Battery AMTB - Bluff Park
Battery AMTB - Bluff Park (1943-1946) - Battery AMTB - Bluff Park was a reinforced concrete World War II 90mm gun battery on Fort MacArthur, California. AMTB stands for Anti Motor Torpedo Boat. Battery construction started Jun 1943, was completed Sep 1943 and transferred to the Coastal Artillery for use 4 May 1944. Deactivated in 1946.
Battery AMTB - Bluff Park History
Part of the Harbor Defense of Los Angeles.
Four Anti Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries were built for the Harbor Defense of Los Angeles during World War II under Job No. FS-8 at a total cost of $76,576.03. All four batteries were constructed between June 1943 and October 1943 and all four were accepted for service on 4 May 1944.
Each of the four batteries consisted of two fixed gun emplacements of 90mm M1 guns on M3 pedestal mounts with a heavy shield. Additionally provisions were made for two temporary mobile gun positions at each of the four locations and each position had supporting structures for ammunition storage and a central power source. Two of the AMTB batteries were located on Fort MacArthur, (Battery AMTB - Navy Field & Battery AMTB - Gaffey Bulge) and the other two were located off the main reservation at Terminal Island (Battery AMTB - Terminal Island) and Bluff Park, Long Beach (Battery AMTB - Bluff Park).
The dual mission of these AMTB batteries was both to defend the harbor against smaller, faster naval vessels that might evade the larger batteries and to defend against aerial attack.
| Empl No |
Caliber Type |
Barrel Length |
Model | Serial No |
Manufacturer | Carriage | Service Dates |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90mm Rifle | 186.15" | M1 | 7056 | General Motors | Pedestal Mount, M3, #195, F B D | 1943-1946 | ||
| 2 | 90mm Rifle | 186.15" | M1 | 5375 | Watervliet | Pedestal Mount, M3, #164, F B D | 1943-1946 | ||
| Source: RCW Part 1, 5 Dec 1944, Coast Defense Study Group, Berhow, Mark A. ed, American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide, 2nd Edition, CDSG Press, McLean, VA, 2004, ISBN 0-9748167-0-1, pages 80-81 | |||||||||
Current Status
No gun or mounts in place
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Location: Fort MacArthur, Bluff Park, California Maps & Images Lat: 33.73028 Long: -118.26889 |
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