20 December 2010

Old Singapore Quiz (21) - Another Pair Of Old Cannons Again - Answer


The two old cannons are located inside Changi Naval Base. Since they are sited near the sea, you should be able to see it if you pass by on a vessel. However, I was not in the sea but on land. To be precise, I was on the grounds of the Navy Museum next door which is not a restricted area.


Nobody got the answer to the location correct although YG did come up with a good guess, i.e. Cliff House at Bukit Chermin Road.

Peter Stubbs was probably right when he said that the cannons looked very much like 68-Pounder Smoothbore cannons. Compare the cannons with the one in the photo below which is reproduced from the Wikipedia link on the 68-pounder gun:


The following passage of the 68-pounder gun is extracted from the Wikipedia link:
The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading weapon that weighed 95 long cwt (4,800 kg) and fired projectiles of 68 lb (31 kg). Colonel William Dundas designed the gun in 1846 and it was cast the following year. It entered service with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Navy and saw active service with both arms during the Crimean War. Over 2,000 were made and it gained a reputation as the finest smoothbore cannon ever made.


The gun was produced at a time when new rifled and breech loading guns were beginning to make their mark on artillery. At first the 68-pounder's reliability and power meant that it was retained even on new warships such as HMS Warrior, but eventually new rifled muzzle loaders made all smoothbore muzzle-loading guns obsolete. However, the large surplus stocks of 68-pounders were given new life when converted to take rifled projectiles; the cannon remained in service and was not declared obsolete until 1921.

8 comments:

Icemoon said...

I wonder who can recognize the buildings behind to warrant their erasure. Tough quiz!

Victor said...

Icemoon, it is not just the building behind - if you have bionic eyes, you would be able to see part of the message on the wall saying "(Your) journey with the NAVY begins here".

Andrew said...

Nice one!
I admit, never been there before. :)

Andrew said...

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas & a wonderful coming New Year!
- One° North Explorers

Victor said...

To Andrew and all other readers of this blog:

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy 2011.

Jon said...

Victor, may I ask if the Navy museum is open? The little information I can find either show the museum as temporarily closed or at its old location Admiralty Road West.

Victor said...

Hi Jon, I haven't been to the Navy museum since I wrote this post and can't confirm if it is now open.

Jon said...

Thanks Victor. If you last visited in December, I guess the museum is open. The Navy museum has lacked an official site and has been listed as closed since time immemorial.