M. 1864 20-Inch Rodman Gun

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Constructed in 1864, this muzzle-loading cast iron Smoothbore columbiad gun was designed by Thomas Jefferson Rodman and cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh utilizing four different furnaces to supply the 160,000 pounds of molten iron required for the piece. After requiring over a week to cool, the 20-inch diameter bore was cut over a period of weeks and reduced the pieces final weight to 116,497lbs. With a total length was 20 feet, 3 inches and a bore length of 17 feet, 6 inches, the gun was capable of firing a 1,080lb projectile.

Brought to Fort Hancock by a specially constructed double railway track, the gun was assembled with its custom made carriage which itself weighed 36,000lbs and when completed was one of the largest muzzle loading gun ever made and also largest iron gun cast in one piece, an honor it shared with it's twin at Fort Hamilton. Emplaced throughout the Civil War, the gun never fired a shot in anger and by the end of the conflict naval technology had shifted from sails to steam, allowing ships to outmaneuver the training mechanism on the massive gun mount and rendering it obsolete.

Removed from its battery before 1900 the enormous gun was spared the scrap heap likely due to its enormous weight more than it's historical significance and is now on display along with several of its projectiles.

civilwarwiki.net/wiki/20_inch_Rodman_Gun