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240th Coast Artillery (United States)
The 240th Coast Artillery Regiment was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps, Coast Artillery Corps regiment in the Maine Army National Guard, Maine National Guard. It garrisoned the Harbor Defenses of Portland (HD Portland), Maine 1924–1944. History The 240th Coast Artillery was organized 16 April 1924 as the Maine National Guard component of the Harbor Defenses of Portland (HD Portland), Maine. The 8th Coast Artillery (United States), 8th Coast Artillery was the Regular Army (United States), Regular Army component of those defenses. The 240th's primary armory was in Portland, Maine. Colonel George E. Fogg, a World War I veteran, commanded the regiment from its organization in 1924 through at least 1941. In October 1944 the regiment was broken up into two battalions as part of an Army-wide reorganization. Lineage Organized at Portland, Maine 16 April 1924 by redesignating the 240th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps (previously the 1st Coast Defense Command), Maine National ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of cannons were highly important to military affairs and generally represented the areas of highest technology and capital cost among materiel. The advent of 20th-century technologies, especially military aviation, naval aviation, jet aircraft, and guided missiles, reduced the primacy of cannons, battleships, and coastal artillery. In countries where coastal artillery has not been disbanded, these forces have acquired amphibious capabilities. In littoral warfare, mobile coastal artillery armed with surface-to-surface missiles can still be used to deny the use of sea lanes. It was long held as a rule of thumb that one shore-based gun equaled three naval guns of the same caliber, due to the steadiness of the coastal gun which allowed for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peaks Island Military Reservation
Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is a United States military fortification on Peaks Island, Portland, Maine in Casco Bay. Completed in 1942 as part of World War II, it is located on on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of the Peaks Island Military Reservation. It is named for Harry L. Steele, who was a Coast Artillery officer during World War I. It was armed with two 16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery at Fort Levett on Cushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in the Harbor Defenses of Portland.Berhow, p. 202 It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, from Kennebunk to Popham Beach in Phippsburg. According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman in ''An Island at War'', “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.” In 1995, after decades of non-use, the Peaks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Portland, Maine
The History of Portland, Maine begins when the area was called Machigonne, meaning "great neck," by Algonquians who originally inhabited the peninsula. It extends to the city's recent cultural and economic renaissance. Native Americans There is evidence of Native American presence in Maine as early as 11,000 BCE. At the time of European contact in the sixteenth century, Algonquian speaking people inhabited present-day Portland. French explorer Samuel de Champlain identified these people as the "Almouchiquois," a polity stretching from the Androscoggin River to Cape Ann and culturally distinct from their Wampanoag and Abenaki neighbors. According to Captain John Smith in 1614, a semi-autonomous band called the “Aucocisco” inhabited "the bottome of a large deepe Bay, full of many great Iles." This bay would later come to be known as Casco Bay, and include the future site of Portland. A combination of warfare and disease decimated Native peoples in the years preceding English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coast Artillery Regiments Of The United States Army
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor important ecosystems such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, which are important for bird populations and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas they harbor saltmarshes, mangroves or seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic species. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals (e.g. mussels, starfish, barnacles) and various kinds of seaweeds. Along tropical coasts with clear, nutrient-poor water, coral reefs can often be found between depths of . According to a United Nations atlas, 44% of all people live within 5 km (3.3mi) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Units And Formations In Maine
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harbor Defense Command
A Harbor Defense Command was a military organization of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps designated in 1925 from predecessor organizations dating from circa 1895. It consisted of the forts, controlled underwater minefields, and other coastal defenses of a particular harbor or river. Harbor Defense Commands, along with the similar Coast Artillery Corps, were disestablished in 1950. History These commands originated as Artillery Districts, to control groups of forts constructed under the Endicott Program beginning in 1895. A 1909 reference shows that districts could include (depending on size) a Battle Command (later Fort Command), Fire Command, Mine Command, and Battery Commands. Mine planter vessels were also attached to these commands to plant and maintain controlled minefields. In 1913 the districts were redesignated as Coast Defense Commands, called "Coast Defenses of..." the area protected.Rinaldi, pp. 165-166 At this time Coast Artillery Districts became regional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seacoast Defense In The United States
Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before Military aviation, airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to Standing army, standing armies or a large navy. After the 1940s, it was recognized that fixed fortifications were obsolete and ineffective against aircraft and missiles. However, in prior eras foreign fleets were a realistic threat, and substantial fortifications were built at key locations, especially protecting major harbors. The defenses heavily depended on fortifications but also included Submarine mines in United States harbor defense, submarine minefields, nets and boom (navigational barrier), booms, ships, and airplanes. Therefore, all of the armed forces participated in seacoast defense, but the United States Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played the central role in constructing fixed defenses. Designs evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
133rd Engineer Battalion
The 133rd Engineer Battalion is a component of the Maine Army National Guard and the United States Army. The organisations is the oldest in the Maine Guard and is one of the largest organisations in the state. The battalion has responded to natural disasters at home and military actions overseas. The current battalion has the capacity to execute a variety of Army Engineer missions, from horizontal construction, vertical construction, combat engineer missions, and surveying. The battalion has two horizontal companies, one vertical company, one combat engineer company, a forward support company, a survey and design detachment, and a headquarters company. History Note - The primary source for the historical information below is the Lineage and honour of the 133rd Engineer Battalion from the U.S. Army Center for Military History.) The 133rd Engineer Battalion is the oldest unit in the Maine Army National Guard and one of several National Guard units with campaign credit for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment was a volunteer regiment of the United States Army (Union Army) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), most famous for its defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1–3, 1863. The 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard and the United States Army today carries on the lineage and traditions of the 20th Maine. Organization The 20th Maine was organized in the state of Maine and mustered into federal service on August 29, 1862, with Col. Adelbert Ames as its commander. It was assigned to the Army of the Potomac in the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps, where it would remain until mustered out on July 16, 1865. At that time, the brigade also consisted of the 16th Michigan, the 12th, 17th, and 44th New York, 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiments, and a Michigan company of sharpshooters. Combat history Prior to their notable actions at Gettysburg in July 1863, the regi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-Aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, subsurface ( submarine launched), and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures (e.g. barrage balloons). It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight. In some countries, such as Britain and Germany during the Second World War, the Soviet Union, and modern NATO and the United States, ground-based air defence and air defence aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 1st Maine Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was later re-activated in 1898 for the Spanish–American War, but did not serve overseas. Service Pre-Civil War In 1847, during the War with Mexico, the President of the United States requested that a regiment of Maine infantry be mobilized for field duty. This was accomplished on paper, but field officers were never assigned and the regiment's companies never trained together. However, this partial mobilization and the influence of the Crimean War of 1853–56 excited military enthusiasm in Maine, and caused new Militia (United States), militia companies to be organized in 1854–56. In 1854 there were 58 companies in the Volunteer Maine Militia, and the request of the companies in and near Portland to be named the 1st Regiment was granted by orders of the Maine state government approved 21 June 1854. General Smith of the 5th Division was ordered to car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewell Island Military Reservation
Jewell Island is a small island in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. Approximately long from southwest to northeast, it is located off the coast of Cliff Island, approximately eight miles from downtown Portland. It is a state-owned island with a small but protected harbor as well as camping and walking paths. Jewell Island was part of the Harbor Defenses of Portland fort network. The island is part of the city of Portland. Jewell Island can be reached by private or charter boats. There is no ferry service to the island. The island is rich in legend — tales are told of Captain Kidd cruising its coast and hiding treasure. The World War II bunkers are said to be haunted by soldiers, and the beaches by bootleggers. Several accounts of ghostly encounters can be heard in local towns. During World War II, the island included the Jewell Island Military Reservation. Three coastal artillery gun batteries were constructed on the island. The largest, although never completed, was Battery Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
