I have been wondering if anyone knows about a repro scaled down version of this fascinating mortar?
[/img]
Here is a brief history of it:
13-inch seacoast and Navy mortar, Model of 1861. Total length, 56.5 inches; weight, 17,250 pounds; total production, 162; known survivors, 27. The the most well-known specimen of this class was the
Dictator.The 13-inch seacoast mortar weighed over 17,000 pounds and, as its common name implies, was intended for seige and fortifications and not field work. This monster was made portable during the Seige of Petersburg by being mounted on a railroad car, specially strengthened with extra beams and iron rods to withstand the strain of firing. Since this mortar threw a 218 pound shell about two and one-half miles with a charge of 20 pounds of powder, this strain was considerable.
The mortar was placed on the car and run up the tracks from City Point toward the Union cordon around Petersburg, where a curve in the tracks allowed the Dictator's gunners to adjust the plane of fire. The power of this weapon was enough to shatter most field magazines and bomb-proofs, and it is credited with causing the Confederate gunners to withdraw their attempts at enfilade fire along the right of the Union line.
Cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862, the whereabouts of the Dictator are now unknown, and this famous weapon may no longer survive. Its oft-repeated identification with No. 95, at Hartford, Connecticut, is untrue, as that piece does not match the recorded weight of the Dictator. Consult the The Siege of Petersburg web site, by Jim Epperson, for an overview of the campaign in which the Dictator played a pivotal role.
Click here to see the 13" in action![url] http://video.google.com/video...tart=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0[/url]
Here is a brief history of it:
13-inch seacoast and Navy mortar, Model of 1861. Total length, 56.5 inches; weight, 17,250 pounds; total production, 162; known survivors, 27. The the most well-known specimen of this class was the
Dictator.The 13-inch seacoast mortar weighed over 17,000 pounds and, as its common name implies, was intended for seige and fortifications and not field work. This monster was made portable during the Seige of Petersburg by being mounted on a railroad car, specially strengthened with extra beams and iron rods to withstand the strain of firing. Since this mortar threw a 218 pound shell about two and one-half miles with a charge of 20 pounds of powder, this strain was considerable.
The mortar was placed on the car and run up the tracks from City Point toward the Union cordon around Petersburg, where a curve in the tracks allowed the Dictator's gunners to adjust the plane of fire. The power of this weapon was enough to shatter most field magazines and bomb-proofs, and it is credited with causing the Confederate gunners to withdraw their attempts at enfilade fire along the right of the Union line.
Cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862, the whereabouts of the Dictator are now unknown, and this famous weapon may no longer survive. Its oft-repeated identification with No. 95, at Hartford, Connecticut, is untrue, as that piece does not match the recorded weight of the Dictator. Consult the The Siege of Petersburg web site, by Jim Epperson, for an overview of the campaign in which the Dictator played a pivotal role.
Click here to see the 13" in action![url] http://video.google.com/video...tart=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0[/url]
Last edited by a moderator:
