Cannons of Fort Jefferson

Fort Jefferson was never fully staffed with cannons during its life span. There were several reasons for this.

First the foundations of the fort began to settle even before the fort was finished (that’s why the upper cannon ports were never finished). The engineers decided that the upper level could not hold the weight of large cannon.
Second, the cannon that the fort was designed for rapidly became out dated as advancements in cannon occurred during the civil war and third, being so remote, the fort never fired a shot in anger during its entire lifespan. Here are a few remaining examples of the guns that are on the upper walls of the fort.
Notice the figures on the tip of this cannon, date-1865 weight-26,000 lbs.
This larger one is a “Rodman gun”. It was the absolute top of the line gun of its day able to fire a 400 lb round up to 3 miles, of course the gun weighed over 50,000 lbs! Here's one of the only remaining Rodman guns mounted in its firing cradle. Impressive fire power that was never used.