Editing Barbette (section)

==Use in fortifications==
[[File:Casemate.png|thumb|Cross-section of a 19th-century fortification; a gun at position "C" would be firing from a barbette position]]
The use of barbette mountings originated in ground fortifications. The term originally referred to a raised platform on a [[rampart (fortification)|rampart]] for one or more guns, enabling them to be fired over a [[parapet]].<ref>[[Ian V. Hogg|Hogg, Ian V]] (1975), ''Fortress: A History of Military Defence'', Macdonald and Jane's, {{ISBN|0-356-08122-2}} (p. 155)</ref> This gave rise to the phrase ''en barbette'', which referred to a gun placed to fire over a parapet, rather than through an [[embrasure]], an opening in a fortification wall. While an ''en barbette'' emplacement offered wider arcs of fire, it also exposed the gun's crew to greater danger from hostile fire.<ref>Wilson 1896, pp. 340–341.</ref> In addition, since the barbette position would be higher than a [[casemate]] position—that is, a gun firing through an embrasure—it would generally have a greater field of fire.

The American military theorist [[Dennis Hart Mahan]] suggested that light guns, particularly [[howitzer]]s, were best suited for barbette emplacements since they could fire explosive [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] and could be easily withdrawn when they came under enemy fire.<ref>Mahan 1867, p. 45.</ref> Fortifications in the 19th century typically employed both casemate and barbette emplacements. For example, the Russian [[Constantine Battery]] outside [[Sevastopol]] was equipped with 43 heavy guns in its seaward side during the [[Crimean War]] in the mid-1850s; of these, 27 were barbette mounted, with the rest in casemates.<ref>Brown 1979, 78.</ref>

A modified version of the barbette type was the [[disappearing gun]], which placed a heavy gun on a carriage that retracted behind a parapet for reloading; this better protected the crew, and made the gun harder to target, since it was only visible while it was firing.<ref>"The Moncrieff System of Disappearing Gun Carriages, p. 122</ref> The type was usually used for coastal defence guns.  As naval gun turrets improved to allow greater elevation and range, many disappearing guns, most of which were limited in elevation, were seen as obsolescent; with aircraft becoming prominent in the First World War, they were largely seen as obsolete. However, they remained in use through the early Second World War, at least by the United States, due to limited funding for replacement weapons between the wars.{{sfn|Berhow|2015|pp=201–226}}<ref>[https://cdsg.org/fort-and-battery-list/ List of US forts and batteries at CDSG.org]</ref>

Later heavy coastal guns were often protected in hybrid installations, in wide casemates with cantilevered overhead cover partially covering a barbette or [[gunhouse]] mount.{{sfn|Berhow|2015|p=176}}