Carriages For Rodman Guns
Rodman guns were mounted on three type of carriages—a front-pintle barbette carriage, a center-pintle barbette carriage, and a casemate carriage. All of these carriages were made of wrought iron. All three types of carriage were similar in design having an upper carriage that was paced on a two rail chassis. The gun and upper carriage recoiled along the chassis. The chassis would pivot to train the gun left or right.
The barbette carriages were designed to fire over a parapet and could be used in either permanent or temporary fortifications. The front pintle carriage pivoted at the front of the chassis. This made the gun mount more compact and allowed the gun and detachment to be better protected by embrasures and traverses. The center pintle carriage gave the gun a 360° traverse and was stronger for guns firing at high angles because the pintle, the strongest part of the carriage, would have been under the breech when the gun was fired at high angles.
The casemate carriage was designed to fire from casemates which were chambers in permanent fortifications. The carriage was essentially a front-pintle design, with the pintle fixed in the masonry in front of the chassis and below the guns embrasure. A “tongue’’ connected the chassis to the pintle. The casemate carriage has a lower profile than the barbette carriages.
The 8-inch and 10-inch Rodman guns could be mounted on all three types of carriages. The 15-inch Rodman guns were mounted on both types of barbette carriage. The two 20-inch guns were mounted on front-pintle barbette carriages.
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Period drawing of Rodman gun on a front-pintle barbette carriage
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Period photograph of Battery Rodgers Alexandria, Virginia showing a 15-inch Rodman gun mounted on a center-pintle barbette carriage (rear) and an 8-inch (200-pounder) Parrott rifle mounted on a front-pintle barbette carriage (front). The 8-inch Parrott rifle used the same carriage as the 10-inch Rodman gun.
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Period drawing of Rodman gun on a center-pintle barbette carriage
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Period photograph of a 15-inch Rodman gun mounted on a center-pintle barbette carriage at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
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Period drawing of a Rodman gun on a casemate carriage.
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Photograph of a Rodman gun on a casemate carriage in Fort Knox, Maine.
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