Fort Stevens began in 1863 as a Civil War fortification guarding the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. The Fort Stevens Historic Area of the Fort Stevens State Park has examples of some of the guns used at the fort.
200 Series
The last battery to be emplaced, Battery 245 featured the modern “200 series” of gun batteries that used radar to improve accuracy in foul weather and fog. These new guns could fire 9 to 15 miles away.
10-inch Rodman Smooth-Bore Cannon
The Rodman Gun, designed by Thomas Jackson Rodman (1815-1871) for the Union Army during the American Civil War, were mounted in seacoast fortifications.
Shown below is a full-size replica of the large coastal defense cannons used at Fort Stevens until the 1890s. This cast iron, muzzle loading cannon fired a 100 pound iron shell. The cannon weighed 15,100 pounds and with 15 pounds of powder it had a range of 2,800 yards.
The Earthworks at Fort Stevens originally had 1 15-inch Rodman (with 50 pounds of powder it had a range of 3,500 yards with a 315 pound shell); 17 10-inch Rodmans; 3 8-inch Rodmans (with 10 pounds of powder it had a range of 1,800 yards with a 65 pound shell); and 5 8-inch Parrott Rifles (with 10 pounds of powder it had a range of 4,300 yards with a 200 pound shell).
200 Pounder Parrott Rifle
Like the Rodman Gun, the Parrot Rifle, invented by Captain Robert Parrott, was a Civil War era gun. The Parrott Rifle was more accurate, cheaper, and easier to make than other guns, but it had a poor reputation for safety.
Shown below is a full-sized replica of the type of coastal defense gun in use at Fort Stevens from 1867 to the 1890s. It was a cast iron, muzzle loader that fired a conical iron projectile.
6-inch Rifle
This is a replica of the 6-inch rifle that was once a part of Battery Pratt.
155 mm Gun
This type of gun never saw use at Fort Stevens but was used along the Oregon and Washington coasts.
More Fort Stevens
Fort Stevens: Some ruins at Battery Clark (photo diary)
Fort Stevens: The West Batteries (photo diary)
Fort Stevens State Park: A forest trail (photo diary)