Battery Westport-2
Battery Westport-2 (1919-1926) - Battery Westport-2 was a reinforced concrete, World War I 12 inch coastal mortar battery on Fort Grays Harbor Military Reservation, Washington. The battery was not officially named. Battery construction started in Jul 1918, was completed in Oct 1918 and transferred to the Coastal Artillery for use 6 Oct 1919 at a cost of $ 10,405.99. Deactivated in 1926.
Battery Westport-2 History
Part of the Harbor Defense of Grays Harbor.
World War I
Originally built as a temporary World War I concrete coastal mortar battery with four 12" mortars mounted on mortar carriages. The battery consisted of four, 21' wide octagonal concrete pads, 30' apart, with a circular indentation for the base of the mortar carriages in each pad.
On 26 Oct 1921 all of the Harbor Defense of the Columbia was placed on caretaker status including the facilities at Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor and they were each assigned a single caretaker. In February 1926 the commander of the Harbor Defense of the Columbia , 1st Lt. Sargent P. Huff, dismounted both guns at battery Westport-1 and shipped them to Benicia Arsenal, he scrapped the carriages and relieved the caretaker. The caretaker at Willapa Military Reservation remained in place until about 1930 and he made four trips a month to Grays Harbor to check on the remaining government property.
Current Status
Private property. No period guns or mounts in place.
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Location: Westport, Washington Maps & Images Lat: 46.884783 Long: -124.110596 |
Sources:
- Coast Defense Study Group, Press, Digital Library, Forums
- Hanft, Marshall, Fort Stevens: Oregon's defender at the river of the West, Your Town Press, 1980, page 246
Links:
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