The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

New York City's Fort Wadsworth

From Wikipedia.

Willard Seidenfield mentioned Fort Wadsworth, which I had never heard of, so Wiki there I go.

Fort Wadsworth is located at The Narrows, which divides New York Bay into upper and lower.  The fort was closed in 1994 and at that time was the longest-continually-manned military installation in the United States.

It was named in 1864 in honor of Union General James Wadsworth who had been killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virgina that year.  The fort also included the Civil War-era Battery Weed and Fort Thompkins, built on the bluff above it.  Both of these installations were built around 1850.  The site is located by the Verrazano Bridge.

During World War II, several batteries were built at the fort and many anti-aircraft positions added.  The Coast Artillery had operational control and there was also underwater mine defenses as well.  Four three-inch guns were also added and used in conjunction with Battery Turnbull.  And, at one point, some Italian prisoners were housed there.

After the war, it became a radar control center for a missile system.

So, That's the Fort.  --GreGen

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