Fort Miles WWII Radar Site (2)

Fort Miles WWII Radar Site (2) (1943-1946) - A World War II U.S. Army Radar Site established in 1943. Used to provide fire control information to large caliber (6" and above) coastal gun batteries in the Harbor Defense of the Delaware against enemy warships. Located on Fort Miles in Sussex County, Delaware. Closed in 1946. Fort Miles WWII Radar Site Transmitter Building Foundation. Fort Miles WWII Radar Site Antenna Pad. Fort Miles WWII Radar Site No. 2 Antenna Pads. History Part of the Harbor Defense of the Delaware. Fort Miles WWII Radar Site No. 2 Plan. SCR-296-A Typical Radar Set Installation. This radar site was designate site #4 of the five SCR-296-A radar sites authorized for the Fort Miles command. Of the remaining sites, three were located south of the fort along the coast, supporting the line of observation towers. The fifth site was located across Delaware Bay at Cape May, New Jersey, in support of Battery 223. Transferred for use at Fort Miles 3 Nov 1943. Construction costs to date of transfer were $ 12,400. The physical plant consisted of a transmitter building, two powerhouses each with a 1000 gallon fuel tank, a 100' steel tower and an antenna housing disguised as a Water tank atop the tower. The three buildings and the tower were prefabricated steel units furnished by the Signal Corps. The buildings and the tower were placed on concrete pads and footings installed by the Corps of Engineers who erected all of the structures. Access to the antenna on top of the tower was by a small hoist operated by an electric motor. The radar equipment was installed by the Signal Corps. It required 16.3kW of 120/240 AC, 1 phase, 60 cycle power furnished by commercial power backed up by the two on-site generators. The two 25 kW generators were furnished and installed by the Signal Corps. Site Operation SCR-296-A Range Operator Display. SCR-296-A Azimuth Operator Displays In operation, the SCR-296-A radar could only track one target at a time. Target assignments were made from the harbor HECP/HDCP command posts by telephone, citing the approximate range and azimuth of the target using the SCR-582/SCR-682 search radar and/or optical spotters. The SCR-296-A radar operators would then find the target and pass the precise range and azimuth to the plotting room at the gun battery by phone. Two operators were required, one for the range position and one for the azimuth position. The radar operators would continue to track the target and update the plotting room as the range and azimuth changed. Once the shore battery fired, the SCR-296-A could detect the water splashes of near misses and provide adjusting information by voice commands such as "300 short" or "500 long". SCR-582 to SCR-296-A Radar, Seacoast Battery Communications Paths. In operation, the range accuracy was about ± 30 yards while azimuth accuracy was about ± 0.20 degree under the best conditions. The set had a dependable range of 20,000 yards on a destroyer size target when properly sited between 150 to 500 feet above sea level. The operating crew consisted of 5 men plus a power plant operator and radar maintenance man. The Radar track data was provided by telephone to support Battery 222 as the primary battery and to secondary batteries including Battery 221, Battery 119, Battery 519, and Battery 223. Closure Closed in 1946. The SCR-296-A Radar equipment was declared obsolete by AG letter on 17 Jan 1946. The Tower and radar equipment were to be disposed of while the buildings were to be retained. Current Status The concrete support pads for the radar antenna can still be seen, aligned with the transmitter building slab and a line of remaining transmission line supports. One of the two power building slabs is above the sand level but the second one could not be located and is presumed to be covered with sand. No markers or reader boards identify this radar site. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Fort Miles in Sussex County, Delaware. Maps & Images Lat: 38.78607 Long: -75.09091 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Antenna Elevation: 110' Site Elevation: 10' See Also: Fort Miles Battery 222 US Radar Sets SCR-296-A Radar Set Northeastern WWII Radar Sites Sources: U.S.Army, Supplement to the Harbor Defense Project of The Delaware, (HDDEL-AN-45), 1 Jul 1945, CDSG RCW-Corrected to 1 Aug 1944, CDSG. Links: Visited: 18 Apr 2018