Quote:
In Fort Rinella. Kalkara, Malta, there is one of the world's two surviving Armtrong Whitworth 100-ton guns. The barrel weighed 100 tons, and fired a one-ton shell to the horizon, where it could penetrate the armour of any ship. At five miles it had a hit rate of 98%. The crew was never exposed to enemy fire when it was in operation, as it swivelled this way and that for loading on hydraulics. Today, its fire rate of one round every six minutes makes it obsolete, but in its day, this was terrifyingly fast for so vast a weapon.
The shell was propelled from the barrel by 450lbs of gunpowder. Local huntsmen would wait nearby during test-fires and recover unburned bits of powder scattered in front of the gun.
It may take a few rewinds to understand how it was loaded....:) 