A 38 Ton Rifled Muzzle Loading gun
From 1875 the main armament at Landguard was a casemated battery of rifled, muzzle loading guns. Five guns were of 38 tons and two of 45 tons. The shells for the 38 ton guns weighed 800 Lbs and contained sixty 3.5 inch chilled steel balls. The purpose of these was to shatter on impact and spread sharp steel fragments over a wide area. This would have been very effective against wooden hulls or decking, masts and rigging and naval personnel.
A detachment of 17 men would live in an area adjacent to their gun whilst on active duty. A well drilled crew could fire a round every three minutes and although the guns never saw action against hostile forces there were frequent drills. The guns were fired electrically by a gunnery officer from the roof of the Fort.
The drawing shown here is of a Mark I gun although the guns were replaced frequently as artillery design improved. The photograph above is of a similar gun at Nothe fort on the south coast and indicates the type of display we would like to put in place at Landguard.
