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.

Friday, March 4, 2016

California's Fort MacArthur-- Part 1: To Protect Los Angeles

From Wikipedia.

I had never heard of Fort MacArthur before, which I wrote about in the previous post, so had to look it up and research further.  The fort was an Army installation located at San Pedro, California.  A small section of it is still used by the U.S. Air Force for housing and administration.  It was named in honor of Lt. general Arthur MacArthur, the father of Douglas MacArthur.

In 1888, President Grover Cleveland designated it for protection of the growing Port of Los Angeles.  Construction started in 1914 and it served as a training area during World War I.  The first large gun batteries were constructed in 1917.

However, test firing of the massive 14-inch guns proved extremely unpopular with the fort's civilian neighbors and caused quite a few broken windows.

By the end of World War II, the large guns were being removed and were completely gone by 1948.

--GreGen

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