US Navy 13-Inch Mortar in Springfield, Massachusetts
US Navy 13-Inch Mortar in Springfield, Massachusetts. Photo by James Murray.
A US Navy 13-Inch Mortar, Pattern 1861, is displayed in Springfield, Massachusetts. Many thanks to friend-of-the-page James Murray for taking and sending these photos!
As manufactured at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862, the mortar weighed 17,124 pounds. It is marked with Foundry Number 1188. It bears the initials “J.M.B.” of US Navy Ordnance Officer John M. Berrien.
US 13-Inch Mortars were designed for US Army use in seacoast defenses. During the Civil War, they were used by the US Army in siege works - famously including the “Dictator” at Petersburg. They were used by the US Navy aboard mortar schooners and barges.
This example was placed in St. Michael’s Cemetery by the E.K. Wilcox Post 16 of the Grand Army of the Republic as a monument in a section of graves of veterans of the American Civil War.
A US 13-Inch Mortar photographed aboard USS CP Williams during the war
The top of the mortar is marked with a US Navy anchor
A dedication plaque from the E.K. Wilcox Post 16 of the G.A.R. is placed on the rear of the carriage.
The manufacture at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862 and the weight of 17,124 pounds can be read on the face of the mortar.
