8-Inch Parrott Rifle in Westerly, Rhode Island
8-Inch Parrott Rifle on display outside the Westerly Armory in Westerly, Rhode Island
An 8-Inch Parrott Rifle is displayed outside the old Armory in Westerly, Rhode Island. This particular cannon was one of two 8-Inch Parrotts which were unexpectedly found during an archaeological excavation at Fort Moultrie near Charleston, South Carolina in 1974. (Two 10-Inch Rodmans and a 15-Inch Rodman were discovered a the same time.)
One of the 8-Inch Parrotts was kept at Fort Moultrie where it can still be seen. However, this Parrott was traded to the Westerly Armory in 1977 for a 4.72-Inch Armstrong breechloading rifle. Fort Moultrie had two such Armstrongs mounted in 1898 - these original guns being removed by 1925.
The markings on the muzzle of the 8-Inch Parrott now in Westerly show that it was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1864. Its original weight was 16,412 pounds. “US” is stamped on top of the barrel. While the mounting resembles an original carriage in its basic shape, I believe that it is a reproduction created for this display.
This 8-Inch Parrott Rifle was produced for the US Army (where the type was sometimes called a 200-Pounder). It is nearly identical to 8-Inch Parrott rifles produced for the US Navy (where the type was called a 150-Pounder). The “pounder” designation reflect the weight of projectile which could be fired - though in practice few projectiles weighed as much as 200 pounds.
As always, see Mike Ryan’s excellent work “The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie” for information regarding Fort Moultrie cannon.
