Battery Guenther: Difference between revisions
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== Current Status == | == Current Status == | ||
The battery is not accessible to the public except for by permission of the Coast Guard. The battery is in excellent condition structurally but has been modified as a haunted house and has Halloween themed graffiti. Mortar emplacements A-2 and B-1 are overgrown. The rooms are dry with the exception of the oil room and truck and tool rooms in Mortar Pit B. There is some overgrowth in the mortar pits. All rooms are being used as storage and as such filled with clutter. Some of the rooms are not accessible. No period guns or carriages are in place. | The battery is not accessible to the public except for by permission of the Coast Guard. The battery is in excellent condition structurally but has been modified as a haunted house and has some Halloween themed graffiti. Mortar emplacements A-2 and B-1 are overgrown. The rooms are dry with the exception of the oil room and truck and tool rooms in Mortar Pit B. There is some overgrowth in the mortar pits. All rooms are being used as storage and as such filled with clutter. Some of the rooms are not accessible. No period guns or carriages are in place. | ||
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Revision as of 14:39, 24 July 2009
Battery Guenther (1918-1942) - A concrete mortar battery built at Fort Canby between Jun 1918 and May 1922 and transferred for service 30 Jun 1922. Battery Guenther was named for Brig. Gen. Francis L. Guenther a U.S. Civil War veteran who died 5 Dec 1918.
Battery Guenther History
Battery Guenther was a concrete Taft Period mortar battery protecting the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean approaches. Part of the Harbor Defense of the Columbia.
Originally armed with four, 12" M1890MI mortars on A.R.F., M1896MI Carriages, two in each of two mortar pits. Each pair of mortars required about 30 men to operate. All four of the mortars at Battery Guenther were originally from Battery Clark at Fort Stevens and a 6" gun was moved from Battery Harvey Allen at Fort Canby.
Each of the mortars at Battery Guenther were test fired twice in Apr 1922 with shot weighing 1,046 pounds each. The battery was the last seacoast mortar battery built in the United States.
Battery Guenther was deactivated in 1942. The mortars and carriages were salvaged in 1943.
| Empl No |
Caliber Type |
Barrel Length |
Model | Serial No |
Manufacturer | Carriage | Service Dates |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-1 | 12" Mortar | 129.25" | M1890MI | 29 | Builders | Mortar, M1896MI, #124, Am. Hoist & D. Co. |
1921-1942 | From Battery Clark | |
| A-2 | 12" Mortar | 129.25" | M1890MI | 35 | Builders | Mortar, M1896MI, #123, Am. Hoist & D. Co. |
1921-1942 | From Battery Clark | |
| B-1 | 12" Mortar | 129.25" | M1890MI | 48 | Watervliet | Mortar, M1896MI, #119, Am. Hoist & D. Co. |
1921-1942 | From Battery Clark | |
| B-2 | 12" Mortar | 129.25" | M1890MI | 34 | Watervliet | Mortar, M1896MI, #120, Am. Hoist & D. Co. |
1921-1942 | From Battery Clark | |
| Source: CDSG | |||||||||
Current Status
The battery is not accessible to the public except for by permission of the Coast Guard. The battery is in excellent condition structurally but has been modified as a haunted house and has some Halloween themed graffiti. Mortar emplacements A-2 and B-1 are overgrown. The rooms are dry with the exception of the oil room and truck and tool rooms in Mortar Pit B. There is some overgrowth in the mortar pits. All rooms are being used as storage and as such filled with clutter. Some of the rooms are not accessible. No period guns or carriages are in place.
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Location: Battery located at Fort Canby (Cape Disappointment State Park) on the property of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment. Maps & Images Lat: 46.28093 Long: -124.054667 |
Sources:
Links:
Visited: 26 Jun 2009
Battery Guenther Picture Gallery
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Click on the picture to see a larger version. Contribute additional pictures - the more the better! |