The 20th Coast Artillery Regiment was a

Coast 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 ...

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 ...

. It was the garrison of the Harbor Defenses of Galveston in World War II, with Battery C deployed to

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Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

March-August 1942. Until the 20th CA (Harbor Defense) (HD) was fully activated in April 1942, HD Galveston was also garrisoned by the 265th Coast Artillery (HD) Regiment and elements of the 50th Coast Artillery (Tractor Drawn) (TD) Regiment. The 20th CA Regiment was active from August 1940 until broken up and partly deactivated in August 1944 as part of an Army-wide reorganization.Stanton, p. 457

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Constituted and organized in October 1918 as the 20th 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.) 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 20th.Gaines, pp. 13-14

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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 ...

1 February 1940 as the 20th Coast Artillery (Harbor Defense) (HD), activated 1 August 1940 at

by reorganizing

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Battery G, 13th Coast Artillery as HHB, 20th Coast Artillery. Battery A also activated same date. * Batteries B and C activated 1 March 1941 at Fort Crockett. * Battery C transferred to

23 March 1942. * On 1 April 1942 part of Battery H and other elements were transferred to Battery A, which was redesignated the 812th CA Battery (HD) (Separate). * Battery A was reorganized at Fort Crockett (possibly on or soon after 1 April 42), and on 12 May 1942 moved to Fort San Jacinto. * 3rd Battalion activated 1 April 1942 and posted at Fort Travis until 1 July 1942 when moved to Temporary Harbor Defenses (THD) of

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010. History Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement ...

, with Battery C. Battery G activated 1 April 1942 at Fort Travis. * Battery I activated at THD Freeport, TX with surplus personnel from 20th CA and moved to Fort Crockett 2 July 1942. * On 1 September 1942 Battery C transferred back to Fort Crockett and the 812th CA Battery transferred to Tongatapu, both less personnel and equipment. * The 20th CA operated HD Galveston with the 265th Coast Artillery (HD) Regiment January-December 1941. 2nd Battalion, 265th CA, departed for HD Los Angeles 9 December 1941, leaving Galveston manned by 1st Battalion, 265th CA, and the partially organized 20th CA. When 1st Bn, 265th CA, transferred to Key West in April 1942, HHB 50th Coast Artillery (Tractor Drawn) (TD) Regiment, 3rd Battalion HHB, and Battery F, 50th CA (TD), were temporarily assigned to HD Galveston, while 20th CA was organizing on the Texas coast until early May. 1st & 2nd Bn HHBs and Batteries D, E, F, G, H, & I were activated 1 April 1942 at Ft. Crockett and assigned to various posts at Galveston, relieving the 50th CA and 1st Battalion, 265th CA. Battery K (searchlight) was activated on 9 April 1942. * In addition to manning HD Galveston, elements of the 20th CA took over THDs along the Texas coast, rotating units between HD Galveston and outposts at Port Aransas, TX; Calcasieu and

Sabine Pass Sabine Pass is the natural outlet of Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. It borders Jefferson County, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana. History Civil War Two major battles occurred here during the American Civil War, known as the First and ...

es, Louisiana; Freeport, Indianola, and Port Isabel, TX into 1944. * On 31 August 1944 the 20th CA was broken up. The regimental HHB was reorganized as HHB HD Galveston and the 1st Battalion became the 20th CA Battalion (HD) (Sep). Battery K became Battery K (searchlight) HD Galveston. Batteries D and E were deactivated with personnel reassigned to HD Galveston, and the regiment was disbanded. * 20th CA Battalion disbanded 31 March 1945 at Fort Travis.Stanton, p. 484

References

Bibliography

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

External links

*

Harbor Defenses of Galveston at the Coast Defense Study Group website

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020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

Military units and formations in Texas Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944

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See also

References

Bibliography

External links