Fort Ras-el-Tin.
This fort, commonly called the "lighthouse fort," is situated upon the extremity of a peninsula known as Eunostos Point, immediately to the westward of the city, and commands the approaches from the northward, northward and eastward, and westward, and the south side commands the inner harbor, or old port. It is essentially an earth or sand fortification, supported by a facing of limestone; while above, the parapets, embrasures for guns, shell-rooms and magazines, are constructed wholly of this stone. The thickness of the earthworks varies, probably reaching as much as twenty-five or thirty feet on the sides facing the sea.
Armament.—The batteries of this fort consist of one 10-inch M. L. R., four 9-inch M. L. R., two 8-inch M. L. R., one 7-inch M. L. R., all Armstrong guns; the 7-inch being mounted on the Moncrieff system. Also, six 13-inch mortars, five XV-inch S. B., three X-inch do., two IX-inch do., and twenty-two very old S. B., apparently VI -inch and 32-pdrs.
Damage.—Owing to the softness of the stone forming the upper portion of the works, embrasures, shell-rooms, magazines, &c., the fort was very badly damaged; for, on being struck by the projectiles, the Stone would crumble away. The shell-room, which occupied a conspicuous position in rear and to the right of the lighthouse, was completely demolished; and this, with the magazine, seemed to have been the targets at which the English directed their fire. The latter, however, was not struck. The lighthouse was hit in several places, and it was thought at one time that it would fall, but the injury has since been repaired. The explosion, which killed many men, must have been that of a portion of the shell-room, which I found in ruins. The south side, facing the harbor, was not injured, as the guns on that side, being old, worthless smoothbores, were not fired, and consequently the fire of the ships was not directed against it. A portion of the Ras-el-Tin palace, adjoining the fort, was set on fire and
destroyed by being struck with a shell.
The damage to the battery was as follows: one 9-inch Armstrong gun, by its own recoil, carried away the training bolt which confined it in the embrasure, drawing it out of the soft stone, and fell back on the rear end of the slide, elevating the forward part and rendering the gun completely useless. Another 9-inch gun in exactly the same condition, caused by a shell striking and carrying away the embrasure in which the gun was situated. A third 9-inch gun dismounted and carriage demolished by being struck with a shell, which tore off the outer hoop over the trunnions, knocked the gun over and buried two men beneath it. A fourth 9-inch gun rendered useless by having a projectile in the gun, butt out, evidently placed in that position during the excitement of the engagement. The garrison made repeated efforts to dislodge it, but being near the muzzle they were swept away at every attempt, and the gun silenced. One 8-inch gun knocked off the carriage and the latter demolished by a shell striking the embrasure and exploding. The 9-inch gun mounted on the Moncrieff carriage was uninjured, and apparently but little used, if at all. Thus it will be seen that the four 9-inch guns and one of the 8-inch guns were rendered useless, and the lo-inch gun showed cracks running around the chase near the muzzle, the result of the repeated firing, these cracks being a marked feature in all the Armstrong guns used.
Fort Ada.
This fort, the smallest of the three, is situated about N. by W. from the city, on a neck of land running to the north, and commands the approaches from the northward and westward. In general construction it is the same as the one previously described, the thickness of the earthworks being over thirty feet, but has less stone-work above.
Armament. — Three g-inch, one lo-inch, one 8-inch Armstrong rifles, three 13-inch mortars, and thirteen X-inch S. B.
Damage.—This fort was destroyed and the guns silenced early in the action by the explosion of the magazine, which occurred about three hours after the bombardment commenced, killing the garrison, and stopping further resistance. The shell-house, in the rear of the fort, was also struck in several places, but not as badly injured as that at Ras-el-Tin. The damage to the battery is as follows: The 10-inch rifle apparently had a premature explosion, the projectile bursting near the muzzle. The lands of the rifling were badly cut up, and there were deep scores in the grooves between. A deep,
heavy crack or cut ran longitudinally on the underside, and a number were found on the chase, running transversely. Two X-inch S. B. were struck and dismounted, and the carriages both smashed. The three 9-inch rifles and the 8-inch were all in good condition, as they were but little used. A large quantity of projectiles, many of which were broken, was found here, but the evidence was that they were stored in the magazine which exploded, as they were all found immediately in rear of it. Several projectiles were found imbedded in the sand at this fort, and were in good condition, having failed to explode from the lack of resistance opposed to them. One large 80-ton gun battering shell, from the Inflexible, was found, unexploded, upon the parapet, and pointing seawards. In conversation with the gunnery lieutenant of the Invincible, I learned that many projectiles were found thus, the theory being that, towards the end of their trajectory, having almost lost their velocity, they turned over and fell so—on the boomerang principle.
Fort Pharos.
This fort is situated on the northeast end of a narrow strip projecting from the neck on which Ada is situated, and due north of the city. It is quadrangular in form, and commands the approaches
from all sides, and particularly the new port. It is supposed to stand on the site of the old Pharos lighthouse. It is built entirely of solid masonry below, with casemates on all sides seawards, and earth
parapets above. It has a citadel, and this, with the embrasures, shellrooms, &c., are constructed of the same soft stone as in the previous cases. It is, however, the strongest of the three, maintained the most Stubborn resistance, and was the last to be silenced, its defense ceasing about ten hours after the bombardment commenced, when it received the combined fire of the Inflexible, Temeraire, Alexandra, Sultan and Superb.
Armament.—One 10-inch, three 9-inch, two 8-inch Armstrong rifles. Smoothbores, four VIII-inch, fourteen VI-inch and 32-pdrs., and six 13-inch mortars on parapets, and twenty-five or thirty
VI-inch and 32-pdrs. in casemates— all these latter useless as far as resistance was concerned, and, therefore, not used. From the position of two of the 9-inch guns facing the eastward they could
not have been brought to bear, and their condition verified this supposition, thus reducing the effective armament of this fort one third.
Damage.—The shell -room was struck by a shell which exploded (apparently lo-inch), and this, I believe, was the cause of the final silencing of the fort. A great many men were killed, and their bodies buried in the casemates. The citadel was repeatedly struck, and much injury must have befallen the garrison from the clouds of falling masonry. The embrasure containing the lo-inch gun was struck by a 12-inch battering shell, which did not explode, but carried away the stone- work, which, falling inside, rendered the gun useless, as it could not be manned or trained. In all the guns cracks were visible, running transversely around the chase; no other part of these guns seems to have been injured or suffered from the fire. Two X-inch S. B. were struck by shells which fell inside the fort, and the guns dismounted and carriages smashed. One small VI-inch gun was struck by a projectile, and the gun thrown over the parapet and through the roof of the casemate below, the carriage being shattered.
The fuze used by the English, as far as I could learn from persistent inquiries, was " the general service percussion fuze." From various sources I find that a very small percentage of the shells exploded, probably not as many as one-fourth—especially those which struck the earth and sand—and of those which did explode, the fragments were few and large, frequently breaking in not more than two or three pieces, generally in two halves transversely. All that were uninjured were removed.
The defense seems to have been wholly made with the Armstrong rifles, as none of the smoothbores, not even the XV-inch, which were in good position, appear to have been used. Thus the total number of effective guns in these three forts was eighteen, and of these, two or three could not be brought to bear.
The supply of ammunition seems to have been very abundant, and large quantities of Palliser and smoothbore projectiles, canister, &c., were on hand after the bombardment. Small auxiliary magazines, built under the embrasures and situated beside the guns, were filled, making the supply very convenient and accessible, so that evidently the destruction of the guns themselves caused the fort to be silenced.
The great fault in the construction of the magazines and shellrooms was the conspicuous positions they occupied, which caused them to be greatly exposed, and to have the fire concentrated upon them. This defect caused the explosion in Fort Ada and the silencing of that fort. In Fort Pharos the shell-room was exploded, and in the Ras-el-Tin the shell-room was almost totally destroyed.
The Nordenfeldt guns, I am told, caused great destruction among the men, sweeping away whole gun's crews at a time, and in the Ras-el-Tin effectually prevented the dislodgment of the projectile which was placed in the 9-inch gun butt out, previously mentioned. The attacking ships, starting from a range of from 3000 to 5000 yards, finally closed in to 800 yards, thus giving an excellent opportunity to develop the usefulness of these very effective modern additions to the armament of our vessels.
These three forts were attacked by the following ships: Inflexible, four 80-ton guns; Alexandra, two 25-ton guns, ten 18-ton guns; Sultan, eight 18-ton guns, four 12-lon guns; Superb, sixteen 18 ton guns; Temeraire, four 25-ton guns, four 18-ton guns. The last-named vessel did not add the weight of her metal until towards the end of the engagement, and the Inflexible worked between Fort Mex and the three I have described.
On the whole, the result is most interesting as showing the effect of modern ironclads and their heavy ordnance against fortifications on shore, and proves that thick earthworks are the best resisting medium. The accompanying plan shows the position of the forts and of the attacking vessels.