Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna is holding a special public day at Fort Rinella on Sunday, during which the monster 100-tonne gun there is to be fired. Throughout the day guided tours and historical re-enactments will be held offering visitors a unique insight into the daily life of the Victorian garrison. These will include the firing of period artillery, musketry drill, bayonet practice, military signalling and displays showing how the fort would have been defended in case of being attacked.
Fort Rinella was built by the British in 1878 as part of a set of four equally designed coastal batteries in Gibraltar and Malta. Each fort was armed with a single 100-tonne gun. This monster gun was originally designed by the eminent Victorian English engineer and inventor Sir William George Armstrong of Newcastle for the Italian navy. A new class of battleships was then being built in Italy which was to be armed with the world’s largest cannon.
As a result, Britain which at that time relied on the use of the Mediterranean as a quick route to India, opted to arm its two main stations in the region with the same type of armament. Hence, two coastal batteries were built in Malta – Forts Rinella and Cambridge and another two in Gibraltar. The 100-tonne gun fired a one tonne shell up to a distance of eight miles piercing 21-inches of wrought iron armour within that distance. To propel its shells it would use a quarter of a tonne of gun powder, the cost of which equalled the daily salary of 2,700 soldiers for a day!
The gun has gone down in history not only as the world’s largest muzzle-loading cannon ever to be built but also the first to be powered mechanically. Given its gargantuan size, Sir William George Armstrong was compelled to employ a steam-driven hydraulic set-up for this gun which allowed it to traverse, elevate and load. Using this system the gun could be loaded, aimed and fired in just six minutes!
Since 1991, Fort Rinella has been undergoing active restoration and management by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna. The historic fort is open to the public on a daily basis with guided tours on the hour and a historical re-enactment display at 2.30pm. However, given Sunday’s event special nature two animated tours of the fort inclusive of historical re-enactment displays will be held at 11am and 2.30pm. The gun will be fired at the end of the last animated tour at 4pm.
All guiding will be conducted in English by Mario Farrugia, FWA Chairman and student in the fields of military history and fortifications. A specially reduced entrance fee for the day will be charged at Lm5 per family group (parents and their children under the age of 16 years) and Lm3 per adult. Entrance for FWA members will be free of charge on presentation of valid membership card. A new scale model of the historic gun in 1:42mm scale will also be available for sale proceeds of which will go towards the ongoing restoration of the 100-ton gun.