barbette
A soldier stands ready at the barbette, aiming the cannon over the fort wall.
Noun: 1. A raised platform or mound within a fortification: Historically, a barbette is a fixed, often circular, platform of earth or masonry inside a fort. It is designed so that cannons mounted on it can fire over the top of the surrounding protective wall (the parapet), rather than through openings (embrasures). 2. A protective armored structure on a warship: In naval terminology, a barbette is a fixed, cylindrical armored enclosure that supports and protects the rotating base of a heavy gun turret on a ship. The gun itself fires from above this armored cylinder.
- Historical Fortification:
- The fort's design included a central barbette for its heaviest cannons.
- Artillerymen on the barbette had a clear field of fire over the surrounding countryside.
- Naval Architecture:
- The battleship's main guns were mounted in turrets that rotated on top of large barbettes.
- The armored barbette protected the ship's ammunition hoists and the turret's machinery.
- "Barbette mounting": A method of mounting a gun where it fires over a parapet or shield, as opposed to being in a fully enclosed turret. This was common in 19th-century coastal defenses and early ironclad warships.
- The coastal defense battery used a barbette mounting for its large-caliber guns.
- Barbette gun: A gun that is fired from a barbette position.
- The fort was armed with several 10-inch barbette guns.
- Gun platform (general, for the fortification sense).
- Armored base (for the naval sense).
The core meaning of barbette relates to a platform for artillery. Its specific application differs between land-based fortifications (a raised earthwork) and naval vessels (an armored cylinder). The naval usage is more common in modern contexts, as fixed fortifications are largely obsolete.
A soldier stands ready at the barbette, aiming the cannon over the fort wall.
- (formerly) a mound of earth inside a fort from which heavy gun can be fired over the parapet