Whitman-Cushing FCS

This Fire Control Structure was one of the first two built at Ft. Andrews. It originally housed the primary base end stations for Batteries McCook, Pope (Ft. Revere), and Cushing-Whitman (the combined 12-inch mortar batteries at Ft. Andrews). In addition, this building housed the primary BES for the Third Fire Command, which was itself made up of Bttys Cushing and Whitman.

The structure was a cemesto structure of one story, with an observation gallery above it, that was constructed in a pit some 15 feet deep, such that only the observation windows of the gallery (and a little of the roof) were visible above ground level. The FCS would have had an unobstructed view across the harbor northwest towards Deer Island (Ft. Dawes). Behind this building about 100 ft. to the SW were a fire control switchboard room and a dormitory for the troops who manned the fire control positions. The fort's radio station was located about 300 ft. SE of the FCS.

Today (2011), the structure is a tangle of crushed walls, having been collapsed over the years from a series of large trees falling into the pit. However, this is still the only example of a cemesto FCS (once the most common type) remaining in the harbor defenses of Boston.