Monday, May 20, 2013

Yesterday in Ft. DeSoto Park #1 (From Shannon)

Posted by Buckles at 5/20/2013 05:28:00 AM

3 comments:

Chic Silber said...


What war would this armament be from

I guess it was to protect Tampa Bay

20 May, 2013 10:53
John Shepherd said...

Those are 12" mortars, designed to throw a shell way up in the air and drop it almost straight down on the unprotected (or poorly protected) decks of enemy ships. Four of them were emplaced after the end of the Spanish American War to protect Tampa Bay. Similar installations were established to protect most U.S. ports; but DeSoto's 12 inchers are among the few not scrapped during WWII.

20 May, 2013 22:38
Buckles said...

I remember a competition at Ft. Chaffee to determine which Mortar Crew could get the most shells in the air before the first one landed.
Seems like it was around a dozen.
I also remember passing by a big Field Piece in Korea mounted on a semi I think they called it a "Long John", had a range of over five miles.
The crew were leisurely sitting around drinking coffee under an awning, reminded me of a circus back yard between shows.

21 May, 2013 05:59

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