Did You Know, October 16, 2023
Updated: Oct 20
Today is the 105th anniversary of the October 16, 1918, opening of the Dahlgren naval base. On that day, Marines supervised by Lieutenant Commander H. K. Lewis successfully test fired an Army 7” / 45 tractor-mounted gun, the first shot ever fired at Dahlgren.
To learn more about the man for whom the base was named, read our first featured Now You Know article for October, “So, Who Was John Dahlgren Anyway?” by Dr. Rob Gates, at https://www.dahlgrenmuseum.org/sound-bytes-of-history .
Tim Carsola, one of Dahlgren Heritage Museum’s members and docents and an expert cannon model maker, made a model of that first gun fired at Dahlgren, which is on display in the museum. This Saturday, during our open house in honor of the museum’s 10th anniversary, he will fire it and two other models he made. We hope that you will join us for his discussion and demonstration, as well as the other open house activities.
Image: Tim Carsola and his working model of the 7” tractor gun.