Robert Gray
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
The Pattern 1861, 13 inch Seacoast Mortar at the Washington Arsenal.
Photographs by Andrew J. Russell.
Developed in an age of massive innovation in ordnance technology, the 13-inch seacoast mortar became one of the most formidable weapons used during the Civil War. Emplaced on fixed wooden platforms, a movable railroad car or ship, mortars were able to launch projectiles in a high elevating arc.
While guns were intended to batter down the walls of a fortification during a siege, mortars were designed to fire explosive shells over the walls of the fort, killing the men inside, and forcing others to stay in bombproof shelters, or preventing the gunners from serving their guns and repairing damage caused by the bombardment. Mortars could also destroy structures inside the fortification such as magazines and barracks which would normally stay unharmed from standard guns. Heavier mortar shells could penetrate the decks of wooden ships and even threaten the deck plating of ironclad vessels.
When at a 45 degree angle of elevation, with a 20 pound gunpowder charge, a 13 inch mortar could fire a 220 pound shell to a range of 4235 yards.
HMdb.org - The Historical Marker Database.
Wikipedia.
Photo credits:
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Library of Congress
Photographs by Andrew J. Russell.
Developed in an age of massive innovation in ordnance technology, the 13-inch seacoast mortar became one of the most formidable weapons used during the Civil War. Emplaced on fixed wooden platforms, a movable railroad car or ship, mortars were able to launch projectiles in a high elevating arc.
While guns were intended to batter down the walls of a fortification during a siege, mortars were designed to fire explosive shells over the walls of the fort, killing the men inside, and forcing others to stay in bombproof shelters, or preventing the gunners from serving their guns and repairing damage caused by the bombardment. Mortars could also destroy structures inside the fortification such as magazines and barracks which would normally stay unharmed from standard guns. Heavier mortar shells could penetrate the decks of wooden ships and even threaten the deck plating of ironclad vessels.
When at a 45 degree angle of elevation, with a 20 pound gunpowder charge, a 13 inch mortar could fire a 220 pound shell to a range of 4235 yards.
HMdb.org - The Historical Marker Database.
Wikipedia.
Photo credits:
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Library of Congress
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