Artillery and Armour in the USA: Maine (2)

Artillery, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles in Maine (Part 2)

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery and all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in New England.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in New England would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Eastport

(Author Photos, 20 Sep 2019)

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, 1839 on left trunnion, CA & Co, BOSTON (Cyrus Alger & Company) on right trunnion, Serial No. 14, 695, JWR above the button.  This guns stands in front of the Peavy Memorial Library facing the harbour.

(Library of Congress Photo)

The Bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading Model 1841 6-pounder Field Gun had a 3.6-inch diameter smoothbore barrel approximately 5 feet long with a swell at the muzzle.  Most 1841 6-pounders were cast in bronze but a few were cast in iron with a broader taper.  This gun had a range of 1,500 yards although it was likely most effective at 1,000 yards depending on the type of shot being fired.  It was usually mounted on a horse-drawn two-wheeled carriage with a limber attached with ammunition ready to load.  The limber typically carried 30 6.1-lb cannister shots and 15 spherical case shots loaded with 48 cast-iron balls, in three chests.  The 6-pounder was a lightweight mobile piece weighing approximately 880-lbs and usually was operated by an 8-man crew.  The 6-pounder gun was one of a number of guns designed by the U.S. Army Ordnance Department in 1841 (companion pieces were the Model 1841 12-pounder, 24-pounder, and 32-pounder field Howitzers; the Model 1841 12-pounder Gun and the smoothbore muzzle-loading 12-pounder Mountain Howitzer Model 1835).  The effectiveness of the 1841 series had been proven in the Mexican War, during which these guns demonstrated excellent maneuverability and reliability.   The 6-pounder was common to both armies in the early war years.  The piece gradually fell into disfavour at the introduction of the Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), because of its bigger bore and hitting power, although in the western theater the 6-pounder remained in service until the end of the war.  (Wikipedia)

Union Artillery during the Civil War

(Library of Congress Photo)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), which equipped the 5th Maine Horse Artillery Battery in which every man was mounted.

(Library of Congress Photo)

Union artillery in action during the Civil War.

Following artillery training in early 1862, the 5th Maine Battery was sent into the field in May. During the Second Battle of Bull Run in August, 1862, one of its guns helped cover the army’s retreat.  Later that year, the battery was part of the Union’s left flank at the Battle of Fredericksburg.  On 3 May 1863, in the Battle of Chancellorsville, the 5th Maine Battery was supporting the Second Corps near the Chancellor House when it came under heavy fire from Confederate guns.  The battery was credited with helping the 1st division of the Second Corps withdraw from a dangerous position.

Eastport, (Moose Island), Fort Sullivan

Fort Sullivan (1808-1873) was a Federal Second System fort established in 1808 by Major Lemuel Trescott on Moose Island, in present day Eastport, Washington County, near the New Brunswick/Maine border.  It is the island’s only main village.  Before the War of 1812, the ownership of Moose Island had been a sticking point in Anglo-American relations since the American Revolution.  Fearing British encroachment, the US Army established Fort Sullivan in 1808, named for Revolutionary War General John Sullivan.  It was a timber blockhouse fort with a four gun circular stone battery, a magazine, blockhouse, and barracks.  The battery mounted four heavy guns.  The fort was surrendered to a British Fleet under Sir Thomas Hardy in July 1814.  The British renamed the fort, Fort Sherbrooke.  Standing opposite the Province of New Brunswick, the fort served as an important coastal defense for the easternmost USA during the 19th century.  The island remained in the care of Major Perley Putnam and a small garrison of men from the 40th US Infantry.

As part of the establishment of New Ireland during the War of 1812, British Commodore Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet conquered the fort in 1814 and renamed it Fort Sherbrooke after John Coape Sherbrooke, the Governor of Nova Scotia.  The British left 800 regular troops in the fort to prevent any American attempt at retaking it.  When the war ended with the Treaty of Gent in 1815, the issue with the border remained unsettled, even though the treaty stipulated that all boundaries were to return to the lines that existed before the war.  As a result, Moose Island and Fort Sherbrooke remained in British hands until 1818 when the territorial disputes were resolved.  Moose Island, the town and the fort were returned to the United States on 30 June 1818.  The fort was then renamed Fort Sullivan.  The last garrison was withdrawn in 1873 and the fort was abandoned.  The post remained intact until 1880 when local residents began to remove items for constructing other town buildings.  Today there is little left.  A sign marks the original location of the fort and a cast iron smoothbore muzzleloading gun from the war now sits in front of Shead High School, next to the fort site.  The powder magazine is still be there.  The only original part of the fort that remains standing today is the 1808 barracks, a wooden frame building that now houses the town’s museum and Historical Society, located on Washington Street.

Fort Sullivan sign beside Shead High School.

Fort Sullivan plaque in front of Shead High School SBML gun.

(Author Photos, 20 Sep 2019)

Cast Iron (possibly) 12-pounder smoothbore muzzleloading gun, weight 20-0-0 (2,240 lbs), crown over P on the barrel, SOLID on left trunnion, corroded letter on right trunnion, mounted on a concrete stand in in front of Shead High School.

This gun was not part of the original defences of Fort Sullivan.  Local Eastport historian, Wayne Wilcox, noted that it came from a ship wreck found off Campobello Island.  It was salvaged by folks from Eastport and brought there.  Wayne had a hand in rescuing it and having it installed in its present location.  It is likely that it had been mounted on an East Indies Company ship.  (Bob Dallison)

The Crown over a “P” engraved on top of the guns is a mark used to show that this gun was proofed at Woolwich in the UK. This mark is usually preserved for the guns for foreign governments, or for certain institutions such as The East India Company, or the Post Office.  This gun was probably cast some time in the second quarter of the 19th century.  By this period there are not many British companies capable of casting these guns, they are usually either Walker and Company, Bailey Pegg and Co, or Low Moor.  (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

The legend ‘SOLID’ on the trunnion shows that this is a gun bored out of the solid, therefore at the time, both up-to-date and expensive.  These SBML guns have been observed by this author marked with the letters B, F, W and Z on the right trunnion in various models.  The letter on this gun is corroded, but if it is a B, it would stand for for Bersham, near Wrexham in north Wales, showing that this gun was cast by John Wilkinson at his foundry there.  These guns are based on what became known as the ‘Armstrong pattern’ which was introduced into British military service in 1729 and was current up until 1787.  The gun can be dated to ca. 1773 (when the ‘B-SOLID’ trunnion mark makes its first appearance) to 1796.  The last known reference to Wilkinson supplying guns dates to 1796, when the final guns definitely marked with ‘B-SOLID’ were proofed on 9 -10 May for Wiggins and Graham.  These were not guns for government service, as they have no royal badge (although this one has a crown of the letter P (proofed).  Guns of this type were cast by gunfounders for the civilian market, usually for smaller merchant ships, coastal communities or landowners who wanted some defence but also wanted something lighter and cheaper than a normal gun.  (Dr Brian G. Scott)

East Millinocket

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

East Millinocket Veterans War Memorial, with a pair of 16-inch Naval Gun shells and two 37-mm M3 AT Guns.

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

37-mm M3 Anti-tank Gun, No. 1597, 1942, 190 lbs, No. 1 of 2, flanking the Veterans Memorial.

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

37-mm M3 Anti-tank Gun, No. 1584, 1942, 190 lbs, No. 2 of 2, flanking the Veterans Memorial.

Edgecomb, Fort Edgecomb

(Kenneth C. Zirkel Photo)

Fort Edgecomb, built in 1808–1809, is a two-story octagonal wooden blockhouse with restored fortifications located on Davis Island.

Fort Edgecomb is located at Davis Island's southern end.  It has an eight-sided blockhouse, whose second floor is larger than its first, measuring 30 feet (9.1 m) compared to 27 feet (8.2 m).  The ground floor walls have loopholes through which muskets could be fired, while the upper level had portholes for firing smoothbore guns.   Although the blockhouse is the most visible feature, the fort's main armament was a water battery to defend the river.  This battery originally had five guns, including a 50-pounder Columbiad and four 18-pounder smoothbore guns.  Each gun was mounted in its own bastion, with the bastions arranged in three tiers.  The blockhouse also had two carronades.

The fort was built as part of the U.S. second system of fortifications, guarding the then-important port of Wiscasset, not only for its defense, but also to prevent ships from breaking the embargo.  Thomas Jefferson's Embargo was not popular with American merchants, and it is said that the only time Fort Edgecomb's cannon were fired was in salute at James Madison's inauguration (or, less tactfully, to celebrate his lifting of the Embargo).

During the War of 1812, this post saw considerable activity holding British prisoners of war, many of them brought to Wiscasset harbor by American privateersmen.  In 1814, Fort Edgecomb became an important base in defending against a possible British attack on mid-coast Maine. It remained manned until 1818, and was reactivated during the Civil War.  (Wikipedia)

Ellsworth

(PTCRAZY Photo)

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

32-pounder 4,500 lb M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 1 of 2, beside a Civil War Monument.

(Author Photos, 27 May 2019)

32-pounder 4,500 lb M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, mounted on a concrete stand, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 2 of 2, beside a Civil War Monument.  

Fort Fairfield

(Author Photo, 18 Aug 2017)

Fort Fairfield (1839-1843) was a U.S. Army post established in 1839 as a border defense during the border dispute known as the Aroostook War.  A replica Blockhouse is located along the south bank of the Aroostook River in Aroostook County, Maine.  It was named for John Fairfield, twice governor of Maine (1839-1841, 1842-1843).  The Fort was abandoned in 1843 after the end of the border dispute.

When the Aroostook War ended without a battle being fought, federal troops were withdrawn and the Maine Militia disbanded.  Governor John Fairfield kept a sizable civil force in the disputed territory pending a new treaty.  These volunteers built a large blockhouse surrounded by a heavy stockade on Fort Hill and another smaller fort on what is now Main Street.  It was here that the bronze 6-pounder Model 1838 was mounted.

(Author Photos, 18 Aug 2017)

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1838 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, Cyrus Alger & Company, mounted on iron stand on the front lawn of the Carnegie Public Library in Fort Fairfield.  This gun was brought to the area by either the Maine militia or the land agent’s posse.  Cast in Boston in 1839, it is typical of the cannon deployed by both sides during the "Bloodless Aroostook War" of 1839.  It was unveiled on 3 July 1917 as a war memorial.

German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08 Machine-gun (Serial Nr. 47264), mounted on a Schlitten stand in the folded position.  This Deutsche Waffen un Munition (DWM) MG 08 was manufactured in Berlin in 1918.  It has been meticulously restored and is kept in a boxed container and is securely stored.

Fort Kent  

(John Stanton Photo)

Cast-iron smoothbore muzzle-loading light gun on display at Fort Kent (1839-1845), a U.S. border post established in 1839 by a Maine Civil Posse during the United States - Canada border dispute known as the Aroostook War.  The post was located at the confluence of the St. John River and the Fish River in the present day town of Fort Kent, Aroostook County, Maine.  It was taken over by U.S. Army troops and expanded in 1841, abandoned by them in 1843.  Abandoned as a fortification in 1845 and sold to private owners in 1858.  It was named in 1840 for Edward Kent, twice Governor of Maine (1838-1839, 1841-1842).  Also known as Camp Jarvis.

 (John Stanton Photo)

A blockhouse was originally built on the site of Fort Kent by a Maine Civil Posse under the command of Captain Nye and later Captain Stover Rines.  The civil posse garrison was replaced late in 1839 by U.S. troops under the command of Captain John Winder.  The blockhouse was completed and the post was expanded by Captain Winder to include a barracks, officer's quarters, and other support buildings.  The blockhouse is a two story structure with a base 23.5 feet square and second story with a 15-inch overhang on each side.  The walls were built from cedar timbers, some 19-inches square placed on a shale rock foundation.  A powder magazine was built into the base of the structure.  In 1843 the post was deactivated and abandoned on 11 Sep 1845.  In 1857 it became the property of the State of Maine who then sold it to a private individual in 1858.  The property was returned to the state in 1891 but was neglected until 1959 when preservation efforts began.

Freeport, Veterans Memorial Square

(Craig Swain Photo)

Two cast-iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading M1844 Siege and Garrison Howitzers, used to cover blind approaches and moats around masonry fortifications, specifically the flanks of the walls, thereby earning the nick-name “Flank Howitzer”.

Great Diamond Island, Fort McKinley

Fort McKinley is a former United States Army coastal defence fort on Great Diamond Island, Casco Bay, which operated from 1873 to 1947.  It was named for President William McKinley.  Fort Lyon on Cow Island, just north of Great Diamond Island was a sub-post of Fort McKinley, named for Nathaniel Lyon.  Both forts were part of the Coast Defenses of Portland, later renamed the Harbor Defenses of Portland, a command which protected Portland's port and naval anchorage 1904-1950.  In 1946 Fort Lyon was closed and turned over to the City of Portland.  After Fort McKinley's closure it was transferred to the United States Navy, which sold the site to private interests in 1961.  The Fort McKinley Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Construction on Fort McKinley began in 1897 and was complete by 1906.  The fort was divided by Diamond Cove into a North Fork and a South Fork, with nine gun batteries:

Great Diamond Island, Fort McKinley, North Fork

Battery Ingalls with eight 12-inch coast defence M1890 Mortars mounted on M1896 barbettes; Battery Berry with two 12-inch M1888 guns mounted on M1896 disappearing gun carriages; Battery Thompson with three 8-inch M1888 guns mounted on disappearing gun carriages; Battery Acker with two 6-inch M1897 guns mounted on M1898 disappearing gun carriages; and Battery Farry with two 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on an M1898 masking parapet.

(Library of Congress Photos)

8-inch Model 1888 gun mounted on a disappearing carriage, Battery McIntosh, Fort Dade, Edgmont Key, Forida in 1918.

(Library of Congress Photos)

8-inch Model 1888 gun mounted on a disappearing carriage M1886, Battery McIntosh, Fort Dade, Edgmont Key, Forida in 1918.

(Library of Congress Photo)

8-inch Model 1888 gun mounted on a Buffington-Crozier disappearing gun carriage Model 1896, diagram.

Great Diamond Island, Fort McKinley, South Fork

Battery Weymouth with three 8-inch M1888 guns mounted on M1896 disappearing gun carriages; Battery Honeycutt with two 8-inch M1888 guns mounted on M1896 disappearing gun carriages; Battery Carpenter with two 6-inch M1900 guns mounted on M1900 pedestals; and Battery Ramsay with two 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets.

Fort Lyon was completed by 1909 with two gun batteries, Battery Bayard with three 6-inch M1903 guns mounted on M1903 disappearing gun carriages and Battery Abbot with three 3-inch M1903 guns mounted on M1903 pedestals.  (Wikipedia)

(Coastal Defense Study Group Photo)

12-inch breech-loading gun, M1895, on a M1897 disappearing carriage at the moment of firing.  The soldier in the foreground has just pulled the long firing lanyard, which can be seen stretching up to the breechlock of the gun. The gun is "in battery", raised just above the edge of the parapet of the gun position. The crew member on the catwalk at the upper left of the gun is looking through the optical telescopic gun sight. On the left in the group of crew members can be seen the talker (wearing a headset), who passes firing data from the Range Section of the battery to the man on the gun sight.  

12-inch gun (left) on early low-angle barbette carriage circa 1895 with 10-inch and 8-inch guns, Sandy Hook coastal defence.  (Library of Congress Photo)

12-inch 1890 M1 Mortars in a pit, similar to Battery Ingalls.  (National Park Service Photo)

12-inch 1890 M1 Mortar (305-mm) caliber coast defense mortar was a massive weapon emplaced during the 1890s and early 20th century to defend U.S. harbors from seaborne attack.

Hog Island, Fort Gorges

(Historic American Buildings Survey Photo)

Fort Gorges, Hog Island Ledge, Portland Harbor, Portland, Cumberland County, Maine.  

Fort Gorges is a former United States military fort built on Hog Island Ledge in Casco Bay.  Built from 1858 to 1864, no battles were fought there and no troops were stationed there. Advancing military technology, including iron clad ships and long range guns, made the fort obsolete before it could be used. The fort is now a park, accessible only by boat.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The fort was designed by Colonel Reuben Staples Smart, and is built of granite.  The fort was completed in 1865 as the American Civil War ended.  Modern explosives made the fort obsolete by the time it was completed.  A modernization plan was begun in 1869, but funding was cut off in 1876, with the third level of the fort still unfinished.  During the modernization project, sod-covered sand was added to the top level of the fort to protect gun encasements and powder magazines from attacks.  The Fort's armament consisted of thirty-four 10-inch Rodman Guns, (Columbiad, 10-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, Model 1861), weight 14,980-lbs, mounted in the fort's casemates.

(Library of Congress Photo)

10-inch (300-pounder) Model 1862 Parrot rifle, used for seacoast defence during the American Civil War.  

(Ryan Victor Photo)

10-inch (300-pounder) Model 1862 Parrot rifle, used for seacoast defence, which was emplaced on the top of the fort.  In 1898, all the guns except for this one were removed from the fort.  This Parrott rifle, weighing 26,900-lbs, remains in place unmounted, and is one of the largest surviving specimens of Civil War vintage artillery.  The fort was last used by the Army during the Second World War, when it was used to store submarine mines.

Houlton

(Houlton Postcard Photo, 1944)

German First World War 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13 (15-cm sFH 13), First World War Memorial.  This gun was scrapped for metal needed to fight the Second World War.

Houlton, Hancock Barracks

Hancock Barracks (1828-1845) - A U.S. Army barracks established by the U.S. Army 5 May 1828 on the U.S. - Canada border to provide a presence during a border dispute with Canada known as the Aroostook War.  The barracks was garrisoned with three companies of the 1st U.S. Artillery.  The post was abandoned 9 Sep 1845.

House Island, Fort Scammel

(Econrad Photo)

House Island is a private island in Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, with Fort Scammel located on the West side of the island.  

Henry A.S. Dearborn, an officer of the Massachusetts Militia and a future general, built Fort Scammell on the island in 1808 as part of the national second system of fortifications.  It was named after Alexander Scammel, Adjutant-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, who was killed in action during the Battle of Yorktown.  The fort was designed for harbour defence, with cannon batteries designed to protect the main shipping channel into Portland harbor, along with Fort Preble.  The fort was made of stone, brick, and earth, and initially mounted fifteen guns and a 10-inch mortar.  The Secretary of War's report on fortifications for 1811 describes Fort Scammell as "a circular battery of masonry with circular flanks, mounting fifteen heavy guns, is covered in the rear with a wooden blockhouse, mounting six guns...". Typical weapons of the period were 24-pounder or 32-pounder smoothbore guns.

In the 1840s–1850s, as part of the national third system of fortifications, Fort Scammell was modernized by extending its walls to enclose a larger area.  Thomasa Lincoln Casey, an Army Engineer Officer known for his work on the Washington Monument, completely rebuilt the fort beginning in 1862 during the American Civil War.  As rebuilt to the new Third System design Fort Scammell was unique in the US, with the design centered on two stone-and-brick bastions connected by earth walls rather than stone curtain walls.  A third bastion was never completed.  The west bastion had a single tier of casemates and the east bastion had two tiers.  In the 1870s additional earthworks to accommodate 10-inch and 15-inch Rodman Guns were constructed, but only some of these were completed due to a national freeze on fort construction in the late 1870s.  Fort Scammell was not re-armed in the Spanish-American War of 1898, and was listed as disarmed in a 1903 report.  Two emplacements for anti-aircraft guns were added in 1917, probably for the 3-inch gun M1917.  Of all the forts in Casco Bay, Fort Scammell was the only fort to fire a shot and be fired upon in battle, in early August 1813.

3-inch AA gun on M1917 pedestal mount.  (Library of Congress Photo)

Howland

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4196A), Reg. No. 09A22870, American Legion Post 97.

Kenduskeag

(Author Photos, 16 May 2018)

32-pounder 4,500 lb M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, No. 502, 57.0.14, CA & Co, mounted on a concrete stand in the Penobscott Cemetery, Levant Road.

Kennebunkport

(US Army Photo)

M20 Armoured Car of the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion in action during the Second World War.

M20 Armoured Car (Serial No. 2446), private owner.

The M20 armored utility car, also known as the M20 scout car, was a Greyhound with the turret replaced with a low, armoured open-topped superstructure and an anti-aircraft ring mount for a .50 cal. M2 heavy machine gun.  A bazooka was provided for the crew to compensate for its lack of anti-armour weaponry.  The M20 was primarily used as a command vehicle and for forward reconnaissance, but many vehicles also served as armoured personnel carriers and cargo carriers.  The M20 offered high speed and excellent mobility, along with a degree of protection against small arms fire and shrapnel.  When employed in the command and control role, the M20 was fitted with additional radio equipment.  A total of 3,680 M20s were built by Ford during its two years in production (1943–1944).

Kittery, Fort Foster

Fort Foster, now part of Fort Foster Park, is a historic fort active 1901-1946 on the southwest tip of Gerrish Island in the Kittery Point area.  The park includes beaches and trails.  Battery Bohlen and Battery Chapin were the major parts of the fort.  The land was acquired by the U.S. federal government in 1872 and the fort was built from 1898 to 1901 as part of the large-scale Endicott Program.  Other forts of this era in the Coast Defences of Portsmouth included Fort Constitution and Fort Stark.  The site was a sub-post of Fort Constitution and was named for American Civil War-era Brevet Major General John G. Foster of New Hampshire.

(Library of Congress Photo)

Practice loading of a 10-inch gun at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY.

Fort Foster originally had two gun batteries: Battery Bohlen with three 10-inch (254-mm) M1895 disappearing guns and Battery Chapin with two 3-inch (76-mm) M1902 guns on pedestal mounts.  Battery Bohlen was built in 1898-1901 and Battery Chapin was completed in 1904.  Battery Bohlen was named for Brigadier General Henry Bohlen, killed in the Civil War, and Battery Chapin was named for Brigadier General Edward Chapin, also killed in the Civil War.  In 1909 a secondary control station for an underwater minefield in the harbor was added; Battery Chapin was built primarily to defend this minefield against minesweepers.  After the American entry into the First World War in early 1917, many guns were removed from coast defenses for potential service on the Western Front.  Most of these weapons were not sent overseas or did not see action.  All three 10-inch (254-mm) guns of Battery Bohlen were removed for potential use as railway artillery in October 1917, and were returned to the fort in September 1919.

(US Navy Photo)

16-inch casemated gun, Battery Davis at Fort Funston in San Francisco.

During the Second World War Fort Foster's heavy guns were superseded by a new 16-inch (406-mm) gun battery at Fort Dearborn.  The 10-inch guns of Battery Bohlen were scrapped in 1942.  However, new construction also took place at Fort Foster as part of the general improvement of US coast defenses that began in 1940. In 1940-1944 the Harbor Defences of Portsmouth were garrisoned by the 22nd Coast Artillery Regiment.  A new mine control station and mine casemate were built, along with two new gun batteries.  Battery 205, begun in 1942, was to have two 6-inch (152-mm) M1 guns on shielded barbette carriages with a bunker for ammunition and fire control, but construction was suspended in 1944 and the battery was never armed.  A six-story fire control tower was constructed to spot targets for this battery.  Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat Battery (AMTB) 952 was also built at Fort Foster in 1943, with an authorized strength of two fixed 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns and two towed 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns.  The remaining batteries were deactivated in 1946 and the fort was closed in 1948.

(Author Photo)

90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft gun, similar to this one displayed at 5 Canadian Division Support Group Base Gagetown, New Brunswick.

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