The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Portland Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Portland in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Portland in 1925.Coast Artillery Organization: A Brief Overview at the Coast Defense Study Group websiteRinaldi, pp. 165-166Berhow, p. 430-434Stanton, pp. 455-481
Coast Defenses of the Kennebec The Kennebec coast defense command may have originated as the Kennebec Artillery District with the establishment of Endicott program minefield support facilities in the 1890s at the Civil War-era Fort Popham in Phippsburg,Fort Popham at NorthAmericanForts.com and deployment of mines there during the Spanish–American War.Congressional serial set, 1900, Report of the Commission on the Conduct of the War with Spain, Vol. 7, pp. 3778–3780, Washington: Government Printing Office However, it is unclear from references whether the Coast Defenses of the Kennebec (as it was probably renamed in 1913) was ever a command independent of the Coast Defenses of Portland. At some time prior to 1917 the commands were merged. Between 1905 and 1912 Fort Baldwin was built near Fort Popham, during the Taft Program period. It was one of the smallest forts of the era, with three 6-inch guns and two 3-inch guns. During World War I these forts were garrisoned by two companies of the Coast Defenses of Portland (CD Portland),NRIS entry for Fort Baldwin and references do not show the Kennebec command active during that war or in World War II. Fort Baldwin was disarmed in 1924, although the minefield capability at Fort Popham may have been retained through World War II. Fort Baldwin was rearmed with a battery of four towed 155 mm guns on "Panama mounts" in World War II, operated by Battery D of the 8th Coast Artillery.Fort Baldwin at FortWiki.com Some references list Forts Popham and Baldwin with the Harbor Defenses of the Kennebec due to their geographical separation from the Portland area and to be consistent with other fort listings.Berhow, pp. 204-205
History Early Portland forts A Revolutionary War battery existed on the site of Fort Allen Park, and some sources state that it was named Fort Allen at that time.Fort Allen at FortWiki.comRoberts, p. 357 In 1794 Fort Sumner was built on Munjoy Hill in Portland, with a blockhouse at the current Standpipe Park and a water battery or "detached battery", possibly on the site of Fort Allen. Fort Sumner was part of the first system of US fortifications.Portland forts at NorthAmericanForts.comWade, pp. 15, 241 Additional fortifications were built under the second system of US fortifications, with Fort Preble and Fort Scammell completed in 1809.Wade, pp. 139, 241 Fort Preble was in what was then the northern part of Cape Elizabeth, which is now South Portland. Fort Scammell (a.k.a. Fort Scammel) was on House Island, across from Fort Preble. These forts were built due to a war scare with the British, and their construction coincided with the deeply unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which emerged from the same war scare and prohibited the lucrative trade with Britain and France. The first use the forts were put to was enforcement of the embargo, so the forts' existence was locally suspect.Smith, pp. 143-154Wade, p. 131 During the War of 1812 (which broke out due to the same tensions with Britain) the city of Portland refurbished and rearmed Fort Allen with city resources, due to fears of a British attack.Smith, Making Maine: Statehood and the War of 1812
Fort Preble was expanded with new batteries in 1845,Fort Preble at FortWiki.com and Fort Scammell's walls were extended around this time.Fort Scammell at FortWiki.com
In 1858-62 construction began on additional fortifications in Portland harbor, part of the third system of US fortifications. The construction of Fort Gorges on a small ledge island to the north of House Island began in 1858.Weaver, pp. 90–95 After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, a complete rebuilding of Fort Scammell and a modernization of Fort Preble began in 1862.Weaver, pp. 93–100 By the end of the war Fort Gorges was largely complete, while the design of Fort Scammell was cut back to allow completion; Fort Preble's third system batteries were never completed or armed. All three of these forts were modified in the 1870s to provide earthwork-protected batteries for Rodman guns; in the case of Fort Gorges these were on the roof.Fort Gorges at FortWiki.com However, funding was cut off in 1876 with the program partially complete, and it was over 20 years before the modern gun batteries of the Endicott program were completed.Berhow, pp. 54-57
The only enemy action in Portland harbor since the Revolutionary War occurred on 27 June 1863 and was called the Battle of Portland Harbor or the Caleb Cushing affair. Confederate raiders on CSS Tacony, pursued by the Union Navy, captured a fishing vessel named Archer and set fire to Tacony to evade pursuit. They were successful, and infiltrated the port of Portland on Archer. They then seized the Revenue Service cutter Caleb Cushing and attempted to flee the harbor in it along with Archer. A group of about 30 soldiers from Fort Preble and 100 civilians (issued muskets at the fort) commandeered a pair of steamships with a light artillery piece on each one. It appears the Confederates avoided the forts, but soon the wind shifted against them and the Union's steamships closed in. With their capture imminent, the Confederates set fire to Cushings magazines and abandoned the ship before it blew up. All the Confederates were captured and imprisoned.Morison, p. 644Harper's Weekly, 11 July 1863
Endicott period As recommended by the Endicott Board of 1885, construction began in 1893 on five forts to defend Portland harbor. After the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, several gun batteries were hastily emplaced, as most of the Endicott batteries were still years from completion. It was feared that the Spanish fleet would bombard the US east coast. The locations of most of these batteries, except one 6-inch Armstrong gun at Fort Williams, are unclear, but Fort Preble and Fort McKinley are the most likely sites. A total of six 8-inch M1888 breech-loading guns on converted Rodman carriages, along with a pair of muzzle-loading 8-inch converted Rodman rifles, were emplaced. The 8-inch batteries were disarmed soon after the war, as their weapons were either needed in the Endicott system or were obsolete. The 6-inch battery remained in place until 1913. By 1903 the heavy Endicott gun and mortar batteries were complete, with all batteries complete by 1906. The southern harbor entrance was defended by three forts: Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth with Fort Levett (sometimes misspelled Fort Leavitt) on Cushing Island at the harbor's mouth, and a totally rebuilt Fort Preble in South Portland further up the channel. The northern entrance was defended by Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island with Fort Lyon on nearby Cow Island.Map of Harbor Defenses of Portland at FortWiki.com Two underwater minefields also guarded the harbor entrances. Fort Williams had two 12-inch (305 mm) and five 10-inch (254 mm) guns, Fort Levett had three 12-inch and two 10-inch guns, Fort Preble had sixteen 12-inch mortars, and Fort McKinley had eight 12-inch mortars, two 12-inch guns, and eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns. Each fort also had two or four 6-inch (152 mm) guns and between two and four 3-inch (76 mm) guns. Fort Lyon was the smallest with three 6-inch guns and three 3-inch guns.Berhow, pp. 204-205
World War I The American entry into World War I brought many changes to the Coast Artillery and CD Portland. As the only component of the Army with heavy artillery experience and significant manpower, the Coast Artillery was chosen to operate almost all US-manned heavy and railway artillery in that war. Stateside garrisons were drawn down to provide experienced gun crews on the Western Front. Some weapons were removed from forts with the intent of getting US-made artillery into the fight. 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch guns and 12-inch mortars were converted to railway artillery,US Army Railway Guns in World War I while 5-inch and 6-inch guns became field guns on wheeled carriages.Williford, pp. 92-99 However, few railway artillery pieces were mounted and few or none saw action before the Armistice. The remounted 5-inch and 6-inch guns were sent to France, but their units did not complete training in time to see action.Coast Artillery Corps Units in France in WWI Two 10-inch guns from Fort Williams and seven 6-inch guns from Forts Williams, McKinley, and Lyon were removed; after the war the 10-inch guns and two of Fort McKinley's 6-inch guns were returned.Fort Williams at FortWiki.comFort McKinley at FortWiki.com The mortar batteries at Forts Preble and McKinley were permanently halved, both to provide railway mortars and increase the rate of fire of the remaining mortars (by reducing overcrowding in the mortar pits). At all the forts, numerous temporary buildings were constructed to accommodate the large influx of new recruits. References indicate the authorized strength of CD Portland was 29 companies, including 13 from the Maine National Guard. Nine of these 13 companies were used to form the bulk of the 54th Coast Artillery, a regiment that was sent to France and slated to be armed with 24 6-inch guns. However, on 20 September 1918 the regiment became a training and replacement unit. In March 1919, with the war over, the regiment returned to the United States and was inactivated.United States Army, p. 98Rinaldi, p. 162
Interwar
In January 1921 Battery Foote at Fort Levett was completed; this was a battery of two 12-inch (305 mm) guns on long-range barbette carriages that increased the guns' range from to .Berhow, p. 61 The battery originally had open mounts, but was casemated in World War II.Fort Levett at FortWiki.com On 1 July 1924 the harbor defense garrisons completed the transition from a company-based organization to a regimental one, and on 9 June 1925 the commands were renamed from "Coast Defenses..." to "Harbor Defenses...". The 8th Coast Artillery was the Regular Army component of the Harbor Defenses of Portland from 1 July 1924 through 25 February 1944, and the 240th Coast Artillery was the Maine National Guard component from 1924 through 5 October 1944. During this period towed 155 mm (6.1 inch) guns were based at Fort Williams, which served through World War II, according to a plaque on the site.
World War II