- MORTAR PIT GUN READY FOR ACTION IN THE UNITED STATES SEACOAST DEFENSE EXHIBIT.
With model fortifications near the Government building, the War Department demonstrates the methods and armament of the United States seacoast defense. The guns are arranged for exhibit purposes rather than for actual service and interiors are exposed for inspection. This picture represents a mortar pit with a section of its wall removed that spectators may observe the inside workings. Usually each mortar pit contains four mortar guns, but for exhibition it is more convenient to have only one. The pit is round and from any direction it has the appearance of a simple mound of earth, the entrance being concealed by shrubbery. This is the only nation that uses mortars for coast defense. The machine shown here is a twelve-inch, breech-loading gun with a spring return carriage. It weighs 29,000 pounds and is supported by a movable frame three times its weight, its range is seven miles and it may be fired at the rate of four shots in six minutes. Tire velocity is 1,325 feet a second, and the penetration in steel 15 inches at the muzzle or 94 inches at two miles. Its shells weigh 1,000 pounds and require 50 pounds of powder to a charge.