Fort Rinella is a Victorian Fortification on the island of Malta. It was built by the British between 1878 and 1886 and stands above the shore east of the mouth of Grand Harbour, between Fort Ricassoli and Fort St Roca. The fort was built to contain a single Armstrong 17.72 inch rifled muzzle loading 102 ton gun, which is still in place.
The fort is modest in size since it was designed to operate and protect the single large gun, with its associated gun crew, magazines, bunkers, support machinery and the modest detachment of troops stationed within the fort to defend the installation.
The massive gun is far too heavy to be laid by hand, and the fort therefore contained a steam powered hydraulic system that traversed, elevated and depressed the gun, operated a pair of hydraulic powered loading and washing systems, and powered the shell lifts that moved the 2000 pound shells and 450 pound blackpowder charges from the magazines into the loading chambers. The gun was intended to operate at a rate of fire of a single shell every four minutes. The firing cycle was for the gun to be traversed and depressed until it aligned with one of loading casemates, with the barrel pushing aside an iron plate that normally closed the aperture in the casemate. The gun was then flushed with water to cool it, clean any debris and deposit from the barrel, and douse any remaining embers from the previous cartridge. The ramming mechanism then inserted and tamped a silk cartridge containing the propellant charge, which was followed by one of the range of shells the gun was adapted to fire. The loaded gun was then traversed and elevated using the hydraulic system, and fired by an electrical firing mechanism. The gun then slewed to the other casemate to repeat the loading process, while the first casemate was recharged from the deeper magazine.
The two separate loading casemates, each fed by an independent magazine, and the provision of man powered backup pumps for the hydraulic system, such that a team of 40 men could maintain the hydraulic pressure to operate the gun, would have allowed the fort to continue firing even if substantially damaged.
Though as originally built the inner faces of the emplacement were revetted with masonry, review of the forts defences after its completion identified this as a weakness, and the stone revetting was removed from most of the emplacement and replaced with plain earthworks, presumably to better absorb the energy of incoming shellfire. The revetting was retained around the loading casemates, as can also be seen in the image above.
The 100 ton guns were in active service for only 20 years, with all being withdrawn from active service by 1906, without ever firing a shot in anger.
After the Armstrong gun was retired from service Fort Rinella was used as a sighting point for the guns of Ricasoli Fort, and unfortunately at some point the now obsolete steam engine and hydraulic system were removed from Fort Rinella
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Fort Rinella and The Armstrong 100 Ton Gun in Maltaby carmelbruno130,262 views
im maltese. this beast is huge!!! 100 tons. it used to destroy a ship with 1 cannon ball. a fucken juggernaut
79902625 1 year ago
rinella is my last name lol
ThaProDylan 2 years ago
You are welcome.
Josef12056 3 years ago
thank you very much for the info
bizzyfingers 3 years ago
You should definitely try to go to the fort next time you go to Malta. I have been to the fort three times now. Last time that I was there, I fired the 8 inch Howitzer and one of the rifles! By the way these guys fire the Noon Gun every day at 12.00 sharp at Upper Barakka in Valletta.
Josef12056 3 years ago
this music is really good, who is it. nice vid too. ive been to malta but never seen this.
bizzyfingers 3 years ago
Proset Ivan :)
MoniksIsland 4 years ago
Oly crap tey accualy fired the gun!!!
I work at a huge costal defence base named Fort Hancock in Nj USA and we never had any batteries in as good of shape as that one and never fired one since the 1950's.
That gun is amazing and definably the best I've ever seen in the world!
inspiron43 4 years ago 2