Betsy - Big Gun Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

SawaSawa: Archiving in anticipation of repairs to the hole in the wall where it was hidden as part of the continuing refurbishment of the site. Thanks to Malcolmt9976 for the useful feedback on this issue!

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Hidden : 5/24/2009
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


A very accessible and easy to find cache in a quiet spot at a great view point.

The cache is hidden at the Middle North Battery - a derelict (but apparently in the process of being refurbished) gun emplacement near Scala Barracks on a hillside with fine views (favourable weather permitting!) over False Bay and Simon’s Town.

It may be conveniently combined with the nearby Scala Big Gun (GC1RAM5), Forgotten Lookout - WC (GCWKQE) and Red Hill ViewPoint (GC1R7VF) caches and others in the Red Hill area.

Through a Google search, I was somewhat surprised and rather pleased to find the following detailed background info on the gun which makes it even more interesting.

This is extracted/edited from a short article by Bevan Pank - see www.simonstown.com/archives/betsy-biggun.htm

BETSY - BIG GUN

Betsy was British born from wrought iron stock in Woolwich at the Royal Gun Foundry in 1865. A 9 inch 12 ton rifled muzzle loader, she was one of 190 (note: this particular gun has a No. 22 on its side) built there as broadside guns for ironclad ships and for harbour defenses.

Her 147 inch barrel could fire shot, shrapnel or armour-piercing shells. However, her favourite ammunition was the 256 lb. common shell, which at an elevation of 13 degrees, she could hurl 6,000 yards - that’s 5.48 kilometres!

Betsy’s first trip abroad was to Halifax in Nova Scotia from 1866 to 1878. She then visited Bermuda to 1881 and Sheerness in the UK to 1885, before finally settling in her present position near Simon’s Town in 1896.

Her last firing was on 27th April 1903, after which she slowly aged until 1983. This was when the marines moved to Scala Battery and Capt. Mike Thomson arranged for her rejuvenation at the Gun Shop in the SA Naval Dockyard.

Although her massive mounting could now do with another coat of paint, she still looks good. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the underground magazine and other masonry structures.

The Navy has neither the money nor time to maintain what is essentially obsolete equipment. In any case, it is wasted effort outside security areas because of vandalism.

Most of us are quite happy to drool over the Simon’s Town Navy Museum’s fabulous collection of old guns. The adjacent Simon’s Town Museum also has some very interesting displays, including an eighteenth century Dutch East India Company cannon at its entrance.

However, those enthusiasts who use technical terms like ‘cascable’ and ‘slide’ will no doubt find their way to Betsy - the only gun with six rifling grooves . . .

Additional Information found in:
Artillery: an illustrated history of its impact (Weapons & Warfare), by Jeff Kinard

Info on the inventor and design of the gun:

(p223) Originally trained as a lawyer, Sir William George Armstrong (1810-1900) turned his talents to engineering . . . In 1854 he patented a wrought iron rifled cannon that incorporated a number of reinforcing bands, giving it a distinctive stepped profile.

Armstrong also developed a ‘shunt’ type of rifling, with each groove cut to two depths to accommodate the system’s special studded projectiles. The deeper half of the groove provided extra spece to ease loading, whereas upon firing the studs shifted to the shallow side to provide the close fit withing the bore necessary for accuracy. The powder charge was contained in a separate bag.

Armstrong was appointed superintendent of the Royal Gun Factory at Woolwich in November 1859 . . .

Info on muzzleloaders and the reason for their subsequent demise:

(p237) During the 1860s and 1870s, Woolwich manufactured several marks of large naval and seacoast Armstrong muzzleloaders ranging from the 12 ton 9 inch Mk IV (like Betsy) to the 81 ton 16 inch Mk I . . .

The largest rifled muzzleloaders in British service (the largest ever made) were 17.72 inch 100-ton giants that with a 460 lb charge fired a 1-ton projectile at a muzzle velocity of nearly 1,700 ft/sec. Four of these were manufactured and mounted in the defenses of Malta and Gibraltar.

In 1879 a devastating disaster aboard the HMS Thunderer provided the impetus for the Royal Navy to end the use of muzzleloaded artillery. During gunnery practice one of the Thunderer’s 12-inch turret-mounted Armstrongs misfired – a mishap that went unnoticed owing to the heavy recoil and report of its twin.

The gun was subsequently reloaded with a second charge and exploded killing 11 and wounding 35 of the ship’s crew. Spurred by the public outcry, advocates for modernizing naval guns cited the accident to argue that, had the piece been a breechloaded, the unfired charge would have been readily detected and the disaster averted.

TO REACH THE CACHE AREA:

Turn off the M4 Main Rd just to the north of Simon's Town at the sign Maritime Reaction Squadron almost opposite the Lower North Battery at approx S 34 10.534 E 18 25.592.

A twisty old concrete road passes steeply up through the bush around several hairpins to the destination just by the gun emplacement where there is a small place to park.

Remember to take care and sound your horn approaching the hairpins – although this is not exactly a busy road, it is used every day by a few vehicles as an alternative access road to the barracks.

The cache (a white pharmaceutical container containing just some log paper and a mini-pencil) is hidden in the wall a few metres from the gun.

To return to the main road, either reverse and go back the way you came or just continue on up the concrete road passing parts of the barracks.

At the top turn left and follow the road past the Scala Big Gun cache turn off to join Red Hill Road. Left takes you down back to the coast road, right goes up past Red Hill Viewpoint (and cache!) and on over the plateau towards Scarborough on the Atlantic Coast.

NOTES ON SIMON'S TOWN BATTERIES:

Lower North Battery, the oldest continuously armed artillery site in South Africa, dating from 1793 (Zoutman Battery), this is now the SA Navy's gunnery range battery. Queen's Battery, built on this site in 1887-9, served in both World Wars and part has now been converted into the SA Naval War Memorial.

Middle North Battery was built in 1886, and retains a 9-inch 12-ton RML. This gun (Betsy) has travelled - Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the 1860s, Bermuda, Sheerness in 1881 and was installed here in 1895.

Scala/Upper North Battery was constructed 1904-6 and armed with three 9.2-inch Mk X guns, two converted to Mk VII mountings in 1939. This is the location of Scala Big Gun cache.

Information extracted from:

FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
Fort 34: Three centuries of fortifications in South Africa
1652 to 1958, Richard Tomlinson (visit link)

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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