3-047-132 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Artillery experiments at Picklecombe Fort, Plymouth, 1872. 'The object was to ascertain practically the effect produced by the firing of several heavy guns when mounted on casemated works of modern construction, protected by iron shields, and the facilities with which such guns can be served under the new and improved conditions of shot and powder lifts, magazine and store arrangements, combined with the mechanical appliances recently introduced to facilitate the training and loading of the guns...Picklecombe is a double-tiered and casemated battery, constructed of granite, brick, and iron...It commands the western entrance to Plymouth Sound, and contains thirty-two M.L.R. guns...The structure stood the test perfectly. Not a shield started, not a bolt was displaced, not a crack or a flaw was perceptible in masonry or brickwork...the first and most important object was ascertained. The fort answered well. The amount of smoke in the casemates was small, and insufficient to interfere with the men in the discharge of their duties...The rope mantlets, fitted in the embrasures, and steeped in a fireproof solution (chloride of calcium), were found to answer the double purpose of protecting the gunners from flame and smoke'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.