10-inch gun M1895

10-inch Gun M1895
10-inch gun M1895MI on disappearing carriage M1901, Fort Casey, Whidbey Island, Washington
Type	Coastal artillery
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1895–1945
Used by	United States Army Canada
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer	Watervliet Arsenal
Designed	1888
Manufacturer	Watervliet Arsenal, Bethlehem Steel, possibly others
Variants	M1888, M1895, M1900
Specifications
Weight	67,200 pounds (30,500 kg) (M1888MI and M1888MII)^[1]
Length	30.6 feet (9.3 m)
Barrel length	34 calibers 340 inches (8.6 m)

Shell	separate loading, 617 pounds (280 kg) AP shot & shell, 510 pounds (230 kg) HE^[2]
Caliber	10 in (254 mm)
Breech	Interrupted screw, De Bange type
Carriage	M1893 barbette, M1894, M1896, or M1901 disappearing, most manufactured by Watertown Arsenal^[3]
Elevation	disappearing: 12°
Traverse	disappearing: 170° (varied with emplacement)
Maximum firing range	disappearing: 14,700 yards (13,400 m)^[4]
Feed system	hand

The 10-inch Gun M1895 (254 mm) and its variants the M1888 and M1900 were large coastal artillery pieces installed to defend major American seaports between 1895 and 1945. For most of their history they were operated by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. Most were installed on disappearing carriages, with early installations on barbette mountings.^[5] All of the weapons not in the Philippines (except four guns in Canada) were scrapped during World War II. Two of the surviving weapons were relocated from the Philippines to Fort Casey in Washington state in the 1960s.

History

Practice loading of a 10-inch gun at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY.

Diagram of an M1895 12-inch gun on an M1897 disappearing carriage, similar to the 10-inch gun.

10-inch (center) with 8-inch and 12-inch guns on barbette carriages circa 1895.

Surviving M1888 10-inch gun at Fort Cape Spear, St. John's, Newfoundland.

In 1885, William C. Endicott, President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of War, was tasked with creating the Board of Fortifications to review seacoast defenses. The findings of the board illustrated a grim picture of existing defenses in its 1886 report and recommended a massive $127 million construction program of breech-loading cannons, mortars, floating batteries, and submarine mines for some 29 locations on the US coastline. Most of the Board's recommendations were implemented. Coast Artillery fortifications built between 1885 and 1905 are often referred to as Endicott Period fortifications. The Watervliet Arsenal designed the gun and built the barrels. A few of the first guns were mounted on low-angle M1893 barbette carriages. Subsequently, most of the guns were mounted on M1894, M1896, or M1901 disappearing carriages; when the gun was fired, it dropped behind a concrete and/or earthen wall for protection from counter-battery fire.

After the Spanish–American War, the government wanted to protect American seaports in the event of war, and also protect newly gained territory, such as the Philippines and Cuba, from enemy attack. A new Board of Fortifications, under President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of War William Taft, was convened in 1905. Taft recommended technical changes, such as more searchlights, electrification, and in some cases less guns in particular fortifications. The seacoast forts were funded under the Spooner Act of 1902 and construction began within a few years and lasted into the 1920s. The defenses of the Philippines on islands in Manila Bay and Subic Bay were built under this program.^[6]

Railway mounting

After the American entry into World War I, the Army recognized the need for large-caliber railway guns for use on the Western Front. Among the weapons available for this were 129 10-inch guns, to be removed from fixed defenses or taken from spares. Thirty-six railway carriages for 10-inch guns were contracted to be delivered to France for finishing by March 1919; eight sets were shipped prior to the Armistice, then were returned to the US where 22 of the 36 originally contracted mountings were completed.^[7]^[8] A detailed description of the railway mounting is given in "Railway Artillery, Vol. I" by Lt. Col. H. W. Miller, USA.^[9] Probably all guns were returned to coastal defenses and all mountings scrapped after the war.

World War II

In 1941 eight M1888 guns were sent to Canada under Lend-Lease for use in coast defenses there. These included three guns from Battery Harker, Fort Mott on disappearing carriages,^[10] three guns from Battery Quarles, Fort Worden on barbette carriages,^[11] and two guns from Battery Revere, Fort Flagler on barbette carriages.^[12] Two of the Fort Mott disappearing guns were deployed at Fort Cape Spear, St. John's, Newfoundland and remain there. The remaining disappearing gun from Fort Mott and one barbette gun from Fort Flagler were deployed at Fort Prevel on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. Two of the barbette guns from Fort Worden were deployed to Fort McNutt on McNutts Island, Nova Scotia and remain there, although only part of one still exists. The remaining two barbette guns from Forts Flagler and Worden were deployed at Wiseman's Cove, Botwood, Newfoundland and no longer exist.^[13]

Along with other coast artillery weapons, some of the 10-inch guns in the Philippines saw action in the Japanese invasion in World War II. Since they were positioned against a naval attack, they were poorly sited to engage the Japanese, and the open mountings were vulnerable to air and high-angle artillery attack.

In 1940–44, 16-inch gun batteries were constructed at most harbor defenses, and essentially all 10-inch guns not in the Philippines were scrapped 1943–44.

Surviving examples

Nine 10-inch guns (one partial) remain at four locations.^[14]

1. Two 10-inch Guns M1895MI (#25 & #22 Watervliet) on Disappearing Carriages M1901 (#14 & #16 Watertown), Battery Grubbs, Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Philippines. The guns lie behind their mountings, since they were fired while disconnected from the carriages to deny use of them to the Japanese forces.

2. One 10-inch Gun M1895MI (#20 Watervliet) (spare gun), Battery Grubbs, Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Philippines

3. Two 10-inch Guns M1895MI (#26 & #28 Watervliet) on Disappearing Carriages M1901 (#13 & #15 Watertown), Battery Worth, Fort Casey, Coupeville, WA (guns moved in the 1960s from Battery Warwick, Fort Wint, Grande Island, Subic Bay, Philippines)

4. Two 10-inch Guns M1888 (#41 & #3 Watervliet), Fort Cape Spear, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (guns moved in World War II from Battery Harker, Fort Mott, New Jersey)

5. One 10-inch Gun M1888 (#12 Watervliet) on Barbette Carriage M1893 (#11 Watertown) (with partial remains of other gun (#37) and carriage (#1)), Fort McNutt, McNutts Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (guns moved in World War II from Battery Quarles, Fort Worden, WA)

References

↑ Artillery Circular 1895, p. 184
↑ Berhow, p. 61
↑ Berhow, pp. 130–155
↑ Berhow, p. 61
↑ Coast Defense Study Group fort and battery list
↑ Berhow, Mark A. and McGovern, Terrance C., American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898–1945, Osprey Publishing Ltd.; 1st edition, 2003; pages 7–8.
↑ Hogg, Ian V. (1998). Allied Artillery of World War I. Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, Ltd. pp. 140–141. ISBN 1-86126-104-7.
↑ US Army Railway Artillery in World War I
↑ Miller, H. W., LTC, USA Railway Artillery, Vols. I and II, 1921, Vol. I, pp. 156-182
↑ Battery Harker article at Fort Wiki.com
↑ Battery Quarles article at FortWiki.com
↑ Battery Revere article at FortWiki.com
↑ Berhow, p. 225
↑ Berhow, p. 230

Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Second Edition. CDSG Press. ISBN 0-9748167-0-1.
Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis: Leeward Publications. ISBN 978-0-929521-11-4.
Miller, H. W., LTC, USA (1921). Railway Artillery, Vol. I. Washington: US Government Printing Office. pp. 156–182. (Vol. II at this link)

General references

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Casey.

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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