Fort Barry: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:56, 8 February 2013

Fort Barry (1904-2000) - Originally a part of Fort Baker (1), established as a separate Endicott Period coastal fort on 27 Dec 1904 and named after Brig. Gen. William F. Barry, 2nd U.S. Artillery. Located on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California. The military reservation land was turned over to the GGNRA in1995 and the last military troops left Fort Barry in 2000.

Fort Barry Barracks	Nike Missile Site SF-88L

Endicott Period (1890-1910)

Part of the Harbor Defense of San Francisco.

Battery construction began on what would become Fort Barry with two large caliber batteries, Battery Mendell, a 12" mortar battery and Battery Alexander, a 12" disappearing gun battery, both started in 1901. In 1903 Battery Guthrie, a 6" Barbette pedestal mount battery and Battery O'Rorke, a 3" Barbette pedestal mounted gun battery, were started. In 1904 Battery Rathbone, a 6" Barbette pedestal mounted gun battery, was begun. These five gun batteries constituted the first wave of coastal defense batteries on the Marin Headlands, along the outside entrance to the Golden Gate. These batteries were all completed in the 1903-1905 time frame but were not accepted for service until 8 Jun 1905, all on the same day. Not all of the completed batteries were armed or had even had guns and carriages on site when they were accepted. It was 1910 before all the batteries were armed.

The first detachment from Fort Baker (1) arrived at the Point Bonita batteries in July 1903 and lived in the magazines of Battery Mendell and Battery Alexander. On 16 Jul 1904 the Secretary of War authorized construction of a permanent post for two companies of the Coast Artillery Corps. The buildings were finished in the spring of 1907 and occupied 12 Feb 1908 by the 161st Company of the Coast Artillery Corps. The buildings included duplex officers' and noncommissioned officers' quarters, a twelve-bed hospital, two three-story barracks containing mess halls and kitchens, a guardhouse, a headquarters, and a complex of warehouses, stables, firehouse and other support buildings.

**Fort Barry Endicott Period Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Alexander	8	12"	Mortar	1901-1903-1905-1942	$ 100,382
Battery Mendell	2	12"	Disappearing Carriage	1901-190?-1905-1943	$ 128,016
Battery Guthrie	2	6"	Pedestal Mount	1903-1904-1905-1948	$ 69,194
Battery Smith (2)	2	6"	Pedestal Mount	1922-1948	$ 0	Created from Battery Guthrie 1922
Battery Rathbone	2	6"	Pedestal Mount	1904-1905-1905-1946	$ 92,511
Battery McIndoe	2	6"	Pedestal Mount	1922-1946	$ 0	Created from Battery Rathbone 1922
Battery O'Rorke	4	3"	Pedestal Mount	1903-1904-1905-1945	$ 24,463
Source: CDSG

World War I (1917-1918)

Battery Wallace (2) was originally constructed in 1917 during World War I for two long-range 12-inch guns each with a 360-degree field of fire, it was casemated in 1943. A balloon hangar was built in 1921 which is the last of three such structures in the defenses of San Francisco to survive.

**Fort Barry World War I Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Wallace (2)	2	12"	LR Barbette	1917-1921-1921-1948	$ 758,242	Casemated 1943
Source: CDSG

World War II (1941-1945)

Fort Barry had no permanent garrison from 1922 to 1941, but was regarrisoned at the beginning of World War II. Battery 129 on the high summit to the east was begun in 1943 to contain two 16-inch guns which arrived but were never mounted.

**Fort Barry World War II Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery 129	2	16"	LR Barbette in Casemate	1942-1944-1944-194?	$ 2,069,739	Guns on site not installed Navy Guns 1940 program
Source: CDSG

Cold War (1947-1991)

In 1954 Nike missile sites, SF-88L and SF-87C were built on Fort Barry as part of a protective ring of anti-aircraft missiles around San Francisco Harbor. ICBMs made the Nike system obsolete and it was shut down in 1974. SF-88L, the Launch site, has become the only restored Nike Site in the U.S. with functioning components of the system. Following the closure of the Nike missile site in 1974, the fort was used as a housing area for Army personnel stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco until it closed. In 1995, the military transferred its land to Golden Gate National Recreation Area and in 2000, the last soldiers left Fort Baker as the 91st Division (Training Support) moved their activities to Camp Parks, California.

**Marin Headlands Nike Batteries** (edit list)
Battery	Type	Location	GPS	Elevation
SF-88C	Control	Wolf Ridge	37.84197, -122.53218	910'
SF-88L	Launch	Fort Barry	37.82698, -122.52753	134'
SF-87C	Control	Hawk Hill	37.82754, -122.49956	889'
SF-87L	Launch	Fort Cronkhite	37.83525, -122.53099	182'
Source: Jef's Nike Website

Current Status

Part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area (GGNRA) administered by the National Park Service. No gun or mounts in place. Fort Barry now houses National Park Service personnel and the Marin Center for the Arts and Headlands' Institute.

{"selectable":false,"width":"500"}

Location: At the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge next to Fort Baker (1) on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California.

Maps & Images

Lat: 37.83111 Long: -122.52333

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: 322'

Sources:

Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 22
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 61
Kent, Matthew W., Harbor Defenses of San Francisco - A Field Guide 1890 to 1950, Copyright 2009, Blurb, ISBN 978-1-61584-163-9, page 164-209
U.S.Army, Supplement to the Harbor Defense Project Harbor Defenses of San Francisco, (CCA-P-SFB), 15 Nov 1945, CDSG

Links:

Visited: 20 Aug 2009

Fort Barry Picture Gallery

Click on the picture to see a larger version. Contribute additional pictures - the more the better!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{SocialNetworks}}
-'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1904-2000) - Originally a part of [[Fort Baker]], established as a separate [[Endicott Period]] coastal fort on 27 Dec 1904 and named after Brig. Gen. [[William F. Barry]], [[2nd U.S. Artillery]]. Located on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California. The military reservation land was turned over to the GGNRA in1995 and the last military troops left Fort Barry in 2000.
+'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1904-2000) - Originally a part of [[Fort Baker (1)]], established as a separate [[Endicott Period]] coastal fort on 27 Dec 1904 and named after Brig. Gen. [[William F. Barry]], [[2nd U.S. Artillery]]. Located on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California. The military reservation land was turned over to the GGNRA in1995 and the last military troops left Fort Barry in 2000.
 {|width="795px" cellpadding="5px"
 |- valign="top"
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 Battery construction began on what would become Fort Barry with two large caliber batteries, [[Battery Mendell]], a 12" mortar battery and [[Battery Alexander]], a 12" disappearing gun battery, both started in 1901. In 1903 [[Battery Guthrie]], a 6" Barbette pedestal mount battery and [[Battery O'Rorke]], a 3" Barbette pedestal mounted gun battery, were started. In 1904 [[Battery Rathbone]], a 6" Barbette pedestal mounted gun battery, was begun. These five gun batteries constituted the first wave of coastal defense batteries on the Marin Headlands, along the outside entrance to the Golden Gate. These batteries were all completed in the 1903-1905 time frame but were not accepted for service until 8 Jun 1905, all on the same day. Not all of the completed batteries were armed or had even had guns and carriages on site when they were accepted. It was 1910 before all the batteries were armed.
-The first detachment from [[Fort Baker]] arrived at the Point Bonita batteries in July 1903 and lived in the magazines of [[Battery Mendell]] and [[Battery Alexander]]. On 16 Jul 1904 the Secretary of War authorized construction of a permanent post for two companies of the [[Coast Artillery Corps]]. The buildings were finished in the spring of 1907 and occupied 12 Feb 1908 by the 161st Company of the [[Coast Artillery Corps]]. The buildings included duplex officers' and noncommissioned officers' quarters, a twelve-bed hospital, two three-story barracks containing mess halls and kitchens, a guardhouse, a headquarters, and a complex of warehouses, stables, firehouse and other support buildings.
+The first detachment from [[Fort Baker (1)]] arrived at the Point Bonita batteries in July 1903 and lived in the magazines of [[Battery Mendell]] and [[Battery Alexander]]. On 16 Jul 1904 the Secretary of War authorized construction of a permanent post for two companies of the [[Coast Artillery Corps]]. The buildings were finished in the spring of 1907 and occupied 12 Feb 1908 by the 161st Company of the [[Coast Artillery Corps]]. The buildings included duplex officers' and noncommissioned officers' quarters, a twelve-bed hospital, two three-story barracks containing mess halls and kitchens, a guardhouse, a headquarters, and a complex of warehouses, stables, firehouse and other support buildings.
 {{Clr}}
 {{FtBarryEndicott}}
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 </googlemap>
 |valign="top"|
-'''Location:''' At the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge next to [[Fort Baker]] on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California.
+'''Location:''' At the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge next to [[Fort Baker (1)]] on the ocean side of the Marin Peninsula, Marin County, California.
 {{Mapit-US-cityscale|37.83111|-122.52333}}