By 1879 most of the old smoothbore guns that had been deployed around the harbour had become redundant. The core of the coastal defence batteries now mounted 9-inch, 10-inch, 11-inch and 12.5-inch RML. The table below gives a breakdown of where these guns were mounted at this time, most behind Iron Shields.
Heavy RML Guns, 1879
LOCATION
9-inch RML
10-inch RML
11-inch RML
12.5-inch RML
Ricasoli, No.5 Bastion
NIL
NIL
Two 11-inch RML guns
NIL
Ricasoli, No.3 Bastion
Two 9-inch RML guns
NIL
Nil
NIL
Ricasoli, No.2 Bastion
Two 9-inch RML guns
NIL
Nil
NIL
Ricasoli, No.1 Bastion
NIL
NIL
Nil
One 12.5-inch gun
Fort St Angelo
Three 9-inch RML guns
NIL
Nil
NIL
Lasacaris Bastion, Valetta
One 9-inch RML gun
NIL
Nil
NIL
Middle Castile Bastion, Valetta
Two 9-inch RML guns
NIL
Nil
NIL
St, Lasarus Bastion, Valetta
NIL
NIL
Nil
One 12.5-inch gun
Abercrombie Bastion, Fort St Elmo
Two 9-inch RML guns
Two 9-inch RML guns
Nil
NIL
Balls Curtain, Fort St Elmo
One 9-inch RML gun
Three 10-inch RML guns
Nil
NIL
Cavalier, Fort St Elmo
NIL
NIL
Three 11-inch RML guns
NIL
St Grigoris’s Bastion, Fort St Elmo
NIL
NIL
NIL
One 12.5-inch gun
English Curtain, Valetta
Two 9-inch RML guns
NIL
NIL
NIL
St Andrews Bastion, Valetta
One 9-inch RML gun
NIL
NIL
NIL
St Anthony’s Bastion, Fort Manoel
One 9-inch RML gun
NIL
NIL
NIL
Fort Tigne
Six 9-inch RML guns
NIL
NIL
NIL
Sliema Point Battery
NIL
Two 10-inch RML guns
NIL
Two 12.5-inch RML guns