Image: 12-in-Disappearing-Carriage-1896

Description: This is a 12-inch gun M1895 on a disappearing carriage, M1896. Note: The gun is shown here in the "from battery" position, with its breech lowered (for loading) to a level just above the gun platform. After loading, the tripping lever (seen here slanting back and down from the front of the carriage) was released, letting a 9 foot tall, 82-ton pile of lead weights (the counterweight) descend into a pit beneath the carriage, and rotating the gun, suspending from the two massive gun levers, up and forward so that its muzzle rose above the parapet for firing. After firing, the gun's recoil was damped primarily by the two large recoil cylinders, one on each side of the top carriage, and also by the work of lifting the counterweight back into position, where it was held until the tripping lever was released again. The two long bars running back to the carriage from near the breech of the gun are the gun arms, which guided the breech during recoil and were used to elevate the gun. The bright white object at top center-left is the telescopic sight for the gun, covered by a protective tarp. The soldier sighting the gun did so from the catwalk on the top left side of the piece. From here he could control the motors that traversed the gun carriage and changed the elevation of the gun. He could also fire the gun electrically.
Title: 12-in-Disappearing-Carriage-1896
Credit: The image has been edited for Wikipedia by adjusting brightness and contrast and sharpening the details. Digital file provided by the Coast Defense Study Group.
Author: Coast Defense Study Group
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No