Fort Desoto
is a remnant US Army fortification located in Tampa Bay, Florida that was established as a defensive battery in response to the Spanish-American War. The Fort is camoflauged by brush, dirt and sand, which masks separate batteries of artillery placements placed behind thick walls. Amongst its defenses, Fort DeSoto boasted 3 inch gun battery (15 pounders, Battery Bigelow) emplaced along the beach, and two gun pits with four 12 inch rifled barrel mortars in each. Each mortar required a 12 man crew to keep it loading, aiming and firing. The 12 inch mortars were manufactured by Watervliet Arrsenal, Watervliet, New York in 1901. Fort De Soto has the only 12 inch seacoast mortars, model 1890 M1, in the continental US. The only other known examples in the entire world are on the island of Corregidor in the Phillipines. Fort De Soto is also home to two 6 inch Armstrong Rapid Fire "Rifles" that were recovered from Fort Dade at Egmont Key, refurbished, and installed in 1982. These 6 inch guns weighed a cool 17 tons each, and fired a 100 lb. projectile at a max range of 5.86 miles.

Out of respect to the historical aspects, I've decided to include some photos of historical documentation which is located on-site at Fort De Soto.