Three Tiers of Firepower
The Fast Passage provides easy entry to Narragansett Bay. So in wartime, an enemy fleet could have sailed right into Newport, with cannons blazing! To answer this potential threat, Fort Adams focused its firepower here on the west wall.
Top tier aimed to take down the mast and rigging. These guns could fire cannon balls linked by chains and bars that could cut the halyards, smash rigging and shred the sails.
Center tier swept the decks with cannon balls and even grape shot at close range.
Bottom tier, almost level with the water, aimed to skip the deadly hot shot, heated cannon balls, to strike at the waterline. Not only did they pierce the hull but also started fires in the wooden ships.
[ Along Bottom of Marker : ]The Deadly West Wall 1855
Top Tier Range
7 8-inch Columbiads 2.1 miles
33 8-inch S.C. Howitzers 1 mile
Center Tier Range
34 32 Pounders 1.1 miles
3 8-inch Columbiads 2.1 miles
3 24 Pounders 1.1 miles
Bottom Tier Range
34 42 Pounders 1.8 miles
3 8-inch Columbiads 2.1 miles
117 Cannons
Later 10-inch Rodmans were added to the West Wall
Marker can be reached from Fort Adams Drive, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
