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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Guns on the Gulf

For anyone who has a copy of "A History of Artillery" by Ian V. Hogg in their personal library (and everyone should) the Gulf Coast provides a memorable set of illustrations of the art.  The culmination of this development was probably the naval sixteen inch gun that threw shells like this from battleships like the Alabama.
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But the several forts located on the barrier islands here have examples ranging from Spanish smooth-bore canons to "pop-up" artillery pieces that defended the U.S. during World War II.  Fort Pickens, just a few miles to the west of Pensacola Beach on the end of Santa Rosa Island concentrates a lot of this history into a single site.
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These are a few of the guns preserved at Fort Pickens.
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Signage explains the artilleryman's workplace.
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And this display shows the geography and range involved at this location.
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