Скачать или смотреть This Gun Literally Disappeared… | Trow Rocks Coastal Defence

📍 Where is it?
Trow Rocks sits just south of South Shields, between the town and Souter. It’s part of the coastal cliffs overlooking the North Sea — a perfect defensive position.

🔎 What Is a “Disappearing Gun”?
A disappearing gun was mounted on a special carriage that:
Fired over the parapet
Then recoiled backwards and dropped down behind cover
Could be reloaded safely out of enemy sight
Then raised back up to fire again
It was clever Victorian military engineering — designed to protect the crew from return fire.

🕰 History at Trow
Originally installed in the late 1800s as part of Britain’s coastal defence network.
Designed to defend the mouth of the River Tyne.
Upgraded and reused during World War I and World War II.
Eventually became obsolete as aircraft and naval warfare advanced.
Trow formed part of a wider defensive system protecting shipping, shipyards, and industry along the Tyne.

🎯 Why It’s Called “Disappearing”
From sea level, enemy ships would:
See the gun fire
Then watch it literally vanish behind the concrete battery
Hence the name.
It wasn’t magic — just gravity and counterweights.

🧱 What You See Today
Concrete circular emplacement
Remains of mounting mechanisms
Later WWII modifications
Stunning sea views (perfect TyneToTarn content

👌)
The actual original gun mechanism is long gone, but the structure remains.