Fort Cumberland (England) - Re-armament: The 1850s - 1860s

1860s

By the late 1850s, the development of rifled cannon had rendered the fort's smooth bored muzzle loading ordnance obsolete. In late 1858 the fort was transferred from the War Department to the Board of Admiralty and, in 1859 it became the headquarters of the Royal Marine Artillery. Between 1860 and 1861, the defences were improved to accommodate new muzzle loaded Armstrong guns.