The 60-Pounder Breech Loader of USS Kearsarge
A US Navy 60-Pounder Breech Loader which served aboard USS Kearsarge from about 1880 to 1886 is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. This gun was originally manufactured as a muzzle loading 60-Pounder (5.3-Inch) Parrott Rifle, Registry Number 61, at West Point Foundry in 1865.
Gonzalez Hontoria de 14cm mod 1883 at Trophy Park
14cm Spanish Naval Gun (Gonzalez Hontoria de 14 cm mod 1883) which was carried aboard the Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo. Almirante Oquendo, was an Infanta Maria Teresa-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War on July 3rd, 1898. This gun is displayed at Trophy Park at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
The Breechloading Rifle of Columbus
This little breechloading rifle was manufactured in 1863 by engineer W.J. McAllister using the wheel shaft of the sunken riverboat John C. Calhoun at the Columbus Naval Ironworks Company. Warren Ripley measured the bore at 2.75 inches. Ripley also gives the length overall as 61.25 inches, though he states that this doesn’t include the breechblock link (pg. 181).
USS Olympia - Protected Cruiser of the New Navy
USS Olympia was commissioned in 1895 at a time when wooden steam and sail ships of the “Old Navy” still actively cruised as part of the US Navy. She represents the “New Navy” and the end of the time period that this website actively covers. She is a unique survivor of the late 19th Century US Navy and a national treasure in need of our support!
5.3-Inch Parrott Breechloaders in Laconia, New Hampshire
Two US Navy 5.3-Inch Parrott Rifles originally manufactured as muzzle-loaders in 1864-1865 but converted to breechloaders in the 1870s are preserved and displayed on original carriages in Laconia, New Hampshire.