Fort Standish (1)

Fort Standish (1) (1900-1947) - An Endicott Period Coastal Fort first established in 1900 on Lovell's Island in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Named Fort Standish in G.O. 43, 4 Apr 1900, after Myles Standish, a famous soldier who joined the expedition sailing on the "Mayflower" and gained distinction in the defense of the Plymouth Colony and in the direction of operations against hostile Indians, (1620-1656). Post declared surplus in 1947.

Fort Standish 1909 NCO Quarters	Fort Standish bef 1903 Caretaker/NCO Quarters in 1930

Endicott Period

Part of the Harbor Defense of Boston, Massachusetts.

Seven Endicott Period gun batteries were built on Lovell's Island Island between 1899 and 1907 and accepted for service. By 1909 the batteries were completed and quarters built for 4 NCOs. One of those quarters was a caretaker/NCO quarters. In 1909 the post was garrisoned by detachment from Fort Warren (2). The guns for Battery Burbeck and Battery Morris (2) were on hand but not mounted and the guns for Battery Williams were not on hand.

Fort Standish (1) Endicott Period Battery (edit list)

Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Burbeck	2	10"	Disappearing	1901-1907-1907-1942	$ 128,452
Battery Morris (2)	2	10"	Disappearing	1901-1907-1907-1942	$ 128,452
Battery Terrill (1)	3	6"	Disappearing	1899-1902-1902-1943	$ 86,673
Battery Whipple	2	6"	Pedestal	1901-1904-1904-1947	$ 21,900	Modified WWII
Battery Vincent	4	3"	Masking Parapet	1900-1904-1904-1920	$ 14,000	Modified
Battery Weir	2	3"	Pedestal	1902-1906-1906-1926	$ 29,127	Destroyed
Battery Williams	3	3"	Pedestal	1900-1904-1904-1946	$ 17,500
Source: CDSG

Fort Standish Plan 1921

World War I

Fort Standish expanded during World War I and a number of temporary buildings were built to house the garrison. The temporary buildings can be still seen on the 1921 plan of the post. By 1938 all of the temporary buildings were gone and only the three permanent habitable quarters remained. There were other permanent buildings, an ordnance storehouse and a regular storehouse but little else besides the gun batteries and fire control stations.

Battery Vincent was taken out of service in 1920 and Battery Weir was deactivated in 1926.

World War II

Just before World War II the post expanded again. In 1940 the post capacity was four NCOs and by 30 Jun 1941 the capacity had risen to 14 officers, 4 NCOs and 809 enlisted men. Seven 63 man WWII barracks had been built along with three mess halls and a number of support buildings. Tents provided quarters for 368 of the troops. Most of the new buildings were located at the southern end of the Island.

The beginning of the war found all of the disappearing carriage gun batteries obsolete and they were scrapped in 1942 and 1943 leaving only Battery Whipple and Battery Williams active throughout the war. One new AMTB gun battery was built on the northern tip of the Island. Battery AMTB 943 was completed in 1943 and remained in service through the rest of the war. The AMTB batteries were rapid fire 90mm gun batteries designed as a defense against fast enemy motor torpedo boats and enemy aircraft.

Fort Standish (1) World War II Battery (edit list)

Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery AMTB 943	2 2	90mm 90mm	AMTB Fixed Mobile	1943-1943-1943-1946	$ 8,852
Source: CDSG

Fort Standish Plan 1945

Current Status

Lovell's Island, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.

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Location: Lovell's Island, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Maps & Images Lat: 42.330857 Long: -70.928985 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: '

Sources:

• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 411
• U.S.Army, Supplement to the Harbor Defense Project of Boston, Massachusetts, (HDB-AN-45), 31 Jan 1945, CDSG

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Standish
• CDSG

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