Fort Rinella and The Armstrong 100 Ton Gun in Malta

[chaz1453]

Why is it the biggest muzzle loader in the world when Armstrong guns were the first breech loaders? /:

[spartan1131000]

So id this really gonna be in Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai

[neverbefree1000]

@spartan1131000 THATS WHY IM LOOKING AT THIS GUN TOO:) I CANT WAIT TILL SHOGUN 2 FALL OF THE SAMURAI COMES OUT i hope you get it to:)

[chaz1453]

@spartan1131000 Armstrongs came in loads of different sizes.

[noonsight2010]

The one in Gibraltar was no longer open to the public when I went there in 2009. I visited Fort Rinella in 1992.

[marmaloon]

@weerobbiet Yes there are probably no shells anywhere in the world outside of museums or at the end of their trajectory on the bottom of the ocean.

[noonsight2010]

@marmaloon

There are either 9inch or12.5 inch shells from similar pattern but lighter Armstrong Muzzle loaders at Coalhouse Fort in East Tilbury. The muzzle loaders from Coalhouse Fort went to Malta and are on a pig farm there. The owner won't allow access. The shells had lugs to engage the rifling and could be fitted with impact or delayed fuzes.

[marmaloon]

@noonsight2010 Thanks. These are very interesting cannons. At the time they must have been just about the most powerful war machines available. *wink

[noonsight2010]

@marmaloon

They were. But given the speed, armour and armament of those relatively new fangled steel steam ships they were obselete even as they came into service. The slow rate of fire made them virtually useless. Just a few years after the 100 ton gun was installed came effective breach loading artillery with far greater range and rate of fire. In1906 by a 6" battery which had a range of around seven miles as opposed to a few hundred yards made Coalhouse Fort pretty much obselete.

[militaryarchitecture]

To see the shape, form and structure of the 100-ton Gun Batteries of Malta and Gibraltar see this video: watch?v=tvvYFTGyx38

[PERTORAMA]

ustav is the biggest gun ever mad it weight 1368tons

[teamsnowsurf]

i have an idea lets have a paintball or an airsoft battle in that fort XD

[SoulsStealerMalti]

@teamsnowsurf They wouldn't let you

[Rhonerin]

I whas there and the whole complex, the staff and the events are fucking awesome.

And that gun is huge!!!!

[tina6581]

Ha something on Malta the Germans and Italians didn’t bomb back to the stone age.

[SoulsStealerMalti]

@tina6581 They didn't need to. At the time, the gun being obsolete, both this rinella battery (it is a battery not a fort: Fort Rinella is a different fortification altogether situated at the right tip of the Grand Harbour) and the gun were in an abandoned state. Oh and only the germans bombed us with effect. The italians either dropped the bombs in the sea and flew back ahead of schedule or dropped the bombs very inaccurately. FACT. The luftwaffe was the only effective aggressor.

[noonsight2010]

@SoulsStealerMalti

Where do you think this gun is then? It's in Fort Rinella pretty much at the right-hand entrance of Grand Harbour as one looks out to sea.

[SoulsStealerMalti]

@noonsight2010 You got it completely wrong. You see, there are two fortifications named Rinella on the right side of the Grand Harbour. The one you are mentioning is Fort Rinella, a huge fort built by the Knights. It truly is on the right hand entrance of the Grand Harbour. However that is not where the gun is kept. It is kept in the Rinella Battery built by the British still facing the sea but further inland. Trust me I'm Maltese and I've been there a lot.

[noonsight2010]

@SoulsStealerMalti

I see! I bow to your local knowledge. I've been to Kalkara, many years ago, but didn't go right to the "tip" at the harbour entrance. I got to visit Malta for the third time (the first since 1996) in August this year (2011). I still love it and the wonderfully warm and welcoming people. I'd like to live on the island, particularly in Valletta, Rabat or Mdina. Sorry you got the ex-London bendy buses dumped on you! The old ones were better. Arriva is big in the UK.

[SoulsStealerMalti]

@noonsight2010 Yeah unfortunately the service is still poor. The buses and uniforms helped towards making the transport system look more professional. The local 'Transport Malta' people also redesigned the route system. Big mistake. Now many towns have to use one single route of buses which results in overcrowding of shelters and students like me being late for school often. The number of routes has been increased which means less buses per route and more people being late. I miss the old buses.

[s2117774]

the little david is bigger AND is a muzzle loader. Little david could fire a nearly 3 ton shell more than 16 miles away. It had such a recoil that they used a 40 tons of scrap metal to anchor it.

[simroy]

@s2117774 Little David was a mortar not a gun, different weapon system, designed for different purposes?

[aaabbbrrruuuhhhaaa]

this is a hand gun compared to the german railgun dora

[tina6581]

@aaabbbrrruuuhhhaaa Yes mate but that’s like comparing a Spitfire with a Euro fighter. Meaningless and pointless.

[Lumotaku]

@tina6581 yes unless you are comparing the awesomeness of the two Then the godlike Spitfire bitch slaps the boring Eurofighter.

[tina6581]

@Lumotaku Ok had not thought of it from that point of view and you are completely right mate.

[PERTORAMA]

@aaabbbrrruuuhhhaaa or gustav

[MrPelletgunguy]

pause at 1:06 it looks like a flame thrower

[lxgbmedia]

The British also have an Armstrong 100 ton gun in Gibraltar, they did have 2 but one was scrapped to make room for the firestation.

[tezorimaltin]

This is very informative. Who made this documentary piece so we can attribute it? Our community blog on Tumblr, "Tezori Maltin" daily features snippets of Maltese cultural heritage and this was featured today. You can also make your submissions on our page :) Cheers!

[arnetude]

In the old days that cannon could destroy a freakind 1st rate ship in one shot

[Xjonas335X]

Put a clown in it!

[kpadmirer]

At the end of WWII the US had an experimental muzzle-loading mortar with a 36" bore called "Little David" but it was never put into service.

[rukkus99]

I bet it was great , sorry i've never seen her fired . Maybe another time :)

[carmelbruno]

You are right. No one said it was the biggest gun in the world. But it is the the biggest muzzle loader and it was great to film the two remaining Armstrong guns in Malta and Gibraltar. It felt just great to be there and to hear it roar....

[rukkus99]

It IS the largest muzzle loading cannon and was the most powerful gun of its day . The K5 (E) Schwere Gustav and Dora were a breech loaders . No one said it was the biggest gun in the world ever built.

[Kordax21]

the Dora was wight more, fire heavyer ammo and got a bigger range .... so this ISNT the biggest gun in the world which was build

[TheAlexagius]

i've been there

[drunkonzombies]

This video helped me a lot. I am doing a project for my school about Fort Rinella and this video helped me altough i live close to it.

[rukkus99]

The Armstrong 17.72 (thats 457mm ) RML gun was a rifled muzzle loader developed and built in the1870's . Dora and Schwere Gustav were developed and built in the 1930's and were breach loaders , hardly a good or fair comparison.

[StoreslemLilleslem]

Dora & Gustav is bigger than this

[xx0MangiPogo0xx]

this is nothing to compared to the four 80cm train cannon that the german had in 2 world war they are really big !!!

[Armstrong202]

so,,, i am big and strong!!!

[phsjr]

what a stupid piece of artillery

[2JAMMY]

YEP! Ole Victoria mussta got her rocks off on this monster. A 1 tonne load is gonna hurt.

The only business that will never go out of business unfortunately. War, killing & control!

[Gruenkreuz100]

this is a big gun but never the biggest ever build. germany had a cal. 800mm canon in ww2. much bigger than this canon.

[LutzDerLurch]

@Gruenkreuz100 The biggest MUZZLE-LOADING Cannon!

[waazabie]

@Gruenkreuz100 the biggest muzzle loading cannon!

[CaesarInVa]

what is the caliber on that monster? 14 inches???

[carmelbruno]

They fired a reduced charge for us to film it. But I can assure you that even a reduced charge was amazing to see and feel. It was fantastic. And they fired it twice for us:)

[habbo19922]

looks like a giant dildo :D:D:D

[MrAsifkhanniaziofpak]

woahha ...cooool maaan

[HydroMeerkat]

There's also a 100 tonner in Gibraltar, Google it!

[Bullettube]

Great post! It's good to see that an important part of history has been preserved.

For comparison, the USS Iowa class battleships fire a 16in shell that weighs 2000 pounds over 23 miles. The armor piercing version weighed 2750 pounds. These Armstrong guns in their day were very powerful, but were soon made obsolete by even bigger and more powerful guns coming from the Armstrong company.

[sdkfz162kingtiger]

tiny crap against Dora and Gustav hahaha 1 tonn shell whatz that?! hahaha fire an 8 tonn shell you crap^^

[KiwiTomCrawford]

@sdkfz162kingtiger but back in the day this was the biggest and the best you would shit yourself just seeing it fire

[sdkfz162kingtiger]

@KiwiTomCrawford thats a fucking fake shot. thats stupid!

[marmaloon]

at point pleasant Park over in Halifax they have 2 9 lb RML guns, they are rotting away and nobody gives a damn - I emailed the douche in charge of the park and he didn't reply - typical Halifax Douche.

[ThaisBlackXboxLive]

Chuck Norris's handgun. :)

[aved619]

maybe the incredible hulk could load that thing. hehehhe

[raccoonmatinginyour]

Cool. That's a big gun, must be a pain to load o.O

[HMservant]

imagine that in your front yard!

[Preacherman1882]

@HMservant

Haha yeah.

"I told you, GIT THA HELL OFF MY LAND!"

God Bless.

The Preacherman.

[Potatonaught]

holyshit that thing is a monster

[aoraxjone]

4 times per year? what the hell is the point of that>?!>

[msaltalola]

hazed....it wasn't an Iraq supergun...lol...it was designed, made & tested in canada. The designer was assassinated on his doorstep. Yes it was actually tested & was deemed as strategically useless. The super gun you speak of was en route to Hussein...he had most of the pieces till the customs got smart & stopped shipment of the final pieces.

[Laxpowertoo]

They confiscated a truck convoy of cowhide too that was going to be used for the holster!

[supressorgrid]

Hahahaha!

[b1gbird001]

thats the prototype. they were planning one a little larger than that... 7 TIMES larger.

[BIGDTFC]

@msaltalola yes but aparently a prototype actually was built at least from what i read, project babylon

[dajohnnyboy252]

who would the british of fought on malta then? there using a martini henry like in the zulu wars.

[hazed100]

not much recoil on a blank round, doubt its even a "round" as such,probably just a big firecracker with plenty of smoke.

bet its still loud tho, id like to see it live.

what ever happened to that iraq supergun? was it ever put together and tested?

[msaltalola]

the gun was canadian not iraqi....customs prevented the final pieces from getting shipped.....yes it was tested

[ostasewski1985]

how the hell did that thing stay in place. had to of ripped the bolts out of that when it fired cus it looks stationary to me.

[ivanlagrossemoule]

Oh and I went to Malta and didn't see that canon. Shit, I missed the most important part of my holidays. That's what happens when you go on holidays with your mother. :(

[piggley123]

1 Ton ball, damn... that could probably demolish a ship hull in one shot if it struck directly. Who the hell even put the cannon ball into the thing, they had to have had some sort of strong loading mechanism.

[NotEnoughProductions]

yea thats wat i was think how would they load it

[ILOVESPEED25]

That thing would be crazy if real rounds were fired. I want to see that!!! BOOOOOOOMMM

[yaxoox]

what was the point of it? it doesent kill a thousand men in 1 shot. shy dident thay just make more smaller guns wich reload much faster and can kill more men in a shorter amount of time. and still cost less

[marmaloon]

the British had kinder gentler guns lol! :D

[bywd]

the gun was build as a defence of malta against the italian ships which also had 100 ton guns. without the 100 ton gun in rinnela the italian ships could level malta in complete safty thats why the 100 ton gun was build

[marmaloon]

Firing a blank charge out of this was probably nothing like firing a real shell out of it.

[TheAlexagius]

@marmaloon aparently i destroyed windows in the nearby city of valleta

[marmaloon]

@TheAlexagius This area of Nova Scotia had probably scores of heavy artillery pieces like this (but around 12" caliber or so), the battery in York Redoubt is still there and the Armstrong guns are there and will remain there until the day of judgment. The Armstrong coastal guns had heavy solid shot projectiles, and the rifling was engaged by brass rods that were shoved in to the actual projectile with a precision interference fit and then machined to fit the grooves. wants: a Jacobs rifle as if.

[marmaloon]

Lots of (lesser) Armstrong guns were in use for the Halifax Harbour defences - quite a sight, they are .

[hallmobility]

@marmaloon The British-built C.S.S. Alabama, Confederate navy raider, had two Armstrong rifles on pivots. I forget the size, perhaps 150-lb shells. I built a model of it when I was a kid. The period was 1862-1863 when she was built. This gun resembles them closely.

[hallmobility]

@hallmobility Except for size, of course.

[NotEnoughProductions]

how would they load it

like to think of this projectile in that air is crazy

[japhater]

i wonder what would would happen if u shot a person out of it

[tvobssesed]

Err... SPLAT ?

[japhater]

well... yes

[Electronicmusic88]

lol this is nothing

check out the 800mm GUSTAV cannon

7 tonne shells has arange of 30+ kilometers and leaves a 30 meter crater in the ground

[salamander163]

yup, also gustav/dora weighted 1328 tons, needed a complement of 1,500 soldiers to operate and could be moved via 2 paralleled railroad tracks,

this gun in malta is a punny gun!!!!

[dasvedas4]

If you listen carefully u will hear the worlds "muzzle loader", The gustav is not a muzzle loader. Pay attention next time.

[iwannavomit]

7 tons is less than 100 you dumb motherfucker...lrn2numbers.

[Electronicmusic88]

lol iwannavomit bet u fell like a right dumb bitch callin me a dumb motherfucker i said 7 tonne shells. and as salamander said it weighs 1328 tonnes

[tvobssesed]

We are talking about the largest gun " OF ITS TIME " and of course of its type !!!

Gustav / Dora came a long time after this one ! Should we mention Saddam's doomsday gun ? It had the longest range of them all ( on paper ). Comparing this gun to Gustav / Dora or Leopold would be like comparing Gustav to ICBM...

[ivanlagrossemoule]

Or maybe take a look about the "Paris Canon" that could fire at over 136km. But as said in previous comments, it's not the same kind of canon. (It's often mistaken with the "Dicke Bertha" canon.)

I'd like to see a vid of that canon firing a real shell.

[droooster]

From Malta and proud!!

thanks for the video!!!

really interesting!!

but i learn that the fire of that gun is as a one day pay of 2700soldiers not 2400!

[fran001001]

we have one of the biggest cannons on history

[Zyoher]

How do you aim that thing?

[ddmo2]

lol i dont think you do... i think its more of a physchological weapon

[Zyoher]

Nah or else they wouldn't use a bullet

[ddmo2]

even if they used a shell it could still be a physocological weapon, the splash from the shells impact would be absolutely massive.

[Duxier]

In terms of how it was moved into position to aim it's movement was hydrolically operated. The actual spot to aim was calculated like any other piece of artillery, by using geometry.

[andreaspiter]

I loove malta because i live there!XD

[crazycuntryboy2]

Thats a muzzle loader?!!!!!!!!! How do you load that thing!

[Duxier]

Built under the gun were loading chambers & a huge steam powered hydraulic system. The entrance to the two independent loading chambers can be seen 90 degrees to the left/right of the gun.

To load, the gun was hydraulically rotated to one of the chambers & the barrel tilted down. A hydraulic rammer then pushed the gun powder and shell into the back of the barrel. The barrel was then raised, rotated back, sighted & fired.

With 2 loading systems operating it could fire every 6 minutes.

[crazycuntryboy2]

Oh that's cool. Thanks!

[bashvilla]

ive been, i love the way the guards run haha

was a good day out, recommended to anyone

x

[kn1ghtstemplar]

If you find yourself in Malta go see it, it`s amazing.

[LeglessSheep]

amazing