6 pounder Hotchkiss gun and crew USS Oregon

Driggs-Schroeder was the name of several

naval guns A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Seaton Schroeder Seaton Schroeder (August 17, 1849 – October 19, 1922) was an admiral of the United States Navy. Biography Schroeder was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Francis Schroeder, the Resident Minister to Sweden. His mother was the daughter of ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the late 1880s, fitted on ships built in the 1890s. Some Driggs-Schroeder weapons were also adopted by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Driggs later founded the

Driggs-Seabury Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company was founded in 1897 by William H. Driggs and Samuel Seabury, both US Navy officers, in partnership with William's brother Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs, originally to produce guns for the US Army and US Navy design ...

Ordnance Company in 1897, in partnership with his brother Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs and Samuel Seabury, a retired US Navy officer. Driggs-Schroeder weapons included 1-pounder, 3-pounder (Navy Marks 2 and 3), and 6-pounder (Navy Marks 6 and 8)American Ordnance, pp. 37–39 naval guns. All were rapid-firing, which today would be called "single shot", with brass cased ammunition. They were among numerous models of these guns equipped on US Navy ships of the 1890s. Unlike some other manufacturers, Driggs-Schroeder did not design fully automatic 1-pounder and 3-pounder guns. Most Driggs-Schroeder weapons were manufactured by the American Ordnance Company in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

, with some manufactured by Driggs Ordnance Company. Olympia C-6 13

Some of the ships equipped with Driggs-Schroeder guns included , , , , and . ''Olympia'' is preserved with her Driggs-Schroeder 6-pounders intact at the

Independence Seaport Museum The Independence Seaport Museum (formerly the Philadelphia Maritime Museum) was founded in 1961 and is located in the Penn's Landing complex along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The collections at the Independence Seaport Muse ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Driggs-Schroeder designed a "limited recoil" carriage for the

's 3.2-inch gun M1890, along with a 3.2-inch

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...

based on that weapon with a different breech. These were perhaps the same gun and/or carriage later prototyped by Driggs-Seabury; neither was adopted by the US Army. A 12-pounder gun on a limited recoil carriage for naval

landing force A landing operation is a military action during which a landing force, usually utilizing landing craft, is transferred to land with the purpose of power projection ashore. With the proliferation of aircraft, a landing may refer to amphibious force ...

s was submitted to the US Army Ordnance Department in

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

1895; it was not adopted. An Army 4-inch/40 caliber Driggs-Schroeder rapid-fire gun also existed, probably the same as one of several Navy guns of this type. Only four were emplaced by the Army in coast defense mountings; two at Fort Washington, Maryland 1899–1921 and two at Fort Warren, Massachusetts 1899–1925. Driggs-Schroeder designed 6-pounders designated Marks II and III for the Army; they possibly corresponded to the Navy Marks 6 and 8. Some of these weapons were deployed at

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

forts for land defense. These included experimental quantities on "parapet mounts", wheeled carriages with fittings that allowed them to be secured to

pintle mount A weapon mount is an assembly or mechanism used to hold a weapon (typically a gun) onto a platform in order for it to function at maximum capacity. Weapon mounts can be broken down into two categories: static mounts and non-static mounts. Static ...

s set in concrete. A dozen were deployed at

Fort Ruger Fort Ruger is a fort on the island of Oahu that served as the first military reservation in the Territory of Hawaii. Named after Civil War General Thomas H. Ruger and built in and around Diamond Head Crater, the fort was established by the Unite ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

as part of the Land Defense Project of 1915, along with some in the

Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays The Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays ("Coast Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays" until 1925) (a.k.a. CD/HD Manila Bay) were a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command, part of the Philippine Department of the Un ...

, Philippines.Berhow, pp. 188–189, 217

References

* * * {{cite book , last = American Ordnance Company , title = The Driggs-Schroeder System of rapid-fire guns, 2nd edition , publisher = The Deutsch Lithographing and Printing Company , year = 1896 , location = Baltimore, MD , url = https://archive.org/details/driggsschroeders00amer/page/n10 * Munsey's Magazine Volume XXVI, October 1901 to March 1902, p. 880. Article paragraph covered the Driggs-Schroeder 6-pounders carried on USS ''Olympia'', USS ''Brooklyn'', and USS ''New York''. Naval artillery Naval guns of the United States Artillery of the United States Coastal artillery