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| (Fort) 40.88336, -73.770212, [[Fort Slocum]]<br>(1896-1965) | | (Fort) 40.88336, -73.770212, [[Fort Slocum]]<br>(1896-1965) |
| </googlemap> | | </googlemap> |
| == Endicott Period Forts (1890-1910) ==
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| In 1885 US President Grover Cleveland appointed a joint army, navy and civilian board, headed by Secretary of War [[William C. Endicott]], known as the Board of Fortifications. The findings of the board illustrated a grim picture of existing defenses in its 1886 report and recommended a massive $127 million construction program of breech-loading cannons, mortars, floating batteries, and submarine mines for some 29 locations on the US coastline.
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| Prior efforts at harbor defense construction had ceased in the 1870s. Since that time the design and construction of heavy ordnance advanced rapidly, including the development of superior breech-loading and longer-ranged cannon, making the US harbor defenses obsolete. In 1883, the navy had begun a new construction program with an emphasis on offensive rather than defensive warships. These factors combined to create a need for improved coastal defense systems.
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| The Endicott Board's recommendations would lead to a large scale modernization program of harbor and coastal defenses in the United States, especially the construction of modern reinforced concrete fortifications and the installation of large caliber breech-loading artillery and mortar batteries. Typically, Endicott period projects were not fortresses, but a system of well-dispersed emplacements with few but large guns in each location. The structures were usually open-topped concrete walls protected by sloped earthworks. Many of these featured disappearing guns, which sat protected behind the walls, but could be raised to fire. Mine fields were a critical component of the defense, and smaller guns were also employed to protect the mine fields from mine sweeping vessels.
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| '''Source:'''
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| * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seacoast_Defense_(US) Endicott Period]
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