A model, made in 1943, of a 16-inch gun! Only two of these models were ever built, and the other is MIA.

The 16-inch gun was the largest and most powerful weapon in the Coast Artillery. Mounted in the 1940's at Forts Story and John Custis, these weapons, with a range of 25 miles, protected the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Similar weapons were mounted at the Canal Zone (Panama) and in the Hawaiian Islands (where they did absolutely no good against Japanese naval aircraft). They were positioned in reinforced concrete casemates behind armored shields, or in the open as you see here.