A casemate is a heavy duty structure, originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress. Today the military use the term for a fortified gun emplacement. In civilian use a casemate may be a tunnel cut into a rock face with armoured doors, used for storing volatile goods.

In naval gunnery a casemate is a vertical armour plate with openings for guns. It is less protected than a gun turret and allows for a smaller field of fire. In 20th century battleships' casemates were used to mount secondary guns for defending the ship against torpedo boats.

In architecture, a casemate is a hollow moulding.

See also

• Bunker

Fortification

kasematy | Kasematte | Casemate | Kazemat | Kazamata