This fougasse was rediscovered here in Qalet Marku in 2015 when roadworks were in progress. Around 280 nyears old, it is one of eight known surviving examples in Malta (there are another 6 surviving examples in Gozo).
A fougasse is an improvised mortar or stone firing cannon constructed by excavating a hollow in the rock and loading it with a charge of black powder, a wooden seperator plate and then filling the tube with projectiles, most often rocks. A fuse was laid in a small channel cut into the side of the chamber to fire it. When fired the mortar would launch the projectiles to a distance of around 300m, capable of killing men and sinking boats. It would take an hour at least to load a fougasse.
The Knights constructed around 50 of these weapons in Malta and 14 in Gozo between 1740 and 1760 for coastal defence and to prevent landings. Under British rule, they were considered a historical curiosity, and only ever fired for testing purposes, although some were in fact readied again for use in World War 2 as part of the War Defense Plan.
Quite a few examples, not many of them well preserved, dot the coasts of Malta and Gozo, including several between Madliena and Salina Bay. The example here was probably excavated around 1740 as part of a system of defenses deployed around likely landing sites.
Click here for an article with a lot more in-depth information or here for some youtube video.
Combined in WW2 by British forces with a container of fuel or flammable gel, this type of prepared directional defensive explosive ordnance is known as a "flame fougasse" and still described in the field manuals of many militaries today as a battlefield expedient useful for stopping vehicles and infantry. In the US Army parlance it is of course referred to as a Foo Gas.
