The Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth was a

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 d ...

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 ...

. It coordinated the coast defenses of

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

and the nearby

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

from 1900 to 1950, both on the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both

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 ...

fort 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'' ...

s and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1900 as the Portsmouth Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Portsmouth in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth in 1925.Stanton, pp. 455-481''Coast Artillery Organization: A Brief Overview'' at the Coast Defense Study Group website
/ref>Rinaldi, pp. 165-166Berhow, p. 430-434

History

Early Portsmouth forts

The first fort in the Portsmouth area was

Fort William and Mary 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 ...

(called The Castle until circa 1692) in New Castle,Roberts, pp. 498-499 initially garrisoned before 1632 and perhaps the oldest continuously fortified site in the British colonies that later became the United States.Fort William and Mary/Constitution at American Forts Network
/ref> In 1680 another small fort was established on the site of the later

Fort McClary Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification of the United States military located along the southern coast at Kittery Point, Maine at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It was used throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harb ...

in Kittery, Maine, then a part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. This was called Fort Pepperrell after its builder,

William Pepperrell Sir William Pepperrell, 1st Baronet (27 June 1696 – 6 July 1759) was a merchant and soldier in colonial Massachusetts. He is widely remembered for organizing, financing, and leading the 1745 expedition that captured the French fortr ...

. In 1720 this became a permanent battery of six guns named Fort William.Fort McClary at American Forts Network
/ref> In 1746 Battery Cumberland was built at Jaffrey's (Jerry's) Point in New Castle.
/ref> Both Fort William and Mary and Fort William figured in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. On 14–15 December 1774 Fort William and Mary was raided twice. On the first night a large group of patriots led by

John Langdon John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

overpowered a six-man

caretaker detachment A military caretaker or caretaker detachment is a group of one or more personnel assigned to maintain for future use a military base, fortification, or other facility that is ungarrisoned but not abandoned. Naval reserve fleets and military aircraf ...

and confiscated much of the fort's supply of gunpowder. On the second night another raid under John Sullivan seized 16 of the fort's cannon and a number of muskets. These raids were the first acts of the Revolution in New Hampshire. In 1775 Fort William was seized by New Hampshire militia and expanded. The British recaptured Fort William and Mary, but eventually abandoned it and New Hampshire; the Patriot forces probably renamed it Fort Hancock. Other forts built during the Revolution in the Portsmouth area included Fort Washington on

Peirce Island Peirce Island is a historic island owned by the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and is connected to adjacent outlying Four Tree Island. It is connected to the mainland by the Peirce Island bridge. The islands are open to the public and have view ...

in Portsmouth and Fort Sullivan on

Seavey's Island Seavey's Island, site of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, is located in the Piscataqua River in Kittery, Maine, opposite Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It encompasses . History What is today called Seavey's Island was originally five separate islands c ...

in Kittery, near the later site of the

Portsmouth Naval Prison Portsmouth Naval Prison is a former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prison on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Kittery, Maine. The building has the appearance of a castle. The reinforced concrete naval prison was occupied from 190 ...

.Fort Washington (New Hampshire) at FortWiki.com
/ref>
/ref>
/ref> Both were built in 1775 and were named for George Washington and local hero John Sullivan. Fort Washington was a star-shaped earthwork. Both forts were commanded by Captain

Titus Salter Captain Titus Salter (1722–1798) was an American military commander of militia forces in New Hampshire, a merchant, and a privateer. He helped draw up plans for the defense of Portsmouth. He was a military commander during the American Revolutio ...

(or Salten) during the Revolution. They were re-garrisoned in the War of 1812 and abandoned after that war.Roberts, p. 503 Following the Revolution Fort William and Mary was called Castle Fort or Fort Castle. In 1794 the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

took over the fort as part of the first system of US fortifications, adding a two-story blockhouse. In 1808 the fort was rebuilt and renamed

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 ...

while

was constructed across the river, both of these under the second system of fortifications. Around this time Battery Cumberland was rebuilt with stone as the Fort at Jaffrey's Point. A

Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up ...

was added to Fort Constitution during the War of 1812, while a blockhouse was added to Fort McClary in 1844. Major expansions of both forts were begun during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

under the third system of forts, but were abandoned incomplete in 1867; war experience showed that masonry forts were too vulnerable to rifled cannon. Fort Constitution's north front was demolished to prepare for the third system expansion. Fort Sullivan at the Navy Yard was rebuilt in 1861 with eleven 8-inch

Rodman gun Drawing comparing Model 1844 8-inch columbiad and Model 1861 10-inch "Rodman" columbiad. The powder chamber on the older columbiad is highlighted by the red box. The Rodman gun is any of a series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by ...

s. In the 1870s Jaffrey's (Jerry's) Point became the center in the Portsmouth area of a soon-abandoned rebuilding of the US fort system, with a 12-gun earth-protected battery called the Battery at Jerry's Point.

Endicott period

As recommended by the

Endicott Board Several boards have been appointed by US presidents or Congress to evaluate the US defensive fortifications, primarily coastal defenses near strategically important harbors on the US shores, its territories, and its protectorates. Endicott Board ...

of 1885, construction began in 1898 on three forts to defend the Portsmouth area.

Fort Stark Fort Stark is a former military fortification in New Castle, New Hampshire, United States. Located at Jerry's Point (also called Jaffrey's Point) on the southeastern tip of New Castle Island, most of the surviving fort was developed in the ea ...

on Jaffrey's Point was the largest,

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, Florida, Zephyrhills in Pasco County, Florida, Pasco County. Fort Foster was originally built ...

in Kittery was second, and two new batteries were built adjacent to Fort Constitution.Berhow, p. 205 An underwater minefield also guarded the harbor, initially controlled from a mine casemate at Fort Stark. Before much work had been done the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

broke out in 1898. Emergency batteries were constructed to quickly arm key points, as most of the Endicott batteries were still years from completion and it was feared the Spanish fleet would bombard the US East Coast. The batteries built for Portsmouth were at Fort Stark, with two 8-inch (203 mm) M1888 guns mounted on converted carriages built for Rodman guns in the 1870s emplacements, and at Fort McClary, with three 15-inch (381 mm)

s.Fort Stark at FortWiki.com
/ref>Fort McClary at FortWiki.com
/ref> A Civil War-era battery of four 100-pounder (6.4-inch, 163 mm)

Parrott rifle The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. Parrott rifle The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He was an American soldier and invent ...

s at Fort Constitution was also available.Fort Constitution at FortWiki.com
/ref> The 8-inch guns were removed in 1900 to arm new Endicott batteries elsewhere and to make room for the new batteries at Fort Stark; the 15-inch guns and Parrott rifles remained at least through the end of 1903. The forts were completed in 1905. Fort Stark had two 12-inch (305 mm) guns and two 6-inch (152 mm) guns, all on

disappearing carriage A disappearing gun, a gun mounted on a ''disappearing carriage'', is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to hide from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of carriage designs enabled the gun to rotate back ...

s, with four 3-inch (76 mm) guns to defend the minefield against

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s. Fort Foster had three 10-inch (254 mm) disappearing guns and two 3-inch guns. Fort Constitution had two 8-inch disappearing guns and two 3-inch guns.

World War I

The

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry ...

brought many changes to the Coast Artillery and CD Portsmouth. As the only component of the Army with heavy artillery experience and significant manpower, the Coast Artillery was chosen to operate almost all US-manned heavy and

railway artillery A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are ...

in that war. Stateside garrisons were drawn down to provide experienced gun crews 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 ...

. Some weapons were removed from forts with the intent of getting US-made artillery into the fight. 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch guns and 12-inch mortars were converted to railway artillery, while 5-inch and 6-inch guns became

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...

s on wheeled carriages.Williford, pp. 92-99 However, few railway artillery pieces were mounted and few or none saw action before 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 La ...

. The remounted 5-inch and 6-inch guns were sent to France, but their units did not complete training in time to see action.Coast Artillery Corps Units in France in WWI
/ref> All three 10-inch guns from Fort Foster, both 8-inch guns from Fort Constitution, and both 6-inch guns from Fort Stark were removed; after the war the 10-inch guns were returned, but the 6-inch guns were stored and the 8-inch guns probably became railway artillery.Fort Foster at FortWiki.com
/ref> At all the forts, numerous temporary buildings were constructed to accommodate the large influx of new recruits. Camp Langdon (named for the Revolutionary War hero and originally the New Military Reservation) was established in New Castle due to insufficient space at the forts.
/ref> References indicate the authorized strength of CD Portsmouth was 10 companies, including four from the

New Hampshire National Guard The New Hampshire National Guard is the militia of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As a state militia, units in the New Hampshire National Guard are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New Hampshire through the office of the state adjuta ...

Interwar

In 1920 a new mine casemate was built at Fort Constitution to replace the one at Fort Stark. On 1 July 1924 the harbor defense garrisons completed the transition from a company-based organization to a regimental one, and on 9 June 1925 the commands were renamed from "Coast Defenses..." to "Harbor Defenses...". The Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth (HD Portsmouth) appears to have been in caretaker status for most of the interwar period. Though most of the regiment was 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 ...

(Maine), the 8th Coast Artillery was also the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

component of HD Portsmouth from 1 July 1924 through early 1940, when the new 22nd Coast Artillery assumed that duty; there does not appear to have been a

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

harbor defense regiment in the area. Camp Langdon received a battery of two fixed antiaircraft guns in 1920; these were probably the

3-inch gun M1917 The 3-inch gun M1918 was a United States 3-inch anti-aircraft gun that entered service in 1918 and served until it was largely superseded by the 3-inch anti-aircraft gun M3 in 1930, though the M1918 remained with some National Guard units until ...

and were removed in the early 1930s.

World War II

Early in World War II numerous temporary buildings were again constructed to accommodate the rapid mobilization of men and equipment. Camp Langdon became the headquarters of HD Portsmouth, probably for reasons of space. After the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

in 1940 the Army decided to replace all existing heavy coast defense guns with new batteries of 16-inch (406 mm) guns.

Fort Dearborn Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. ...

was built in the town of

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

from April 1942 to September 1944, its main armament being Battery Seaman (a.k.a. Battery 103) with two 16-inch guns. Early in 1942 the fort was temporarily armed with four 155 mm guns on towed mounts, placed on circular concrete "

Panama mount Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...

s". Battery 204 with two 6-inch guns on long-range carriages was constructed at the same time as Battery Seaman; the similar Battery 205 at Fort Foster was built but not armed. Battery Seaman replaced all previous heavy guns in the area; these were scrapped by 1945. Two Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries were also emplaced, one near Fort Dearborn at Pulpit Rock (Battery 951) and Fort Foster (Battery 952); each of these had an authorized strength of four 90 mm guns (two on fixed mounts, two on towed mounts) and two

40 mm Bofors gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

s. The guns were dual-purpose, able to fire against air or surface targets. A new

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 ...

and mine casemate were built at Fort Foster to supplement Fort Constitution's minefield facilities. An unusual combined Army-Navy harbor entrance control post/harbor defense command post was built atop the disarmed 6-inch battery at Fort Stark; it was designed to resemble a modern luxury beach cottage. With greatly reduced manpower requirements, 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 of ...

, 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. An outlying 4-gun 155 mm battery was at the

Salisbury Beach Military Reservation Salisbury Beach Military Reservation was a coastal defense site located in Salisbury, Massachusetts. History The Salisbury Beach Military Reservation was built on state land in 1941. Its mission was to protect the Merrimack River and Newburyport, ...

, just over the state line in

Salisbury, Massachusetts Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. ...

. The battery was initially part of the

Harbor Defenses of Boston The Harbor Defenses of Boston was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Boston, Massachusetts from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coa ...

, but was transferred to HD Portsmouth with the construction of a fire control station for Fort Dearborn. Numerous

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifica ...

and other structures were built from Kennebunkport, Maine to Cape Ann, Massachusetts to support HD Portsmouth, particularly the 16-inch guns at Fort Dearborn. The

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

also participated in defending the Portsmouth area with net defenses and submarine-detecting

indicator loop An anti-submarine indicator loop was a submerged cable laid on the sea bed and used to detect the passage of enemy submarines. History In the first years of World War I submarines were fearful, one-sided weapons because they were invisible. In J ...

s, including a station on

Appledore Island Appledore Island (formerly known as Hog Island) is the largest of the Isles of Shoals located about seven miles off the Maine coast. It is part of the Town of Kittery, in York County. History Appledore Island was originally settled by Europeans ...

in the

Isles of Shoals The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, fi ...

(Station 1G). Following mobilization in 1940 HD Portsmouth was subordinate to First Army. On 24 December 1941 the Eastern Theater of Operations (renamed the

Eastern Defense Command The Eastern Defense Command was first established as the Northeast Defense Command on 17 March 1941 as one of four U.S. Army continental defense commands to plan and prepare for and execute defense against enemy attack in the months before Americ ...

three months later) was established, with all

east coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

harbor defense commands subordinate to it, along with

antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

and fighter assets. This command was disestablished in 1946.

Post World War II

Following the war, it was soon determined that gun defenses were obsolete, and they were scrapped by the end of 1948, with remaining harbor defense functions turned over to the Navy. In 1950 the Coast Artillery Corps and all Army harbor defense commands were dissolved. Today the

Air Defense Artillery The Air Defense Artillery Branch is the branch of the United States Army that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons (such as surface to air missiles). In the U.S. Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the Patriot ...

carries the lineage of some Coast Artillery units.

Present

The forts of the Portsmouth area are unusually well-preserved and publicly accessible, and include many features of US fort construction 1808-1945 in a geographically compact area. All except Fort Constitution are in public parks, and that fort is also open to the public. The only large battery that is partially buried is Battery Bolden, the 10-inch gun battery at Fort Foster. Most of the other batteries are fenced off, or with interior access otherwise impeded, but are visible and reasonably free of overgrowth.

is on a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

station but is publicly accessible, along with the adjacent lighthouse. Most of the fort is intact as rebuilt in 1808 (except the demolished north front); the incomplete third system walls remain; the Endicott 8-inch batteries are fenced off but visible.

's blockhouse is well-preserved and interpreted; remnants of the abortive third system additions can be seen, including large piles of granite blocks, a mostly-complete bastion, and a small

caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...

in the seawall. The site of Fort Washington is now a water treatment plant, but some earthworks remain.

has a small museum in an outbuilding, the unusual harbor entrance post, and well-preserved batteries. Fort Dearborn is now

Odiorne Point State Park Odiorne Point State Park is a public recreation area located on the Atlantic seacoast in the town of Rye near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Among the park's features are the Seacoast Science Center and the remains of the World War II Fort Dearborn ...

, which includes the Seacoast Science Center; the 16-inch gun battery is a 3/4-mile walk from the parking area. Fort Foster Park has a public beach, a rare World War II mine casemate with air conditioning on top, and two

s. Several additional fire control towers remain on the New Hampshire seacoast. After being used through 1964 as a National Guard camp and rehab center for released inmates of the

, Camp Langdon is now Great Island Common, a park for the town of New Castle; only the three 3-inch AA gun emplacements remain. The Pulpit Rock Base-End Station (N. 142) is 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 ...

, no. 10000188.National Register of Historic Places asset detail web page
/ref>

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

*Blazon **Shield: Gyronny of eight azure and gules, a three-bastioned fort voided argent. **Crest: On a wreath of the colors a ship gules flagged proper in stocks argent, from the seal of the state of New Hampshire. **Motto: We are one. *Symbolism: The field is taken from one of the two earliest New Hampshire flags known to exist, that of the

2nd New Hampshire Regiment The 2nd New Hampshire Regiment was formed in early May 1775, as the second of three Continental Army regiments raised by the state of New Hampshire during the American Revolutionary War. Its first commander was Colonel Enoch Poor, with Joseph Ci ...

of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. (This flag bears in the upper comer next to the staff, eight triangles, alternately red and blue, so arranged as to form two crosses, one upright and the other diagonal.) The field commemorates the capture, on December 14–15, 1774, of

(now Fort Constitution) by the colonial Americans of New Hampshire, said to be the first American victory of the Revolutionary War. The three bastions of the fort are used as a charge, representing the three forts of the harbor defenses, Fort Constitution, New Hampshire, at chief, Fort Foster, Maine, dexter base, Fort Stark, New Hampshire, sinister base. The fact that the three forts are represented as bastions joined together by curtain wallsso as to form a single fort signifies their union in the Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth and the close cooperation of the three in the common defense of Portsmouth. The motto, "We are One," taken from the old flag mentioned in connection with the field, also alludes to this union and cooperation. The ship on the stocks, used as a crest, is taken from the seal of the State of New Hampshire, of which seal it is the most prominent feature. Its significance lies in the fact that the Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth defend the only port in the state. Its tincture, red, is that of the Coast Artillery Corps, the combatant arm manning the defenses.

References

*
Coat of Arms of the Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth, ''Coast Artillery Journal'', June 1928, vol. 68 no. 6, p. 537
*
Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, ''Coast Defense Journal'', vol. 23, issue 2, pp. 8, 15
* * * *

External links

Map of Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth at FortWiki.com

Insignia of the Coast Artillery Corps at the Coast Defense Study Group

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
American Forts Network, lists forts in the US, former US territories, Canada, and Central America

FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
{{coord, 43, 04, 17, N, 70, 42, 37, W, display=title Military in Maine Military units and formations in New Hampshire Forts in Maine Forts in New Hampshire United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Portsmouth, New Hampshire Kittery, Maine