Japanese Field Cannons

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA

We performed a condition assessment and treated two historic early twentieth century Japanese field guns located at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California.

The 70mm and 75mm field guns were removed from the site, crated in custom-made containers, and transported to us’s conservation facility in District Heights, MD. The guns were thoroughly documented by written, schematic, and photographic means before, during, and after the conservation treatment. Both guns were completely disassembled down to their major subassemblies and all existing coatings were removed from the corroded metal components. The wooden wheels were so heavily deteriorated that they required complete rebuilding. Areas of heavy deterioration were repaired and the guns were repainted with a maintainable coating system. New mounting devices were fabricated to improve the guns’ aesthetic appearances and to provide a more secure means of display. Once the conservation treatment was complete, the guns were crated and shipped back to the site for reinstallation in their original positions.

A conservation treatment report, which included photo documentation and a continuing maintenance plan for both field guns, was compiled for the client.