The Mortar Battery
Named Battery Meigs, these two pits contained eight large 12-inch mortars. Each huge mortar was capable of hurling a 700-pound projectile in a high arc. The simultaneous firing of all eight would insure a clustered group of shells falling on the decks of an attacking battleship.
The rate of fire of these weapons depended upon the speed and skill of the 12 men needed to serve each mortar. The practiced teamwork of 96 men rushing to load, aim, fire, and reload these eight heavy weapons reflected the log hours devoted to gun drills. Men of the 17th and 37th Company Coast Artillery Corps, served this battery from 1900 to 1913.
Marker can be reached from Fort Washington Road, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
