Fort Rinella also known as Battery Rinella is a defensive structure erected by the British in the years 1878-1886. It has only one gun - a monstrous, 100-ton Armstrong 450mm gun. The sister cannon was at Tigné Point, west of Grand Harbor (no longer exists). A second pair of Armstrong was assigned to protect Gibraltar.
200 kg of gunpowder is needed to launch a 900-kilo bullet. Operation of the gun was possible only thanks to a special steam engine that propelled the mechanisms of a powerful steel cart on which the gun rested. Battery service numbered 40 people, and one salvo cost as much as a daily pay of 2,600 soldiers.
Armstrong have never participated in a real battle. They were withdrawn from service in 1906, and since 1996 Fort Rinella has been open to the public. Once a year, a group of volunteers dressed in British uniforms give a demonstration salvo using only gunpowder.
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