page_title: Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound
section_title: Endicott period
hierarchical_section_title: Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound / History / Endicott period
caption_attribution_description: Local Accession Number: PC 179 Description: Postcard photograph of the "breech of a 10 in. rifle" at Fort Greble during World War I. Photographer: Unknown Source: Donated by Jean Brannum Nichols Size: 3x5 Medium: Print, Black and White Date: c. 1917- 1918
context_page_description: The Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Connecticut from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The area defended included the approach via the Sound to New York City, the port cities and manufacturing centers of New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport, and eventually included the submarine base and shipyard in Groton. The command originated circa 1900 as an Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound in 1925.
context_section_description: The Board of Fortifications was convened in 1885 under Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott to develop recommendations for a full replacement of existing coast defenses. Most of its recommendations were adopted, and construction began in 1897 on new forts to defend Long Island Sound. Initially, three large and one small forts were built. The large forts were Fort H. G. Wright on Fishers Island, Fort Michie on Great Gull Island, and Fort Terry on Plum Island. All three of these forts are in New York state in the town of Southold in Suffolk County, and the islands they are on define the border between Block Island Sound and Long Island Sound. The small fort was Fort Mansfield, on Napatree Point in Westerly, Rhode Island. Two underwater minefields controlled from Fort H. G. Wright and Fort Terry also guarded the Sound. This harbor defense command was one of those in which new fort locations moved seaward (compared to Forts Trumbull and Griswold) as gun ranges increased. Fort Trumbull was the initial headquarters for Long Island Sound's defenses, but in 1910 this shifted to Fort H. G. Wright and Fort Trumbull became the Revenue Cutter Academy.
  Heavy weapons included a rare 15-inch (381 mm) dynamite gun at Fort H. G. Wright, along with eight 12-inch (305 mm) mortars and one pair each of 12-inch (305 mm) disappearing guns and 10-inch (254 mm) disappearing guns. Fort Michie had one pair each of 12-inch and 10-inch guns. Fort Terry had eight 12-inch mortars and a pair of 10-inch disappearing guns, along with a pair of 5-inch (127 mm) guns. All of these forts also had between four and seven 6-inch (152 mm) guns and several 3-inch (76 mm) guns to defend the minefields against minesweepers. Fort Mansfield was one of the smallest Endicott forts, with two 8-inch (203 mm) disappearing guns and four 5-inch (127 mm) guns. The initial forts were substantially complete by 1906.
  Generally, the heavy batteries were built first, followed by the 3-inch and then the 6-inch batteries. However, the Spanish–American War broke out in early 1898. Most of the Endicott batteries were still years from completion, and it was feared the Spanish fleet would bombard the US east coast. A number of batteries of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns were hastily built, along with batteries of Civil War-era smoothbore Rodman guns. Fort Terry received a single 4.72-inch (120 mm)/45 caliber Armstrong gun, purchased from the United Kingdom. Unusually, in Long Island Sound a new fort was built in response to the situation. This was Fort Tyler on Gardiners Point Island, south of Plum Island. This fort initially had emplacements for two modern 8-inch M1888 guns (203 mm) on modified 1870s Rodman carriages. The fort was later rebuilt to accommodate two 8-inch disappearing guns and two 5-inch guns. However, records do not indicate that the fort was ever armed or garrisoned. Emergency batteries of 10-inch smoothbore Rodman guns included one gun at Fort Long Point in Stonington, six guns at Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven, and four guns at or near the old Black Rock Fort in Bridgeport. The Rodman gun batteries were disarmed shortly after the war in 1899–1900, and Fort Terry's 4.7-inch gun was transferred to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground in 1903. In 1904 the dynamite gun concept was abandoned and Fort H. G. Wright's gun was removed.
  Fort Mansfield was intended to guard the strait between Westerly, Rhode Island and Fishers Island. However, an exercise in 1907 showed that the nearby beach could be invaded in a sector the guns could not cover, thus the fort was vulnerable to capture. The fort was placed in caretaker status in 1909 and disarmed to provide guns for World War I in 1917. It was abandoned and sold in 1928.
  Naval and related facilities grew in importance in the Long Island Sound area from the Endicott era through World War II. In 1872 the New London Navy Yard was established on the present site of the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. The first US Navy submarine base was established circa 1901 on Long Island at New Suffolk, New York, but w
caption: 10-inch gun M1888 on disappearing carriage M1896, similar to other large disappearing guns.
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