15th Coast Artillery (United States)
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The 15th Coast Artillery was a
Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...
regiment in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. Along with the 16th Coast Artillery, it manned the Harbor Defenses of
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
and other fortified sites on
Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
from 1924 until broken up into
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
s in August 1944 as part of an Army-wide reorganization.Stanton, p. 457


Lineage 1

Constituted as the 15th Artillery (
Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...
) (C.A.C.) and organized October 1918 at
Fort Crockett Fort Crockett is a government reservation on Galveston Island overlooking the Gulf of Mexico originally built as a defense installation to protect the city and harbor of Galveston and to secure the entrance to Galveston Bay, thus protecting the c ...
, Texas, but demobilized in November 1918. This was one of a number of Coast Artillery regiments mobilized to operate heavy and railway artillery on the Western Front in World War I, but the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
resulted in the dissolution of the 15th.


Lineage 2

Constituted in the
Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...
27 February 1924 as 15th Coast Artillery (Harbor Defense) (HD), and organized 1 July 1924 at
Fort Kamehameha Fort Kamehameha was a United States Army military base that was the site of several coastal artillery batteries to defend Pearl Harbor starting in 1907 in Honolulu, Hawaii. History The eastern areas of the fort were in the district called Moanalua ...
from the following Companies of the
Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...
(CAC): 185th, 125th, 91st, 143rd, 184th, 86th, and 95th.Gaines, p. 11 * only regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) and Batteries A, B, and C activated. * 2nd Battalion HHB, and Batteries G, H, and I, constituted 4 February 1932 but not activated. * 1st and 2nd Battalion HHBs, and Batteries D, E, and G activated 1 August 1942. * Battery F activated 22 May 1943 at Salt Lake, Hawaii,Battery Burgess at FortWiki.com
/ref> Battery H activated same date at Fort Kamehameha. * Regiment assigned to Central Pacific Base Command 31 January 1944. * On 29 May 1944 15th CA assumed responsibility for Oahu's south shore defenses; 16th CA elements there transferred to 15th CA. Regiment disbanded on 15 August 1944 and broken up as follows: * 15th Coast Artillery GroupStanton, p. 437 * 53rd Coast Artillery BattalionStanton, p. 485 * 54th Coast Artillery Battalion 15th CA Group and 53rd CA Battalion inactivated 10 April 1945; 54th CA Battalion inactivated 10 April 1946. In 1950 the 15th Coast Artillery Group was reconstituted and consolidated as the 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, with lineage inherited from the 15th Coast Artillery Regiment.


Distinctive unit insignia

* Description A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/32 inches (2.62 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Gules, a chevron paly of eight Argent, of the field (Gules), Azure and repeated, the ordinary fimbriated Or. Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Gold scroll inscribed “LITTORE SISTIMUS” in Blue letters. * Symbolism The shield is red for the Artillery and the chevron is in the colors of the old royal Hawaiian flag, which also appeared in the arms of the Coast Defenses of Pearl Harbor. The motto translates to “We Take Our Stand On The Shore.” * Background The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 15th Coast Artillery Regiment on 17 April 1925. It was redesignated for the 15th Artillery Group on 2 June 1966.


Coat of arms


Blazon

* Shield Gules, a chevron paly of eight Argent, of the field (Gules), Azure and repeated, the ordinary fimbriated Or. * Crest On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules, a cannon palewise Gules, between two dolphins hauriant, dexter and sinister, Or, langued of the first. Motto: LITTORE SISTIMUS (We Take Our Stand On The Shore).


Symbolism

* Shield The shield is red for the Artillery and the chevron is in the colors of the old royal Hawaiian flag, which also appeared in the arms of the Coast Defenses of Pearl Harbor. * Crest The crest shows the big gun supported by the dolphins - the king of fishes - indicating the command of the coast.


Background

The coat of arms was approved for the 15th Coast Artillery Regiment on 16 April 1925. It was rescinded/cancelled on 26 December 1974.


Campaign streamers

World War II * Central Pacific


Decorations

unknown


See also

* Distinctive unit insignia (U.S. Army) *
Seacoast defense in the United States Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armies o ...
*
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...
*
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 c ...


References

*
Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, ''Coast Defense Journal'', vol. 23, issue 2
* * *
''Coast Artillery Journal'', August 1923, pp. 132-135

''Coast Artillery Journal'', June 1927, pp. 543-544
(dead link 18 September 2017)


External links

*


Forts in Hawaii at the Coast Defense Study Group website

Forts in Hawaii at FortWiki.com

American Forts Network, lists forts in the US, former US territories, Canada, and Central America
{{DEFAULTSORT:015 015 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations established in 1924 Military units and formations in Hawaii