Cannons Ready, On my command, boys! - Resized for small scrn
Posted: 2009-09-30 03:08am
Marina's trip this summer to Fort Casey, Washington, part of the Iron Triangle of interlocking Endicott period (1890s - 1910s built, remaining in service through WW2) forts guarding Admiralty Inlet, the passage into Puget Sound from the sea. Fort Casey was armed with 7 x 10in rifled breechloading cannon in hydraulic disappearing mounts, each protected by a massive earthen and reinforced concrete glacis, with two eight-mortar 12in mortar pits behind them and a variety of lesser guns to defend against small craft. The other two forts--Fort Worden and Fort Flagler--were similarly armed with fewer 10in disappearing rifles but several massive 12in disappearing rifles. The unique thing about Fort Casey however is that it still has two of its 10in disappearing rifles emplaced on the original hydraulic mounts, and your bailout tax dollars for parks have been put hard at work restoring that battery at the fort to more or less as-new condition, restoring and painting the guns, the concrete of the fort, basically everything to the point that when you arrive, it looks like they're just building the damned battery now to shoot at Chinese amphibs or something. My roommate Jacie took most of the photos.
So, here we go:
"Turntable at 40 degrees right, Sir!"
"Elevate the gun!"
"Central Battery Director gives us range at eight-zero-five-zero yards, Sir."
"Very well, eight degrees elevation and clear the gun crew for firing!"
"FIRE!"
(An image from the fort when it was in service of one of the 10in rifles being fired.)
"Breech open and the gun's fully recoiled to loading position, Sir!"
"Bring up the next round and stand by to traverse the turntable!"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
"Shell's up!"
"One round, AP, begin the loading drill!"
"Powder up!"
(This is the receiving cradle for the lift bringing 10in shells up to service the gun from the heavily reinforced concrete magazine buried into the structure of the fortress. Shell and powder would be loaded separately with the powder in those days in silken bags.)
"Don't worry, boys, they can't even see our guns under the glacis...."
"Up shot!"
"Keep the rounds comin', boys! We're gettin' good hits on the bastards!"
(A closer up view of one of the ammunition cradles. Sadly grated over and not restored due to kids trying to climb into them once.)
"We've got to keep them from bringing up their minesweepers..."
(One of the fortified rangefinder positions.)
"Get yourself into the CBD! There isn't no way in god's own earth you can survive in the open under that barrage!"
(The view down into one of the firing control stations.)
"New range to the enemy battleships, six eight eight oh yards, heading..."
"Range tables?"
"Colonel, we've got for Battery Valleau, shift elevation to seven degrees, traverse to thirty-four degrees right, for battery...."
(Inside the fire control director. Once held a huge turntable for an utterly massive optical rangefinder, and there's still some of the original boards on the slats behind it for where they'd have the range tables marked out.)
"Thank god we've not had a gun knocked out of action yet, but by lord the boys are taking a terrible pounding from the enemy's high explosive."
(A look at the backs of the batteries from the fire control post.)
"They're making their move, Sir! Small boats, trawlers, heading toward the minefield."
"Signal Battery Trevor to stand ready for action, Lieutenant!"
"Sir!"
(Some of the fort's 3in guns.)
"Just a little closer, ya bastards..."
"Battery Trevor No. 2 has taken a direct hit, Sir, the barrel's burst!"
(Damage to one of the 3in guns still there. I believe this happened in the Philippines in WW2, where the guns were recovered from and re-mounted here in the 60's to replace the original pieces.)
"Major! The barrel's still intact on No. 1 Trevor!"
"Clear those wounded out of the way and get that gun back in action, at the double-quick!"
"Load!"
(The breach-blocks were removed from the guns in 1942 in the Philippines and thrown into Subic Bay to render them useless to the Japanese.)
"Sir! The battleships are coming within five thousand yards and they're opening up with their secondary and tertiary batteries to help support the minesweepers..."
"Order the gunners to redouble their efforts! Flagler nailed one of the bastards straight in a magazine and I'm not about to have my boys outdone!"
(mounting for a rangefinder in one of the smaller armoured positions.)
"New traverse positions coming in, Sir!"
(an old gutta-percha switchbox mounting for the fort's telegraphy.)
"And we've got another, by god!"
"By the lord indeed, they're hauling out of line! We've driven 'em off, boys!"
(And that was the short version of Marina's visit to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.)
So, here we go:
"Turntable at 40 degrees right, Sir!"
"Elevate the gun!"
"Central Battery Director gives us range at eight-zero-five-zero yards, Sir."
"Very well, eight degrees elevation and clear the gun crew for firing!"
"FIRE!"
(An image from the fort when it was in service of one of the 10in rifles being fired.)
"Breech open and the gun's fully recoiled to loading position, Sir!"
"Bring up the next round and stand by to traverse the turntable!"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
"Shell's up!"
"One round, AP, begin the loading drill!"
"Powder up!"
(This is the receiving cradle for the lift bringing 10in shells up to service the gun from the heavily reinforced concrete magazine buried into the structure of the fortress. Shell and powder would be loaded separately with the powder in those days in silken bags.)
"Don't worry, boys, they can't even see our guns under the glacis...."
"Up shot!"
"Keep the rounds comin', boys! We're gettin' good hits on the bastards!"
(A closer up view of one of the ammunition cradles. Sadly grated over and not restored due to kids trying to climb into them once.)
"We've got to keep them from bringing up their minesweepers..."
(One of the fortified rangefinder positions.)
"Get yourself into the CBD! There isn't no way in god's own earth you can survive in the open under that barrage!"
(The view down into one of the firing control stations.)
"New range to the enemy battleships, six eight eight oh yards, heading..."
"Range tables?"
"Colonel, we've got for Battery Valleau, shift elevation to seven degrees, traverse to thirty-four degrees right, for battery...."
(Inside the fire control director. Once held a huge turntable for an utterly massive optical rangefinder, and there's still some of the original boards on the slats behind it for where they'd have the range tables marked out.)
"Thank god we've not had a gun knocked out of action yet, but by lord the boys are taking a terrible pounding from the enemy's high explosive."
(A look at the backs of the batteries from the fire control post.)
"They're making their move, Sir! Small boats, trawlers, heading toward the minefield."
"Signal Battery Trevor to stand ready for action, Lieutenant!"
"Sir!"
(Some of the fort's 3in guns.)
"Just a little closer, ya bastards..."
"Battery Trevor No. 2 has taken a direct hit, Sir, the barrel's burst!"
(Damage to one of the 3in guns still there. I believe this happened in the Philippines in WW2, where the guns were recovered from and re-mounted here in the 60's to replace the original pieces.)
"Major! The barrel's still intact on No. 1 Trevor!"
"Clear those wounded out of the way and get that gun back in action, at the double-quick!"
"Load!"
(The breach-blocks were removed from the guns in 1942 in the Philippines and thrown into Subic Bay to render them useless to the Japanese.)
"Sir! The battleships are coming within five thousand yards and they're opening up with their secondary and tertiary batteries to help support the minesweepers..."
"Order the gunners to redouble their efforts! Flagler nailed one of the bastards straight in a magazine and I'm not about to have my boys outdone!"
(mounting for a rangefinder in one of the smaller armoured positions.)
"New traverse positions coming in, Sir!"
(an old gutta-percha switchbox mounting for the fort's telegraphy.)
"And we've got another, by god!"
"By the lord indeed, they're hauling out of line! We've driven 'em off, boys!"
(And that was the short version of Marina's visit to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.)