 The inscription on the gun's monumental base describes it as an eight-inch (203 mm) gun on a "disappearing carriage" taken from Fort Dade, an old coastal defense fort located on Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay.The true story is a bit more complicated.The original Fort Dade gun described on the base was emplaced in Plant Park in November 1927, but was donated to a steel scrap drive during World War II.