Big Gun Arrives to Defend San Diego Harbor
A 67,000-pound rifle shipped from a New York arsenal became the first of three massive coastal guns being installed at Point Loma to guard San Diego against foreign naval attack — a glimpse of America's turn-of-the-century coastal defense buildup.
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Mesa Free Press · November 19, 1897 · Page 2
1 min readThe first of the large guns to defend San Diego port from foreign foe has arrived. The weapon is a ten inch rifle, shipped direct from the Watervliet arsenal, New York, and weighs 67,000 pounds. A specially constructed iron car was used in transporting the big gun from the east. The work of removing it to Ballast Point will begin immediately.
The gun will be taken to the wharf and there transferred to a lighter, to be towed to Ballast Point. The lighter will be beached and the gun taken off on skids and moved to the emplacement. The disappearing carriage for the gun has not yet arrived, but it is expected daily. The weight of this piece of machinery is about fifty tons. The United States government is having three of these monster guns placed on Point Loma, and it is expected that they will all three soon be in position to command the entrance to San Diego harbor against any invasion from a hostile foreign fleet.
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