Artillery and Armour in the USA: Maine (3)

Artillery, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles in Maine (Part 3)

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery and all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in New England.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in New England would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Kittery Point, Fort McClary

(petersent Photo)

Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification located along the southern coast of Maine.  Built at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, it was used primarily throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hmpshire, and its U.S. naval shipyard.  Coastal defenses on the site date to the late 17th century, when local shipbuilder William Pepperell acquired the property and erected crude defense works in 1689. (Prior to that the village was protected by Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth.)  In 1715, during the lead up to Father Rale's War, the Province of Massachusetts Bay voted to erect a permanent breastwork of six guns for the defense of the Piscataqua River.  This fortification, known as Fort William, was transferred to the United States government in 1803; none of its features are known to survive.

 (Doug Kerr Photo)

Cast-iron 32-pounder moothbore muzzle-loading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, mounted on a wood traversing carriage inside the boat house.

Fort McClary was officially established in 1808, named for New Hampshire native Major Andrew McClary, an American officer killed in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill.  The fort was used throughout the 19th century, most notably during the War of 1812, and was further expanded in the 1840s, probably a consequence of tensions with Great Britain over the disputed border between Maine and New Brunswick.  The fort saw active use during the American Civil War, at which time it achieved much of its present structure.  Its Civil War garrison notably included the Vice President of the United States Hannibal Hamlin, who enlisted in the Maine Coast Guards as a private and served as a cook in the fort.  It saw little action during these conflicts.  By the 1910s, most of the fort had fallen into disrepair and it was officially decommissioned in 1918.

(Doug Kerr Photos)

(John Stanton Photo)

IX-inch Dahlgren Cast-iron smoothbore muzzle-loading Shell Gun, unmounted,  No. 1 of 4 Guns, resting on a wood platform, Fort McClary.

(Rob Duch Photo)

32-pounder M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, 4,500 lbs, unmounted, No. 2 of 4 Guns resting on a wood platform, Fort McClary.

IX-inch Dahlgren Cast-iron smoothbore muzzle-loading Shell Gun, unmounted, No. 3 of 4 Guns resting on a wood platform, Fort McClary.

XI-inch Dahlgren Cast-iron smoothbore muzzle-loading Shell Gun, unmounted, No. 4 of 4 Guns, largest of the four, resting on a wood platform, Fort McClary.

Lewiston

(Library of Congress Photo)

5"/51 caliber (127-mm) naval gun, possibly on USS Texas B-35, between 1910 and 1915.  These guns weighed 5 metric tons, and had a range of 14.5 km (15,850 yards) at the maximum elevation of 20 degrees.  The 5-inch/51 caliber gun was designed to engage destroyers, torpedo boats, and other surface targets.  It entered USN service in 1911.

(Queens Blessing Photos)

5"/51 calibre Simm Gun, 23,000-lbs.  This gun was acquired after the closure of Naval Air Station Brunswick.  Formerly located on the base next to the chapel, it is believed to have been removed from one of three ships: USS Nevada, the USS Florida or the USS Olympia.  The serial number is unreadable due to layers of paint.

5"/51 calibre guns initially served as the secondary battery of United States Navy battleships built from 1907 through the 1920s, also serving on other vessels.  United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 5 inches (127-mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 51 calibers long (barrel length is 5" × 51 = 255" or 6.4 meters).

(U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph)

USS Florida (BB-30), anchored in harbour, circa 1921.

Lincoln

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018))

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 3980A), American Legion Post 77, 3 Fleming St.

Lincolnville

(KM Jackson Photo)

Cast-iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage facing the harbour at Lincolnville Beach.  It has a bronze plaque which reads, "This cannon was stationed at Lincolnville beach for the protection of this village during the War of 1812.  Restored to this original location on May 18, 1957 by Edwin W. Kibbe who gave it to the people of the Town of Lincolnville".

Livermore Falls, Androscoggin

 (Maine.gov Photo)

8-inch Rodman Gun (Columbiad, 8-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, Model 1844), weight greater than 9,000-lbs, mounted vertically on a Civil War Memorial at the corner of Knapp and Church Streets.

Lubec

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, Cyrus Alger & Company, Serial No. 19.

Machiasport

Fort O’Brien in the Town of Machiasport is one of the oldest forts in the state.  This outpost was built in 1775 as Fort Machias by two officers in the Continental Army, Captain Jeremiah O’Brien, and Major Benjamin Foster.  Established in response to a possible attack following the capture by American forces of the HM Schooner Margaretta.  The British attack was swift and in 1777 chased off the defenders, but the British did not stick around, and the fort was reoccupied by 1781 under the name Fort O’Brien.  With the end of the Revolution, the fort was abandoned and fell into disrepair.  When border disputes in the early 19th century threatened to boil over the old post was rebuilt with a stone and earth bastion, and mounted four guns.  The fort never saw action during the British invasion of 1814 but it was the final American post that was destroyed by the British after they had established their occupation.  The British simply took the guns and demolished the position rather than commit the troops to occupy it.  The American army would rebuild the post for the third time during the American Civil War, mounting three 32-pound guns along with a pair of rifled 24-pounder guns.  Due to its location, the fort never saw action and was abandoned in 1865.  Today a single brass Napoleon gun from the civil war is mounted on the earthworks; the powder magazine is still there as an overgrown mound.  The site is designated a state park and sits behind Fort O’Brien School.

(Alex Luyckx Photo)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), mounted on an iron stand.

Madawaska

Anti-aircraft guns mounted in an M-15A1 Combination Gun Motor Carriage, Normandy, June 1944.  (US Army Photo)

(Joe Mabel Photo)

M15A1 Half-track gun mount, VFW Post.  The M15 Halftrack, officially designated M15 Combination Gun Motor Carriage, was a self-^propelled anti-aircraft gun mounted on a half-track chassis used during the Second World War.  It was equipped with one M1 automatic 37-mm (1.5 in) gun and two water-cooled 0.5 inch (12.7-mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns.  Based on the M3 Half-track chassis, it was produced by the White Motor Company and Autocar between July 1942 and February 1944.  Similar to this M-15A1 Combination Gun Motor Carriage on display at the Fort Lewis Military Museum, Fort Lewis Washingon.

Medway

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4123A), Veterans Memorial Park.  

Millinocket

‍

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 3556), American Legion Post No. 80.

Bell UH-1H Iroquois (Serial No. 64-13678), American Legion Post No. 80.

Orono, University of Maine

(umaine.edu Photo)

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Cast-iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading replica gun from the USS Constitution, previously mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, now mounted on a concrete stand,  No. 1 of 2.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Cast-iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading replica gun from the USS Constitution, previously mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, now mounted on a concrete stand, No. 2 of 2.

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Cast-iron 8-inch Rifle, (P, F.J.H., 1877) on left trunnion, B.F. No. 182, on the barrel, (8 IN Rifle, 17,230 lbs, No. 12) on the right trunnion, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 1 of 2.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

 (Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

Cast-iron 8-inch Rifle, (P, F.J.H., 1877) on left trunnion, B.F. No. 186, on the barrel, (8 IN Rifle, 17,230 lbs, No. 16) on the right trunnion, P, 270 on the button, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 2 of 2.

Oxford

(Author Photo)

German First World War 7.58-mm leMW trench mortar. Veterans Memorial Park, similar to this one in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario.

The 7.58-cm leichtes Minenwerfer alter Art old model (7.58-cm leMW a.A.) is a German trench mortar.  The Russo-Japanese War of 1905 had shown the value of mortars against modern fieldworks and fortifications and the Germans were in the process of fielding a whole series of mortars before the beginning of the Great War.  Their term for them was Minenwerfer, literally mine-thrower, and they were initially assigned to engineer units in their siege warfare role.  By the Winter of 1916-17 they were transferred to the infantry where the leMW’s light weight permitted them to accompany the infantry in the advance.

The leMW was a rifled muzzle loader (RML) with hydraulic cylinders on each side of the tube to absorb the recoil forces and spring recuperators to return the tube to firing position. It had a rectangular firing platform with limited traverse and elevation.  Wheels could be added to ease transportation or it could be carried by at least six men.  In 1916 a new version, designated as the n.A. (neuer Art) new model, was fielded that had a new circular firing platform that added a turntable which permitted a full 360 degree traverse.  It also had a longer 16-inch (41-cm) barrel and could be used for direct fire between 0° and 27° elevation if the 90 kg (200 lb) trail was fitted to absorb the recoil forces.  In this mode it was pressed into service as an Anti-Tank Gun.  (Wikipedia)

Phippsburg, Fort Baldwin

(Nabeel H Photo)

Fort Baldwin is a former coastal defence fortification near the mouth of the Kennebec River.  It was named after Jeduthan Baldwin, an engineer for the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The fort was constructed between 1905 and 1912 and originally consisted of three batteries:

1. Battery Cogan with two 3-inch M1903 guns on pedestal mounts.  Named in honour of a lieutenant in the 5th Continental Regiment during the American Revolution;

2. Battery Joseph Roswell Hawley with two 6-inch M1900 guns on pedestal mounts. This battery also housed the fort's original observation station and electric equipment. Named in honor of Brigadier General Joseph R. Hawley who served with distinction during the American Civil War; and,

3. Battery Hardman with one 6-inch gun M1905 on a disappearing carriage.  Named in honor of a Captain in the 2nd Maryland Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

(Chuck Woffard Photo)

6-inch M1903 Gun, firing, Fort Winfield Scott: Battery Lowell Chamberlin, California, prior to 1918.

Additionally, facilities for a controlled minefield in the river were built at nearby Fort Popham.  The fort was in caretaker status prior to the American entry into the First World War.  During that war, Fort Baldwin and Fort Popham had a garrison of 200 soldiers from the 13th and 29th Coast Artillery companies of the Coast Defences of Portland.  All three 6-inch guns were withdrawn in 1917 as part of a program to put these weapons on field carriages and use them on the Western Front.  Battery Hawley's guns were not sent overseas and were remounted in 1919.  Battery Hardman's gun was sent to France; apparently it was eventually returned to the US but not to Fort Baldwin.  A history of the Coast Artillery in World War I states that none of the regiments in France equipped with 6-inch guns completed training in time to see action before the Armistice.

In 1924, Fort Baldwin was disarmed as part of a general drawdown of less-threatened coast defenses and sold to the State of Maine. Early in the Second World War, four circular concrete "Panama mounts" were constructed at Fort Baldwin, two of them on Battery Hawley's 6-inch gun positions.  These were to provide improved firing platforms for towed 155-mm M1918 guns that were adopted by the Coast Artillery following the First World War.

From 1941 to 1943, Battery D, 8th Coast Artillery protected Fort Baldwin and its Fire Control Tower that could radio the precise position of enemy vessels to batteries in Casco Bay, notably Battery Steele with its 16-inch guns.  

A battery of four 155-mm guns, most likely from Fort Williams, was deployed to Fort Baldwin from early 1942 to 17 January 1944.  After the war, the Army returned the property to the State of Maine in 1949.  The fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.  (Wikipedia)

(US Army Photo)

155-mm Model 1917 Field Gun, employed in Coastal Defence.

The French Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux mle 1917 with a wheeled gun carriage weighed 28,500 lbs and had a 2-foot long L/38.2 barrel.  It had a range of more than 20 km (12 miles).  These guns were manufactured in the USA from 1917, after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns. It was used by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps as their primary heavy artillery gun under the designation 155-mm Gun M1917 (French-made) or M1918 (US-made) until 1942.

Phippsburg, Fort Popham

(Doug Kerr Photo)

Fort Popham is a Civil War-era coastal defence fortification at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Phippsburg.

During the American Revolution a minor fortification stood on this site; in 1808 the federal government built a small battery to accommodate guns on field carriages on this location as part of the Second System of fortifications that guarded the coast.  In 1811 it was described as "An enclosed work, with a battery of six heavy guns mounted, a small magazine, and wooden barracks for 40".  The battery remained manned until 1815 and saw minor action during the War of 1812.  After the war four of the guns were relocated to a new battery at Cox's Head, north of Fort Popham on the west bank of the Kennebec.  This was a brick fort with barracks for 105 men.

Fort Popham was originally designed to mount 42 heavy guns, a mix of 10-inch and 15-inch Rodman Guns, but construction was halted in 1869 with only two of the planned three tiers completed.  In the late 19th century, Fort Popham's armament consisted of 36 Rodman guns and some Parrot, 10-inch, rifle, seacoast, Model 1862, and smaller Parrott Rifles.  One of the Rodman guns was donated to the town of Bowdoinham to remember its soldiers who died in the Civil War.  The gun is still there.  A 6.4-inch Parrott rifle sits near the fort grounds; it is listed as being at the fort in 1903.  The back side of Fort Popham was built with a low moated curtain containing a central gate and 20 musket ports.

In 1869, construction at Fort Popham stopped before the fortification was completed.  The fort was garrisoned again after additional work was performed during the Spanish–American War and the First World War.  In 1899, shortly after the Spanish–American War, a single 8-inch M1888 gun was mounted near the fort on a converted Rodman carriage, joining four 15-inch Rodman guns; it was removed in 1910.  This was an emergency measure to provide modern guns at threatened locations until the Endicott program forts could be completed. Under this program, construction of Fort Baldwin on the headland above Fort Popham began in 1905 with longer-range guns, which eventually rendered Fort Popham obsolete. However, at the time Fort Baldwin was built, Fort Popham remained important, with new facilities for a controlled minefield in the river at the fort.  During the First World War, Forts Popham and Baldwin were garrisoned by about 200 men of the 13th and 29th Coast Artillery companies of the Coast Defenses of Portland.  (Wikipedia)

Portland

(Junglerot Photo

4.5-inch Model 1861 Siege Rifle, mounted on a wheeled wood gun carriage, No. 1 of 2. Fort Allen Park, Eastern promenade.

(BDN Maine Photo)

4.5-inch Model 1861 Siege Rifle, mounted on a wheeled wood gun carriage, No. 2 of 2. Fort Allen Park, Eastern promenade.

(Library of Congress Photo, ID det.4a14470)

Six–inch Naval Rifle on USS Newark.  The USS Maine was armed with six of these rifles.

(Robert Duch Photo)

(Rachel Marrill Photo)

6-inch Naval Rifle from the USS Maine ca. 1895, mounted on a concrete stand.  Fort Allen Park on the Eastern Promenade of Portland.

(USN Photo)

USS Maine.

Portland, Fort Gorges

M1861 10-pounder RML Parrot Rifle.

The Parrott rifle, invented by Robert Parker Parrott, was manufactured in different sizes, from 10-pounders up to the rare 300-pounder.  The 10- and 20-pounder versions were used by both armies in the field during the American Civil War.  The smaller size was much more prevalent; it came in two bore sizes: 2.9-inch (74-mm) and 3.0-inch (76-mm).  Confederate forces used both bore sizes during the war, which added to the complication of supplying the appropriate ammunition to its batteries.

Portland, City Hall

Cast-iron smoothbore muzzle-loading possibly 4-pounder Gun, mounted, King George III cypher and British broad arrow, Revolutionary War era.

Portland, Evergreen Cemetery

In 1848 Lieutenant John A. Dahlgren, of the U.S. Navy, was assigned to determine the suitability of army mountain howitzers for mastheads, small boats, and landing parties. Not satisfied with their performance, Dahlgren initiated what was to become the development of a family of similar small bronze weapons for use in attacking small vessels that were highly armed, to cover the landing of regular troops and to accompany parties of sailors when disembarked. There were three different sizes of Dahlgren Boat Howitzers, Small, Light and Heavy.

Bronze 12-pounder Dahlgren rifled muzzleloading boat howitzer, Heavy.

Prospect, Fort Knox

Artillery preserved at Fort Knox in Prospect is listed on a separate page on this website.

Rockland

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

Cast-iron 8-inch smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege Howitzer, No. 12, CA & Co, 2,544 lbs, TJP 1863 on the muzzle, No. 1 of 2 mounted on a concrete stand, with a set of nine-inch cannon balls are stacked nearby (far larger than the muzzle of the gun).

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

Cast-iron 8-inch smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege Howitzer, No. 32, 2,528 lbs, JM*, FORT PITT, PA, 1862 on the muzzle, No. 2 of 2 mounted on a concrete stand.  These two guns were donated to the local Rockland Chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic by the Federal Government in 1897.

(Author Photo)

Memorial plaque.

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle.  The muzzle and trunnions are marked RMH 4,190 lbs, No. 352, 1864, WPF (West Point Foundry), 42.  The gun is mounted on a concrete stand at the Midcoast Area Veteran's Memorial.

Memorial Plaque.

The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.  The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a graduate of West Point. Parrotts were manufactured with a combination of cast and wrought iron.  The cast iron made for an accurate gun, but was brittle enough to suffer fractures.  Therefore, a large wrought iron reinforcing band was overlaid on the breech to give it additional strength.  Similar guns had been designed this way in the past, but the method of securing this band was the innovation that allowed the Parrott to overcome the deficiencies of these earlier models. It was applied to the gun red-hot and then the gun was turned while pouring water down the muzzle, allowing the band to attach uniformly.   By the end of the Civil War, both sides were using this type of gun extensively.  In the field, the 10- and 20-pounders were used by both armies. Parrott rifles were manufactured in different sizes, from 10-pounders up to the rare 300-pounder.  Several hundred Parrott gun tubes remain today, many adorning battlefield parks, county courthouses, museums, etc.  The gun tubes made by Parrott's foundry are identifiable by the letters WPF (West Point Foundry), along with a date stamp between 1860 and 1889, found on the front face of the gun tube.

Rockport

Two 30-pounder Parrott Rifles and stacks of shells inside Fort Putnam, South Carolina.  (Library of Congress Photo)

RML 4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle. US Route 1.

Rumford

(Oliver's Travels Photo)

12-pounder Whitworth Breechloading Rifle, manufactured in England, mounted on a wheeled carriage, beside the Civil War Memorial.

Searsport

(Author Photo, 27 May 2019)

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

32-pounder M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, 4,500 lbs mounted on a concrete stand, US Navy, ca. 1840’s, No. 1 of 2. US Route 1.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

32-pounder M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, 4,500 lbs mounted on a concrete stand, US Navy, ca. 1840’s, WRF, No. 79571, No. 2 of 2. along Main Street, US Route 1.

Sherman

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

Cast-iron 1-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun "Old Zack", mounted on a wheeled carriage, beside the War Memorial.  This gun is likely pre-civil war vintage.

(Author Photo, 16 May 2018)

Sherman Civil War Memorial in a cemetery on a hill overlooking the town, with a pair of Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzers, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), mounted on concrete stands.

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), mounted on a concrete stand, muzzle/trunnion # 2 inscribed Federal Acceptance, No. 432, Casting No. 451, Revere Copper Co, 1238 lbs, 1864 (Date of Acceptance), RMH (Person in charge and Acceptance).  No. 1 of 2 , part of the Civil War Memorial.

(Thierry H. Bonneville Photo)

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), mounted on a concrete stand, muzzle/trunnion #1, inscribed Federal Acceptance, No. 427, Casting No. 438, Revere Copper Co, 1238 lbs, 1864 (Date of Acceptance), RMH (Person in charge and Acceptance).  No. 2 of 2, part of the Civil War Memorial.

South Berwick/York

(Maine.gov Photo)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on an iron garrison carriage, No. 1 of 3 in Monument Square, Portland Street.

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on an iron garrison carriage, No. 2 of 3 in Monument Square, Portland Street.

(Jake Hunkler Photo)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on an iron garrison carriage, No. 3 of 3 in Monument Square, Portland Street.

South Portland, Cumberland

4-inch rifle, US Navy, ca. 1900 made at Naval Gun Factory, Washington Navy Yard. American Legion Post on Broadway.

(maine.gov Photo)

8-inch Rodman Gun (Columbiad, 8-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, Model 1844), weight 9,240-lbs, converted rifle, mounted vertically on a Civil War Monument, Forest City Cemetery, Lincoln Street.

South Portland, Fort Preble

(Daderot Photo)

Fort Preble, with the remains of one of the six-inch disappearing gun emplacements of Battery Rivardine.

Fort Preble was a military fort built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906.  It is now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College. Secretary of War Henry Dearborn authorized construction of Fort Preble in 1808 with his son, Massachusetts Militia officer and future general Henry A. S. Dearborn, supervising the construction.  The fort was named in honour of Commodore Edward Preble, who led a squadron of American warships during the Barbary Wars.  Preble died in Portland in 1807 and is buried there.  The initial construction at Fort Preble was part of the Second System of US fortifications.  

(Calendar5 Photo)

50-pounder (7.25-inch, 184-mm) M1811 Columbiad, similar to this one at Clear Lake, Wisconsin.  The Columbiad was a large-calibre smoothbore muzzleloading Gun that could fire heavy projectivles at both high and low trajectories.  This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid shot or shell out to long ranges, making it an excellent seacoast defense gun for its day.  The Columbiad was invented by Colonel George Bomford of the United States Army in 1811.  Columbiads were used by the United States coastal artillery units from the time of the War of 1812 until the early years of the 20th Century.  Very few Columbiads were used outside of the U.S. and Confederate Armies; nevertheless, the Columbiad is considered by some as the inspiration for the later shell-only Guns developed by Frenchman Henri-Joseph Paixhans some 30 years later.  (Wikipedia)

Fort Preble was a star fort made of stone, brick, and sod, with 14 heavy guns including two 50-pounder (7.25-inch, 184-mm) Columbiads.  The fort is described in the Secretary of War's report for December 1811 as "an enclosed star fort of masonry, with a circular battery with flanks; mounting 14 heavy guns (with) barracks for one company".  Along with Fort Scammell on nearby House Island, Fort Preble was built to deter attack by a hostile power in the event the United States was considered a belligerent in the ongoing conflict between Great Britain and Napoleonic France.  Various units manned Fort Preble during the War of 1812.  Fort Preble received new batteries circa 1845, a 12-gun North Battery and a 10-gun South Battery.

(Coast Defense Study Group Photo)

12-inch mortars, Fort H.G. Wright, on Fishers Island, NY.

In 1896-1906 several modern Endicott era coast defence batteries were installed at the fort as part of the Coast Defences of Portland, which also included Fort Williams, Fort McKinley, and Fort Levett.  Batteries Kearny and Chase totaled sixteen 12-inch mortars (305-mm) and were completed in 1901.  These were named for Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny of the Mexican-American War and Lieutenant-Colonel Constantine Chase of the Civil War.  Originally all sixteen mortars were Battery Kearny, but Battery Chase was named in 1906, with each battery comprising eight mortars.  They were followed in 1906 by Battery Rivardi with two disappearing 6-inch (152-mm) guns and Battery Mason with one 3-inch (76-mm) gun.  Battery Rivardi was named for John J. U. Rivardi of the 1st US Artillerists and Engineers, who served 1795-1802 and worked on the First System forts.  Battery Mason was named for Philip D. Mason, an artillery officer killed in the Civil War.  Two mortars from Battery Kearny-Chase were moved to West Point in 1911, probably to instruct cadets in their use.

The fort remained active through the First World War, but was partially disarmed as part of a program to send heavy artillery and railway artillery to the Western Front.  Battery Rivardi's two 6-inch guns were shipped to France for use as field guns in 1917 and were not returned to the fort.  Six mortars from Batteries Kearny and Chase were removed in 1918-19 for use as railway mortars; this was part of a general halving of mortars to alleviate overcrowding of their emplacements during reloading.  This left Fort Preble with eight mortars and one 3-inch gun.  In 1924 the Coast Artillery adopted a regimental organization, and the Regular Army's 8th Coast Artillery Regiment was formed at Fort Preble.  A reserve regiment to supplement the regular forces in wartime was also formed, the 240th Coast Artillery of the Maine National Guard.  Both of these regiments manned the Harbour Defences of Portland early in the Second World War, in which Fort Preble was a naval net depot for net laying ships and a control station for the Casco Bay degaussing range.  All remaining mortars were scrapped in 1942; Fort Preble was superseded by new defenses centered on Battery Steele on Peaks Island.  Only one 3-inch gun remained, which was removed in 1946.  (Wikipedia)

Springvale

(James F. Gibson Photo)

3-inch Ordnance Rifle, Fair Oaks, Virginia, Lt Robert Clarke, Capt John C. Tidball, Lt William N. Dennison, and Capt Alexander C. M. Pennington. 1862.

3-inch Ordnance Rifle, Serial No. 178.  American Legion Hall.

3-inch Ordnance Rifle, Serial No. 260.  The 3-inch (76-mm) rifle was the most widely used rifled gun during the war. Invented by John Griffen, it was extremely durable, with the barrel made of wrought iron, primarily produced by the Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Trenton

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4122A), American Legion Post 207, 163 Bar Harbor Rd.

(Author Photo, 16 May 2018)

M41 Walker Bulldog, private owner.  Similar to this one at the 3rd Cavalry Museum, Fort Hood, Texas.

(Author Photo)

M36B2 Jackson, private owner.  Similar to this M36B1 Jackson on display at the 3rd Cavalry Museum, Fort Hood, Texas.

Waterboro

(Max Smith Photo)

Howe and Howe Technologies FV432, private owner.  Similar to this one at RAF Duxford in England.

Waterville

(MrDeadmau5 Photo)

(Lumbricus Photo)

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4094A), American Legion Post 5, 21 College Ave.

30-pounder Parrott Rifle, on the Common.

(Amy Calder Photo)

German First World War 15-cm Schwere Feld Haubitze (15-cm sFH 93) Model 1893 heavy field howitzer.  Weighing nearly 5,000 lbs, a team of six horses was required to move it.  The howitzer fired 90-lb explosive shells over a range of 3.5 miles.  Roughly 600 were built.  The sFH 93 stands in front of the Civil War Memorial, Front Street in Castonguay Square.  This German howitzer was designed in 1893 and was cast using nickel steel.  It remained in service with German reserve units throughout the First World War.  On the Common.

Winterport, Waldo

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Bronze 6-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 1 of 4 at the base of the Civil War Memorial.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Bronze 6-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, ABR AND BRO, VBURG.MISS, No. 18, 1862 on the left trunnion, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 2 of 4 at the base of the Civil War Memorial.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Bronze 6-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a concrete stand, Washington Artillery, John Clark Maker, New Orleans, No. 3 of 4 at the base of the Civil War Memorial.

(Author Photos, 5 Oct 2018)

Bronze 6-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, ABR AND BRO, VBURG.MISS, No. 10, 1862 on the left trunnion,  No. 4 of 4 at the base of the Civil War Memorial.

Wiscasset

(Phil Di Vece Photo)

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, Cyrus Alger & Company, dated 1861, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, alongside the Veteran's War Memorial.

York Village

(Library of Congress Photo)

Two 100-pounder Parrott rifles (Parrott, 6.4-inch, rifle, seacoast, Model 1861), mounted on an iron front pintle barbette carriages on the flanks, and two 4.2-inch 30-pounder Parrotts, center, mounted on siege carriages, inside Fort Brady during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, manned by Company C, 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery in 1865.  The 6.4-inch rifles are on iron, front pintle, barbette carriages and the 4.2-inch rifles are on siege carriages.

100-pounder Naval Parrott rifle (Parrott, 6.4-inch, rifle, seacoast, Model 1861), weight 9,672-lbs, capable of firing an 80 or 100-pound shell with a 10-pound charge over 7,810 yards.   It took a crew of 17 to man it.  There is no indication of where this cannon might have seen action.  The inscription R.R.P. No. 206 refers to Robert Parker Parrott, inventor, and it may be a production number from the West Point Foundry where he was superintendent from 1836 to 1867.  This cannon is mounted on a granite base on the side of the hill below the Old York Gaol, a National Historic Landmark. There is a memorial to First World War veterans below it.  The Rifle stands in front of the Old York Gaol, built in 1719, partially from materials from the former jail dating from 1656.  The Old York Gaol claims to be the oldest jail in the United States.  It served as a jail at least until about 1860, and was restored as a museum in 1900.  (Wikipedia)

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