Sujet
Destruction of the Martello Tower, Eastbourne, Sussex, by Sir W. Armstrong's guns, at a..., 1860. Creator: Unknown.
Légende
Destruction of the Martello Tower, Eastbourne, Sussex, by Sir W. Armstrong's guns, at a distance of 1032 yards, 1860. 'The guns employed were a 40-pounder of 31 cwt., an 80-pounder of 63 cwt., and a short 100-pounder, weighing only 53 cwt...the projectiles employed were partly solid shot and partly percussion-shells. The tower was built of very strong brickwork, the thickness of the walls being 7 ft. 3 in. on the land side, and 9 ft. on the side next the sea...The 80-pounder shot was found to pass quite through the wall into the Tower, piercing 7 ft. 3 in. of brickwork; the others lodged in the wall at the depth of about 5 ft. Live shells were then fired...with so much effect that, after eight or ten rounds from each gun, the interior of the tower became exposed to view...Nothing could exceed the precision with which these shells were thrown. The broken section of the wail was itself but a small object to hit, but this was done with such unerring certainty that the very spot selected was almost invariably struck. The total number of shot and shell fired against the tower was 170, of which only a small proportion was from the 100-pounder. The 100-pounder gun used on this occasion throws shell which weigh 1001b. and contain 81b. of powder...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.
Crédit
Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector
Notre référence
HRM23B09_016
Model release
NA
Property release
NA
Licence
Droits gérés
Format disponible
49,0Mo (4,3Mo) / 42,0cm x 29,2cm / 4960 x 3453 (300dpi)