The Rinella Battery () is a Victorian battery in Kalkara, Malta. It is commonly referred to as Fort Rinella (), although it was never classified as a fort while in use. It was armed with an Armstrong 100-ton gun, which survives; the only other surviving gun is at the Napier of Magdala Battery, Gibraltar. Description The Rinella Battery was modestly sized, being designed to operate the single large gun. The fortifications were simple - ditches, caponiers, a counter-scarp gallery and firing points - and designed for infantry; there is no secondary armament. The battery's low profile and subterranean magazine and machinery spaces were protective measures against capital ship counterfire. The gun was mounted en barbette on a wrought-iron sliding carriage, allowing the gun to be fired over the parapet without exposing the gun crew to enemy fire. Ammunition was fed from the magazine through elevators in each of the two loading casemate; there was one casement on each side of the gun. The expected range against warships was 7,000 yards. The firing cycle was as follows: An elevator transported a 2,000-pound shell and 450-pound silk cartridges containing black powder propellant into the loading casemate's loading chamber. The gun slewed to a loading casemate and aligned the muzzle with the casemate's water pipe nozzle. The water cooled the gun and cleaned the barrel. The gun was depressed to drain the water. The gun traversed and depressed to align the muzzle with the casemate's loading port, with the barrel pushing aside port's iron plate cover. The ramming mechanism pushed the shell and propellant charges from the loading chamber into the barrel, and tamped them. The gun traversed and elevated back into firing position. An electrical firing mechanism was attached, making the gun ready to fire. Even with two loading casemates feeding the gun, the intended rate of fire was once every six minutes. It was impractical to manhandle such a heavy gun. Gun laying, the washing system, rammer, and ammunition elevators were powered by hydraulic machinery. The power plant was a stationary steam engine. Hydraulic pressure could be maintained by a backup 40-man manual pump. The emplacement was completed with inner revetments of stone or masonry. Except for the loading casemates, the revetting was removed after being identified by reviews as weaknesses. They were replaced with plain earthworks, presumably to better absorb the energy of incoming shellfire. History Early service In 1873,