Kronstadt -- fortified artificial islands -- need info

[Schogun]

(Re: WWI/RCW) The island forts stretching northeast of Kotlin Island across the Gulf -- what size armament did they have? Were artillery/cannons fixed, on carriages that would be moved, or in turrets?

Elsewhere says the forts were similar in design to Spitbank Fort at Portsmouth. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks

Chuck

[carlos marighela]

There's a good website on this very topic that I used to have bookmarked on my old PC, I'll have a dig around. The fortifications themselves varied considerably from multi tiered batteries to more modern fortifications.

[carlos marighela]

Not the one I was thinking of but try this it has some good diagrams and photos. Scroll down to norther and southern forts of Kronstadt.

http://www.nortfort.ru/index_e.html

[cuprum]

Hello.
That's interesting plans for various fortifications around St. Petersburg. Of course, all in Russian. Try using a translator "Google". There are photos, maps, calendar of guns.

http://unwd3.narod.ru/lo/lo.html

[Schogun]

Carlos -- Great site! Thanks.

The drawings are small and don't enlarge. Can I assume that *in most cases* the guns are mounted on carriages that can be rotated on circular rail paths so they can fire out the various ports on all sides?

Also one gun per level?

All questions for gaming purposes, you understand.

[carlos marighela]

The smaller ones, the numbered forts would have a single gun level with a lower level for ammunition storage, like most contemporary Victorian era forts. Some of the larger ones had multi-tiered casemates, I presume these were arranged with guns set up to fire rather like the broadsides of an old warship.

The author of the first website suggests that many of the structures atop the casemates were built in the Soviet era and this is probably correct. That said there were definitely AAA and searchlight positions mounted on many of the forts by the time of the Civil War.  This was remarked upon by the British during the operations against the Baltic Fleet. Also some of the larger pieces of artillery were mounted in semi open positions, again like much contemporary late Victorian forts elsewhere. Armament ranged up to 11 " pieces with quite a lot of 6" Canet pieces.