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Harbor Defenses Of New Bedford
The Harbor Defenses of New Bedford was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of New Bedford, Massachusetts and the nearby Cape Cod Canal from 1900 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included a coast artillery fort (Fort Rodman, a.k.a. Fort Taber) and an underwater minefield. The command originated circa 1900 as the New Bedford Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of New Bedford in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of New Bedford in 1925.Stanton, pp. 455-481, 484Rinaldi, pp. 165-166Berhow, p. 430-434 History Early New Bedford forts ;American Revolution through War of 1812 Two forts were built in the New Bedford area in the American Revolution, a 6-gun (possibly 11-gun)Roberts, p. 407 unnamed fort (later named Fort Phoenix) in 1775 in what is now Fairhaven, and the 10-gun Acushnet Fort in 1776 at an uncertain location, possibly on Clark's Point at the site of the later Fort Rodm ... [...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] |
Board Of Fortifications
Several boards have been appointed by US presidents or Congress to evaluate the US defensive fortifications, primarily coastal defenses near strategically important harbors on the US shores, its territories, and its protectorates. Endicott Board In 1885 US President Grover Cleveland appointed a joint Army, Navy and civilian board, headed by Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott, known as the Board of Fortifications (now usually referred to simply as the Endicott Board). The findings of the Board in its 1886 report illustrated a grim picture of neglect of America's coast defenses and recommended a massive $127 million construction program for a series of new forts with breech-loading cannons, mortars, floating batteries, and submarine mines for some 29 locations on the US coast. Coast Artillery fortifications built between 1885 and 1905 are often referred to as Endicott Period fortifications. Prior efforts at harbor defense construction had ceased in the 1870s. Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology (with analogs in many cultures) that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. In the ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', a tool used by folklore studies, folklorists, the phoenix is classified as motif B32.Thompson. (2001: 581). The origin of the phoenix has been attributed to Ancient Egypt by Herodotus and later 19th-century scholars, but other scholars think the Egyptian texts may have been influenced by classical folklore. Over time the phoenix motif spread and gained a variety of new associations; Herodotus, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Pope Clement I, Lactantius, Ovid, and Isidore of Seville are among those who have contributed to the retelling and transmission of the phoenix motif. Ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey's Raid
Major General Charles Grey raided the Massachusetts communities of New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Martha's Vineyard in September 1778 as part of British operations in the American Revolutionary War. The raid was one of the first in a series between 1778 and 1781 executed by the British against American coastal communities. Grey's force of 4,000 was originally intended as a relief force for the British garrison that was briefly besieged at Newport, Rhode Island, but they arrived after the Americans had retreated. They were diverted for raiding by British army officer General Sir Henry Clinton. On September 5 and 6, Grey raided New Bedford and Fairhaven, encountering significant resistance only in Fairhaven. His troops destroyed storehouses, shipping, and supplies in New Bedford, where they met with light resistance from the local militia; they damaged fewer American holds at Fairhaven where militia resistance had additional time to organize. He then sailed for Martha's Vineyard, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Falcon (1771)
Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Falcon''. They are named after an exceptionally fast bird of prey. * was a "ballinger" (a moderate-size oared vessel) dating from 1334. She was sold in 1352. * was a ship in service from 1461 to 1485. * was a pinnace in service from 1544 to 1578. * was a ship of 180 bm in service in 1603. * was a 24-gun ship purchased in 1646. She was gone by 1659. * was a 6-gun vessel captured from the Royalists in 1646. She was last listed in 1653. * was a 10-gun ship captured from the Dutch in 1652. She was used as a fireship in 1653 and sold in 1658. She was also known as ''Golden Falcon''. * was a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1666. She was upgraded to a 42-gun fourth rate in 1668, but reverted to a 36-gun fifth rate in 1691. In 1694 she was captured by the French in the Mediterranean. * was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1694. In 1695 she was captured by three French ships off Dodman. She was recaptured in 1703 and bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or American Whigs, were the colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rejected British rule during the American Revolution, and declared the United States of America an independent nation in July 1776. Their decision was based on the political philosophy of republicanism—as expressed by such spokesmen as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Paine. They were opposed by the Loyalists, who supported continued British rule. Patriots represented the spectrum of social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. They included lawyers such as John Adams, students such as Alexander Hamilton, planters such as Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, merchants such as Alexander McDougall and John Hancock, and farmers such as Daniel Shays and Joseph Plumb Martin. They also included slaves and freemen such as Crispus Attucks, one of the first casualties of the American Revolution; James Armistead Lafayette, who served as a double agent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Off Fairhaven
The Battle off Fairhaven was the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War. It took place on May 14, 1775, in Buzzards Bay off Fairhaven, Massachusetts (formerly known as Dartmouth, Massachusetts) and resulted in Patriot militia retrieving two vessels that had been captured by . The patriots also captured the 13 man crew of the Royal Navy, the first naval prisoners of the war. Context On April 19, 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the British Province of Massachusetts Bay. Following the battle, the militia that had mustered to oppose the British besieged the city of Boston where the British troops were located. On 13 May 1775, HMS ''Falcon'' caught two patriot vessels whose owners, Jesse Barlow and Simeon Wing—the latter's vessel commanded by his son Thomas—were from Sandwich, Massachusetts. Engagement A group of 30 patriots from Fairhaven were led by Captain Daniel Egery and Captain Nathaniel Pope of Fair ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acushnet Fort
Acushnet Fort was a fort that existed from 1776 to around 1820 on Eldridge Point in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was originally built with Commonwealth resources during the American Revolution in 1776 with ten guns. Rebuilt in 1808 under the federal second system of fortifications, it could accommodate 40 men and had six guns and a magazine. The fort's exact location, especially in the Revolution, is uncertain. The fort appears in the Secretary of War's reports for 1808 and 1811; thus it was a federal fort at that time.Wade, pp. 141, 236, 242, 248 In 1808 the entry is: "At the entrance of the inner harbor of New Bedford, two miles below the town, a small enclosed work has been erected of stone, brick, and sod. It commands the entrance into the harbor for a mile and a half in a direct line...". In 1811 the entry is: "At Eldridge Point, which commands the entrance of the harbor; an enclosed work of masonry, mounting six heavy guns...". The "two miles below the town" implies the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely aligned with those of its larger neighbor. The population of Fairhaven was 15,924 at the time of the 2020 census. History The original land purchase Fairhaven was first settled in 1659 as "Cushnea", the easternmost part of the town of Dartmouth. It was founded on land purchased by English settlers at the Plymouth Colony from the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit, and his son, Wamsutta. Dartmouth, divided and redivided In 1787, the eastern portion of Dartmouth seceded and formed a new settlement called New Bedford. This new town included areas that are the present-day towns of Fairhaven, A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Phoenix
Fort Phoenix is a former American Revolutionary War-era fort located at the entrance to the Fairhaven-New Bedford harbor, south of U.S. 6 in Fort Phoenix Park in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The fort was originally built in 1775 without a name, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Just off the fort, in Buzzards Bay, was the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, the Battle off Fairhaven on 14 May 1775. On 5–6 September 1778, the fort was destroyed by the British when they raided the harbor. A force under Major Israel Fearing drove off the British, both at the fort and when they attempted an attack on the town the next day. The fort was then renamed Fort Fearing. In 1784 it was given the name "Fort Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from its own ashes. The fort was rebuilt in 1798, and rebuilt again in 1808 with 12 guns with Commonwealth resources, contemporary with but not part of the second system of US fortifications. In the War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of the United States, fighting began on April 19, 1775, followed by the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The American Patriots were supported by the Kingdom of France and, to a lesser extent, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire, in a conflict taking place in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Established by royal charter in the 17th and 18th centuries, the American colonies were largely autonomous in domestic affairs and commercially prosperous, trading with Britain and its Caribbean colonies, as well as other European powers via their Caribbean entrepôts. After British victory over the French in the Seven Years' War in 1763, tensions between the motherland and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Submarine Mines In United States Harbor Defense
The modern era of defending American harbors with controlled mines or submarine mines (originally referred to as "torpedoes") began in the post-Civil War period, and was a major part of US harbor defenses from circa 1900 to 1947. Brief history In 1866, the United States Army Corps of Engineers established the Engineer School of Application at Willets Point, New York. The first commander of this school, Major Henry Larcom Abbot, was almost single-handedly responsible for designing and supervising the program of research and development that defined the strategy and tactics for the mine defense of American harbors. Abbot experimented with underwater explosives, fuzes, cabling, and electrical equipment for over a decade before publishing the first manuals on the use of mines in coast defense in 1876–77. At least one experimental controlled minefield was emplaced at this time, at Fort Mifflin in Pennsylvania. However, funding of the fortification program of the 1870s was cancell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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