The 22nd 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 Portsmouth The Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the nearby Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine from 1900 to 1950, ...

in World War II. The 22nd CA (Harbor Defense) (HD) Regiment was active from February 1940 until broken up in March 1944 as part of an Army-wide reorganization.Gaines, p. 15Stanton, p. 459

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Constituted in the

Organized Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

(OR) 31 March 1924 as the 614th Coast Artillery Battalion; redesignated as the 614th Coast Artillery Regiment 19 March 1926. On 1 September 1934 was withdrawn from the OR and allotted to the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 ...

as inactive. Redesignated as the 22nd Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense) (HD) and regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) activated 1 February 1940 at

Fort Constitution Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situ ...

, New Hampshire by reorganizing

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

detachment of HHB 8th Coast Artillery. * HHB 1st Battalion activated 1 June 1940; Batteries A, B and C organized in late 1940 and early 1941 at Camp Langdon, New Hampshire. * HHB 2nd Battalion ( Fort Stark), and Batteries D (Fort Constitution), E (

Fort Foster Fort Foster (now known as Fort Foster Historic Site) is a Second Seminole War era fort in central Florida, located south of current-day Zephyrhills in Pasco County. Fort Foster was originally built in December 1836 under the direction of Li ...

, Maine), and F and G (searchlight) (Camp Langdon) activated 1 June 1941. * 1st Battalion HHB and Battery A moved to Ft. Constitution 10 June 1941, Battery B manned Fort Stark, and Battery C was at Camp Langdon. Battery D moved to Fort Foster at some point. * Battery E moved from Fort Foster to

Biddeford Pool Biddeford Pool is a large tidal pool, located off Saco Bay south of the mouth of the Saco River on the south coast of Maine. It is approximately 6 miles southeast of downtown Biddeford, to which it is connected via State Route 208. The town of Ke ...

, Maine on 12 February 1943, relieving Battery F, 240th Coast Artillery, which had manned a battery of 155 mm GPF guns there since December 1941. * 1st Battalion HHB moved from Fort Constitution to Pulpit Rock in 1942 until moved to Fort Foster 28 October 1943. 1st Battalion HHB was replaced at Pulpit Rock by Battery E, 22nd CA, from Biddeford Pool 28 October 1943. * Battery C moved from Camp Langdon to Fort Constitution in 1942 and to Fort Stark 28 October 1943. * The 22nd Coast Artillery was dissolved on 1 March 1944, with some personnel reassigned to HD Portsmouth. The remaining elements were moved to

Camp Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

, Texas for inactivation by reassigning their personnel to five field artillery battalions. Another, less detailed source states the regiment was dissolved on 7 October 1944.

References

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

External links

*

Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth 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:022 022 Military units and formations in New Hampshire Military units and formations in Maine Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944

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