Battery Osgood-Farley at Fort MacArthur, California-- Part 1: 14-Inch Guns

From the Fort MacArthur Museum site.

Battery Osgood-Farley was built 1916-1919 and was a two-gun emplacement.  Each gun operated as a separate tactical battery which is why the battery had two names.

The ordnance were 14-inch disappearing guns.  They were called disappearing because they could be lowered out of line of fire to load and then raised to fire.  Each was capable of firing a 1560 pound projectile up to 14 miles.  The guns never fired in war, but did fire for practice, but rarely with a full charge because of damage to surround civilian windows (and subsequent complaints).

During its time as a battery, Battery Osgood fired 116 times and Battery Farley 120.

These guns were considered obsolete by the 1920s and replaced by new ordnance in the mid-1940s.

During World War II, the batteries were partly used for a radio station and fire control switchboard.

--GreGen