Fort Casey State Park is located on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

, in Island County,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state. It is a

Washington state park Washington State Park is a public recreation area covering in Washington County in the central eastern part of the state of Missouri. It is located on Highway 21 about northeast of Potosi or southwest of DeSoto on the eastern edge of the O ...

and a historic district within the U.S. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve.

Admiralty Inlet Admiralty Inlet is a strait in the U.S. state of Washington connecting the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound. It lies between Whidbey Island and the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula. Boundaries It is general ...

was considered so strategic to the defense of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

in the 1890s that three forts—Fort Casey on Whidbey Island,

Fort Flagler Fort Flagler State Park is a public recreation area that occupies the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island in Washington. The state park occupies at the entrance to Admiralty Inlet and ...

Marrowstone Island Marrowstone is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 844 at the 2010 census. All Marrowstone addresses are in Nordland, Washington, and the ZIP code for Marrowstone Island is 98358. ...

, and

Fort Worden Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after U ...

at Port Townsend—were built with the intention to create a "triangle of fire" against invading ships. This military strategy was based on the theory that the three fortresses would thwart any invasion attempt by sea.

History

Fort Casey was named for Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Engineers. Designed as part of the massive modernization program of U.S. seacoast fortifications initiated 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 ...

, construction on Fort Casey began in 1897. In 1901, the big guns on disappearing carriages, which could be raised out of their protective emplacements so that the guns were exposed only long enough to fire, became active. However, the fort's batteries became obsolete almost as soon as their construction was completed. The invention of the airplane in 1903, and the subsequent development of military aircraft made the fort vulnerable to air attack. In addition, the development of battleships designed with increasingly accurate weaponry transformed the static strategies of the nineteenth century into the more mobile attack systems of the twentieth century. Most of Fort Casey's guns and mortars were removed 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 ...

, when they were mounted on railcars to serve as mobile heavy artillery. Some of these weapons were returned to the fort after the war, and were scrapped during

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 opposing ...

as 16-inch guns and other weapons at other forts superseded them. The two 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages currently mounted at Fort Casey were transferred from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in the 1960s, along with two three-inch guns. The 10-inch guns are M1895MI (No. 26 and No. 28 Watervliet) on disappearing carriages M1901 (No. 13 and No. 15

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

) at Battery Worth, Fort Casey (originally at Battery Warwick,

Fort Wint Fort Wint was part of the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bays built by the Philippine Department of the United States Army between 1907 and 1920 in response to recommendations of the Taft Board prior to the non-fortification clause of the ...

, Grande Island, Philippines). The three-inch guns are M1903 (No. 11 and No. 12) on

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

carriages M1903 (No. 6 and No. 7) at Battery Trevor, Fort Casey (originally at Battery Flake, Fort Wint).Berhow, p. 230, 233

Park features

Fort Casey is a marine camping park. The Admiralty Head Lighthouse is located within the state park. Three miles of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail wrap around the park.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Fort Casey Historical State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Fort Casey Historical State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission

FortWiki article on Fort Casey
{{authority control Casey Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve State parks of Washington (state) Parks in Island County, Washington History of Island County, Washington Casey National Register of Historic Places in Island County, Washington Protected areas established in 1955

History

Park features

See also

Notes

References

External links