Near Key West in Monroe County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

15-Inch Rodman

Fort Jefferson

— Dry Tortugas National Park —

15-Inch Rodman Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Vince Jackson, March 4, 2022

1. 15-Inch Rodman Marker

Inscription. In 1873 Fort Jefferson's armament was modernized to include six 15-inch Rodman smoothbore cannon and four 300-pounder rifled Parrott guns. Of the 141 guns listed at the fort when the garrison left in 1874, only those 10 remain here today. The other cannon, gun carriages and cannonballs were sold for scrap in 1900. The 15-inch Rodmans could fire a 432-pound solid projectile or a 330-pound exploding shell three miles, the distance from here to Loggerhead Key on the horizon to the west. The cannon were mounted on a center-pintle carriage so they could be rotated 360 degrees to fire at ships on any side of the fort as needed. The 15-inch Rodmans were eventually made obsolete by breech-loading steel rifles in the late 1800s.

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Please do not mark or climb on the cannon. Help us preserve it for future visitors to enjoy.

Six Rodmans, weighing 25 tons each, were left here because of their immemnse size. For over 100 years they lay in the sand on the fort's terreplein, or roof. In 2010 this cannon was mounted on a reproduction carriage and gun platform.

A gun crew at Fort Warren in Boston, MA, loads a Rodman.

Erected by National

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Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Parks & Recreational Areas • War, US Civil. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.

Location. 24° 37.742′ N, 82° 52.45′ W. Marker is near Key West, Florida, in Monroe County. It can be reached from Fort Jefferson - Key West. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Key West FL 33040, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Florida Keys.

It is also in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Bread, Bugs, and Beef (a few steps from this marker); An Island of Civility (within shouting distance of this marker); The Moat

15-Inch Rodman in a storage cradle on display image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Vince Jackson, March 4, 2022

2. 15-Inch Rodman in a storage cradle on display

(about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Red-Hot Cannonballs (about 400 feet away); Parade Ground Panorama (about 400 feet away); In Memory of Brevet Major, Jos. Sim Smith (about 500 feet away); Keeping Powder Dry and Safe (about 500 feet away); Navy Days at Fort Jefferson (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Key West.

Also see . . . Dry Tortugas National Park. National Park Service (Submitted on March 14, 2022.)

15-Inch Rodman in its gun carriage image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Vince Jackson, March 4, 2022

3. 15-Inch Rodman in its gun carriage

Credits. This page was last revised on March 14, 2022. It was originally submitted on March 11, 2022, by Vince Jackson of Toano, Virginia. This page has been viewed 361 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 11, 2022, by Vince Jackson of Toano, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.