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Salisbury Beach Military Reservation

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Coordinates: 42°49′35.4″N 70°49′2.8″W / 42.826500°N 70.817444°W / 42.826500; -70.817444
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Salisbury Beach Military Reservation
Part of Harbor Defenses of Boston
Salisbury, Massachusetts
A 155mm gun, similar to those at Salisbury Beach, on a Panama mount.
Coordinates42°49′35.4″N 70°49′2.8″W / 42.826500°N 70.817444°W / 42.826500; -70.817444
TypeCoastal Defense
Site information
OwnerMassachusetts
Controlled bySalisbury Beach State Reservation
Site history
Built1941
Built byUnited States Army
In use1941-1945
Battles/warsWorld War II

Salisbury Beach Military Reservation was a coastal defense site located in Salisbury, Massachusetts.

History

The Salisbury Beach Military Reservation was built on state land in 1941. Its mission was to protect the Merrimack River and Newburyport Harbor from possible air and naval attack. The site had four "Panama mounts" (circular concrete platforms) for four towed 155mm guns. It never fired its guns in anger, though but it did play an important part in the defense of the harbor. It may have been organizationally part of the Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth or the Harbor Defenses of Boston, references vary.[1] Battery F of the 9th Coast Artillery Regiment initially garrisoned the battery at Salisbury Beach on 2 October 1941, and was redesignated Battery C on 10 October 1941. Since the 9th garrisoned HD Boston, the latter is more likely.[2] The gun area was returned to the Commonwealth in 1945, but a small fire control site was retained for several more years.[3]

The site today

Today the site is home to Salisbury Beach State Reservation, a recreational beach. The site also contains the remains of the batteries and buildings.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Salisbury Beach at American Forts Network
  2. ^ Gaines, p. 9
  3. ^ Salisbury Beach Mil Res at FortWiki.com
  4. ^ Salisbury Beach Mil Res at www.NorthAmericanForts.com
  • Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Third Edition. McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, Coast Defense Journal, vol. 23, issue 2
  • Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis: Leeward Publications. ISBN 978-0-929521-11-4.
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