The 21st Coast Artillery Regiment was a regiment of the
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. It was the
regular army component of the
Harbor Defenses of the Delaware
The Harbor Defenses of the Delaware was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Harbor Defense Command, harbor defense command. It coordinated the coastal defence and fortification, coast defenses of the Delaware River estuary from 1897 to 19 ...
in World War II. The 21st CA (Harbor Defense) (HD) Regiment was active from February 1940 until broken up in October 1944 as part of an Army-wide reorganization.
[Stanton, p. 459]
Lineage 1
Constituted and organized in November 1918 as the 21st Artillery (
Coast Artillery Corps) (C.A.C.) at
Fort Pickens, Florida, but demobilized in December 1918 before organization was completed. This was one of a number of Coast Artillery regiments mobilized to operate heavy and railway artillery on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
in World War I, but the
Armistice resulted in the dissolution of the 21st.
[Gaines, p. 14]
Lineage 2
Constituted in the
Regular Army January 1940 as the 21st Coast Artillery (Harbor Defense) (HD). Regimental HHB activated 1 February 1940 at
Fort DuPont, Delaware by reorganizing
caretaker Battery E,
7th Coast Artillery
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...
as HHB, 21st Coast Artillery.
[
* Battery A activated at Fort DuPont 1 August 1940.][
* HHB 1st Battalion and Batteries B and C activated 13 January 1941 at Fort DuPont.][
* Battery G (searchlight) authorized 1 February 1940 but only 1st Platoon activated in 1942. 2nd Battalion never activated.][
* Detachments of Batteries A and B ordered to Fort Miles, Delaware 15 April 1941 to establish 155 mm gun batteries. Battery C moved to ]Fort Saulsbury
Fort Saulsbury was a United States Army coastal defense fort near Slaughter Beach and Milford, Delaware. From 1924 to 1943 it was the primary heavy gun defense in the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware. In 1943 it was itself superseded by the long ...
, Delaware to reactivate 12-inch guns there, but later moved to Cape May, New Jersey.[
* Regiment was stationed at Fort DuPont and Fort Delaware, with detachments of Batteries A, B, and C at Fort Miles through January 1942. By 3 February 1942 elements were at Forts DuPont, Miles, Delaware, Mott, and Saulsbury, and at Cape May.][
* HHB moved to Fort Miles 10 June 1942, remaining components moved from Fort DuPont to Fort Miles 25 July 1942.][
* By February 1944, HHB, Batteries A and B were at Fort Miles, with a detachment at Fort Saulsbury; Battery C was at Cape May.][
* On 1 October 1944 the 21st CA was reduced to a battalion. The regimental HHB was reorganized as HHB HD of the Delaware and remaining components became the 21st CA Battalion (HD) (Sep).][
* 21st CA Battalion disbanded 1 April 1945 at Fort Miles.][Stanton, p. 484]
See also
* Seacoast defense in the United States
* Harbor Defense Command
References
*
Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, Regular Army regiments, ''Coast Defense Journal'', vol. 23, issue 2
*
*
External links
*
Harbor Defenses of the Delaware at the Coast Defense Study Group website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
American Forts Network, lists forts in the US, former US territories, Canada, and Central America
{{DEFAULTSORT:021
021
021 is:
* in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro)
* in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai.
* in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and su ...
Military units and formations in Delaware
Military units and formations in New Jersey
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