Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is a

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Peaks Island Peaks Island is the most populous island in Casco Bay, Maine, Casco Bay, Maine. It is part of the city of Portland, Maine, Portland and is approximately from downtown. The island is served by Casco Bay Lines and is home to its own elementary s ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its south ...

. Completed in 1942 as part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it is located on on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of the Peaks Island Military Reservation. It is named for

Harry L. Steele Harry Lee Steele (June 28, 1874 – March 31, 1938) was a career officer in the United States Army. Enlisting as a private in 1895, he received his commission in 1898. A veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I, Steele attained the r ...

, who 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 c ...

officer during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was armed with two 16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery at

Fort Levett Fort Levett was a former U.S. Army fort built on Cushing Island, Maine, beginning in 1898. Located in Cumberland County, Maine, in Casco Bay near Portland, Maine, the fort was heavily fortified with guns for coastal defense. Conceived under t ...

on Cushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in the

Harbor Defenses of Portland The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginni ...

.Berhow, p. 202 It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, from Kennebunk to

Popham Beach Popham Beach is a sandy beach in Maine that extends southwest about three miles from Fort Popham, at the mouth of the Kennebec River, toward the mouth of the Morse River (Maine), Morse River. It is near the site of the short-lived Popham Colony, ...

in Phippsburg. According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman in ''An Island at War'', “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.” In 1995, after decades of non-use, the

Peaks Island Land Preserve The Peaks Island Land Preserve (PILP) is a non-profit organization concerned with conserving natural land on Peaks Island, Maine for public use. As of 2013, the PILP managed over of land. It was founded in 1994 to preserve Battery Steele Batter ...

, a community land preservation group, formed to purchase the area and forever preserve it as a public space. On October 20, 2005, the property was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Other coast defense structures on the island include

fire control tower A fire control tower is a structure located near the coastline, used to detect and locate enemy vessels offshore, direct fire upon them from coastal batteries, or adjust the aim of guns by spotting shell splashes. Fire control towers came into g ...

s and the counterweight for a disappearing

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

tower (it "disappeared" when folded down).

Associated batteries

Battery Steele was part of a comprehensive program begun in 1940 to replace obsolete coast defenses, many of which dated from the Endicott Program of 1885-1905. In the

, the only large-caliber (8-inch or larger) pre-war battery still in use by 1944 was Battery Foote at Fort Levett, Cushing Island,

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

d like Battery Steele to resist air attack and armed with two 12-inch guns on long-range carriages. Another two-gun 16-inch battery, Battery Construction Number (BCN) 101, was planned for the Cape Elizabeth Military Reservation near Two Lights State Park, but was cancelled as the threat to the US East Coast from surface ships was nearly non-existent by 1943. Smaller batteries were also built during World War II. Three two-gun 6-inch batteries were built in Casco Bay, but only one of these was armed. The armed battery was Battery Cravens (BCN 203), also on Peaks Island, now part of a private residence. The other two were BCN 201 in Two Lights State Park and BCN 202 on Jewell Island.FortWiki article on Peaks Island Military Reservation
/ref> Older 6-inch gun batteries retained in service in Casco Bay included two two-gun batteries at Fort McKinley on

Great Diamond Island Great Diamond Island is an island in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the city of Portland, Maine. At the 2000 census, the island had a year-round population of 77. The island is not accessible from the mainland by motor vehicle and ...

and Fort Levett on Cushing Island. Three older 3-inch gun batteries were retained at Fort Williams near

Portland Head Light Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 17 ...

Fort Preble Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950. ...

in South Portland, and

Fort Lyon Fort Lyon was composed of two 19th-century military fort complexes in southeastern Colorado. The initial fort, also called Fort Wise, operated from 1860 to 1867. After a flood in 1866, a new fort was built near Las Animas, Colorado, which oper ...

on Cow Island. Three new two-gun 3-inch batteries were constructed during World War II, on Peaks Island,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, and Great Chebeague Island. Positions for a total of ten Anti- Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries with 90 mm guns were constructed in Casco Bay. Each battery was authorized four 90 mm guns, two on fixed mounts and two on towed mounts; the actual number of guns on hand for each battery may have varied. The guns were dual-purpose, able to fire against air or surface targets. The batteries were at Long Island (2), Great Chebeague Island (1), Bailey Island (1), Peaks Island (2), Jewell Island (2), Fort Levett (1), and Fort Williams (1). All US coast defenses were abandoned and most of the guns scrapped shortly after World War II.

References

* * *

External links

Battery Steele, Peaks Island, Portland, 1942 - 1948
Maine Historic Preservation Commission *
Coast Defense Study Group

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
Battery Steele article at FortWiki.com

Peaks Island Military Reservation at FortWiki.com

Gun types at FortWiki
{{National Register of Historic Places Steeleor

Steele Steele may refer to: Places America * Steele, Alabama, a town * Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Steele, Missouri, a city * Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele ...

Casco Bay Peaks Island, Maine History of Portland, Maine United States Army in World War II Government buildings completed in 1942 Military installations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Maine Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine

Associated batteries

See also

References

External links