards,

Tracy and Mike

Frank46 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 04, 2007, 07:45:41 PM »

Mike & Tracey, well that's pretty good news. What kinda jogged my memory about the pictures was the one muzzle shot with two shrapnel scars. One looks to be at 12 o"clock and the other further down. They don't show in the pics but sometimes the memory does funny things. Like remembering something that you saw 40 years ago but cannot remember what you had for breakfast yesterday. Glad to have been of some assistance. Frank

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #27 on:** October 05, 2007, 02:02:22 PM »

Actually, Frank, if you look at the previously posted pic showing the muzzle face view of the tube in the loading position, you will see that there is a splinter scar at about 11 o'clock and one farther down and to the right at about 3 o'clock partially obscuring the 5 in 1895. Unfortunately, as you said, your muzzle face photo is too dark to see any detail at all. Anyway, we do believe that these two are most likely the same tube and we are presenting six of your photos and six of ours so the viewers can draw their own conclusions. We all would do well to remember that the damage to ladders and railings in Frank's photos could easily have been gradually replaced to make a more representative installation.

lance · « **Reply #28 on:** October 05, 2007, 04:48:00 PM »

HEY, i'm just lurking............ but i think this is a fun topic for everyone!!! o.k., i don't want no trouble, so back to lurking

Frank46 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 05, 2007, 05:20:54 PM »

Well, since I took those pics I can only guess he's flipping me the bird. Never even noticed that. Anyway, very glad to see the pics on the forum. CSI artillery?? sounds good to me. Now all someone has to do is visit Govenor's Island in NYC and see if they still have some of the old cannons there. And before I get off my soapbox, Public School 35 in Queens new york used to have two huge rodman cannons outside the front entrance mounted on concrete pedastals. Done enough for tonight. Frank