16-inch gun M1895

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
Number built	1
Specifications
Weight	284,000 pounds (129,000 kg) ^[1]
Length	35 calibers (56 feet (17 m))

Shell	2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) shell, 650 pounds (290 kg) nitrocellulose powder^[2]
Caliber	16 in (406 mm)
Carriage	M1912 disappearing
Elevation	-5° to +20°^[3]
Traverse	circa 160°
Muzzle velocity	2,250 feet per second (690 m/s)^[2]
Maximum firing range	19,300 yards (17,600 m)^[2]
Feed system	hand

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.^[4] It was operated by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps.

History

Under President Grover Cleveland's administration in 1885, the Board of Fortifications under William C. Endicott was ordered to investigate the value and state of the United States' coastal defenses. Endicott found that America had fallen behind and that new naval technology made many forts and coastal defense weaponry obsolete. The 1886 report recommended a $127-million ($ 3,350,000,000 in 2016) construction program of breech-loading cannons, mortars, floating batteries, and submarine mines for some 29 locations on the US coastline. New fortifications built in the following decades as a result of this report were called "Endicott Period" fortifications.^[5]

Finding a need for long range weaponry, the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps ordered a 16-inch (406 mm) gun, the construction of which began in 1895 at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, New York.^[4]^[6] The massive artillery piece was designated the M1895 and was completed in 1902; only one was built. At 284,000 pounds (129,000 kg) it weighed more than any gun that had ever been created up to that point.^[1] The 32-wheel train car alone weighed 192,420 pounds (87,280 kg). The 56-foot (17 m) long gun could launch a 2,400-pound (1,100 kg) shell 21 miles (34 km).^[7]

The weapon was shipped from the Watervliet Arsenal 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]^[4]^[3] The muzzle section was later preserved and displayed at the Watervliet Arsenal museum, which closed in 2013.^[8]

Gallery

Full-scale model of 16-inch gun M1895 with various ammunition alongside, St. Louis World's Fair, 1904
Soldiers standing on the 16-inch gun M1895 at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey

Bibliography

Notes

1 2 3 Harrisburg Telegraph 1915, p. Front Cover
1 2 3 Ordnance, pp. 46-47
1 2 Berhow 2015, pp. 168-169, 223
1 2 3 The History of Fort Tilden 2007
↑ history.army.mil 2001
↑ Anonymous 2015
↑ The Manning Times 1915, p. Front Page
↑ Crowe 2014

References

Anonymous (2015). "The new 16 inch (40.5 cm) Coastal cannon of the United States of America". Polytechnischen Journals. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Third Edition. Mclean, VA: CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.
Crowe, Kenneth C. (August 8, 2014). "Plans dropped for revamped Watervliet Arsenal Museum". Times Union. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
Ordnance Corps, US Army (1917). Description of 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16-inch Seacoast Guns. Washington: Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780974816708.
Harrisburg Telegraph (January 29, 1915). "Largest Single Piece of Ordance ever made Being Shipped By Uncle Sam To Protect Panama Canal". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pa. OCLC 12396379. Archived from the original on 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
history.army.mil (March 2, 2001). "William Crowninshield Endicott". history.army.mil. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
The History of Fort Tilden (2007). "12) 16-inch Gun Technical Data". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
The Manning Times (February 10, 1915). "Biggest Gun Ready". The Manning Times. ISSN 2330-8826. OCLC 13611767. Archived from the original on 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
Description of Seacoast Guns 8, 10, 12, 14, 16-inch

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 16 inch Coast Gun M1895.

United States artillery of World War I

Tank guns	Puteaux SA 18 QF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss

Small and pack guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun

Field, medium and heavy guns	3-inch M1902 field gun Canon de 75 modèle 1897 75 mm Gun M1916 75 mm Gun M1917 4.7 inch Gun M1906 6-inch howitzer M1908 Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk VI – VIII BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm Trench Mortar

Anti-aircraft guns	75 mm Gun M1916 3-inch gun M1917 3-inch Gun M1918

Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 4.72-inch Armstrong gun 5-inch gun M1897 6-inch Armstrong gun 6-inch gun M1897 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 155 mm gun M1918MI

Railway artillery	8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895MIA1 14"/50 caliber railway gun

United States artillery of World War II

Tank guns	37 mm gun M5/M6 75 mm gun M2/M3/M6 76 mm gun M1 3 inch gun M7 90 mm gun M3 105 mm howitzer M4

Anti-tank guns	37 mm M3 57 mm M1 75 mm M1897 3 inch M5 90 mm T8 105mm T8

Field, medium and heavy guns	75 mm M1897 75 mm howitzer M1 105 mm howitzer M2 105 mm howitzer M3 4.5 inch gun M1 155 mm howitzer M1918 155 mm howitzer M1 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M1/M2 "Long Tom" 8 inch howitzer M1/M2 8-inch gun M1 240 mm howitzer M1

Mortars	60 mm mortar M2 81 mm mortar M1 4.2 inch mortar M2 Little David

Other vehicle-mounted	75 mm howitzer M2/M3 75 mm gun M1897 105 mm howitzer M2 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M2

Anti-aircraft guns	37 mm M1 40 mm M1 3-inch gun M1917 3 inch M3 90 mm M1 120 mm M1

Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 90 mm M1 6-inch gun M1903 155 mm gun M1918MI 8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 16-inch Marks 2 and 3 16-inch howitzer M1920

Railway artillery	8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch M1888 14-inch M1920

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16-inch gun M1895

History

Gallery

See also

Bibliography

External links