Fort H. G. Wright was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

military installation on

Fishers Island Fishers Island (Pequot: ''Munnawtawkit'') is an island that is part of Southold, New York, United States at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, off the southeastern coast of Connecticut across Fishers Island Sound. About long and wide, it ...

in the town of

Southold, New York The Town of Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 23,732 at the 2020 census. The town also contains a ha ...

, just two miles off the coast of southeastern

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

, but technically in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It was part of the

Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound The Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Connecticut from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These ...

, along with

Fort Terry Fort Terry was a coastal fortification on Plum Island, a small island just off Orient Point, New York, United States. This strategic position afforded it a commanding view over the Atlantic entrance to the commercially vital Long Island Sound. ...

Fort Michie Fort Michie was a United States Army coastal defense site on Great Gull Island, New York. Along with Fort H. G. Wright, Fort Terry, and Camp Hero, it defended the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound as part of the Harbor Defenses of Long Isla ...

, and (in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

)

Camp Hero Camp Hero State Park is a state park located on Montauk Point, New York. The park occupies a portion of the former Montauk Air Force Station. History Military use The site known as Camp Hero, or the Montauk Air Force Station, was originall ...

. These forts defended the eastern entrance of

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

and thus Connecticut's ports and the north shore of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. The fort was named for Union General

Horatio G. Wright Horatio Gouverneur Wright (March 6, 1820 – July 2, 1899) was an engineer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He took command of the VI Corps in May 1864 following the death of General John Sedgwick. In this capacity, he ...

, a former

Chief of Engineers The Chief of Engineers is a principal United States Army staff officer at The Pentagon. The Chief advises the Army on engineering matters, and serves as the Army's topographer and proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs. ...

who was born in

Clinton, Connecticut Clinton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population of the town was 13,185 at the 2020 census. The town center along the shore line was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 ...

. The fort was first developed in the early 20th century and was active in the First and Second World Wars. After the Second World War, it was deactivated as a coast defense fort.

History

Construction and armament

Fort H. G. Wright was built as part of the large-scale Endicott Program, which recommended a comprehensive replacement of existing coast defenses. The forts were designed and built by the Army Corps of Engineers, the weapons were designed by the Army Ordnance Corps, and the forts were (by 1907) garrisoned by the

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 ...

. Fort H. G. Wright was the headquarters of the Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound (later Harbor Defenses). Construction of gun batteries at Fort H. G. Wright began in 1898. By 1906 the following batteries were completed:Berhow, p. 208Fort H.G. Wright at FortWiki.com
/ref> Facilities for a nearby underwater minefield were also built. Battery Dynamite, on Race Point at the southwest end of the island, had a 15-inch pneumatic gun firing a dynamite-loaded projectile. It is unclear when this battery was built. This type of weapon was determined to be inferior to conventional guns and was withdrawn from service in 1904. Battery Hoppock was completed in 1905 but does not appear to have been armed until 1913, with guns transferred from Battery Greble at

. In an unusual move, the fort's and guns were replaced in 1911–1914. This was probably due to their use for live-fire practice; the fort's offshore location allowed it to be used more frequently for this than other Northeastern forts.Gaines, p. 9 Battery Butterfield's M1895 guns were replaced by the guns of the same model in 1911–12, while Battery Barlow's 10-inch M1895 guns were replaced by M1888 guns in 1914.

World War I

Following 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, p ...

in April 1917, changes were made at the stateside forts with a view to putting some coast artillery weapons into the fight 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 maj ...

. The Coast Artillery Corps manned almost all US 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, with stateside forts reduced to a minimum garrison to provide gun crews in France. The forts were also important as mobilization and training centers. In 1917 the four M1903 guns of Batteries Hamilton and Marcy were removed from the fort, mounted on field carriages, and sent to France. However, a history of the Coast Artillery in World War I states that none of the regiments in France equipped with 6-inch guns completed training in time to see 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 ...

. A forcewide restructuring of mortar batteries, generally removing half the mortars of each battery to speed reloading, resulted in Battery Clinton losing four of its eight mortars in 1918. In many cases the removed mortars were converted to

, and this appears to have happened to Battery Clinton's mortars, but none of these were sent to France. None of the removed guns at Fort H. G. Wright were replaced, and in 1920 the carriages were ordered scrapped. A battery of four M1900 guns was proposed for North Hill in 1917, using two guns removed from

and two from the nearby

Fort Mansfield Fort Mansfield was a coastal artillery installation located on Napatree Point, a long barrier beach in the village of Watch Hill in Westerly, Rhode Island. History Fort Mansfield and similar forts stretching from Galveston to Maine can be tra ...

, but was never built.

Between the wars

In 1924 the Coast Artillery Corps adopted a regimental organization, and the 11th Coast Artillery Regiment of 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 ...

was established for Long Island Sound, with headquarters at Fort H. G. Wright, with the 242nd Coast Artillery Regiment of the

Connecticut National Guard The Connecticut Military Department is a state agency of the government of Connecticut. Its primary components are the Connecticut Army National Guard, the Connecticut Air National Guard, and four companies of the state militia. The Military De ...

as the reserve component. In 1936–1937 the fort's and guns were again replaced with weapons of the same model. In 1936 Battery Barlow's guns were replaced by weapons from Fort Wetherill in Rhode Island, and in 1937 Battery Butterfield's guns were also replaced, probably due to their use for live-fire practice. Battery Barlow appears to have been deactivated in 1939, and its guns and carriages were scrapped in 1943. A three-gun anti-aircraft battery, probably armed with the gun M1917, was built in the 1930s. The fort included an airfield, and a balloon hangar existed 1920–1962.Fort H. G. Wright at American Forts Network
/ref>

World War II

From 1940–1944 the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound were garrisoned by the 11th Coast Artillery of the Regular Army and the 242nd Coast Artillery Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard.Stanton, pp. 456, 470 Harbor defense in the Long Island Sound area was based on building two gun batteries at

in Montauk. Combined with the gun at

, these rendered all other heavy guns in the area obsolete. Fort H. G. Wright's and guns, mortars, and the remaining guns of Battery Dutton were scrapped in 1943–1945. As most of the weapons were scrapped, the coast artillery regiments were replaced by the 190th and 242nd coast artillery battalions in 1944. Fort H. G. Wright did receive some new batteries during the war, but the heavier portions of them were never mounted, as the threat from German surface ships was negligible by 1943. A gun battery (no. 111) was completed in 1944 with the guns delivered on Mount Prospect near Wilderness Point, but the guns were never mounted. Two gun batteries were built, one at Race Point (no. 215) in 1943 and one at Wilderness Point (no. 214) in 1944, but only the Race Point battery was armed, with M1903 guns. The Navy operated

G-class blimp The ''G''-Class Blimps were a series of non-rigid airships (blimps) used by the United States Navy. In 1935, instead of developing a new design airship, the Navy purchased the Goodyear Blimp ''Defender'' for use as a trainer and utility airshi ...

s from the airfield during the war. A naval training school for "indicator loops" (for magnetic detection of submarines) operated on the island as well.Indicator loop school on Fisher's Island
/ref> New World War II batteries at and near the fort included: The Anti- Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries listed show their authorized strength, and actual strength may have varied. All of the 90 mm mounts were designed to be dual-purpose (anti-aircraft and anti-surface). These batteries were also authorized two 40 mm Bofors guns each.

Postwar

After the war it was soon determined that gun defenses were obsolete. The fort was deactivated in 1947 and abandoned in 1948 with all guns scrapped. In 1949 the

Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...

established a facility on the island.

Present

All of the larger batteries still exist; Battery 214 was a private residence in the 1990s. The former military airfield is now a civilian airfield. The bolt circle for Battery Dynamite is still in place; it is probably the only bolt circle for a dynamite gun remaining. Batteries Butterfield, Barlow, and Dutton were a municipal brush dump in the 1990s. At some point two of the mine-associated buildings were enclosed with a concrete-and-earth bunker; in the 1990s this bunker was used to store turf due to the cool, humid conditions. Most of the administrative garrison buildings still exist and have been repurposed.

Gallery

File:Zalinski dynamite gyn drawing.jpg, Illustration of a dynamite gun, similar to Battery Dynamite File:12-inch-M1897-Firing.jpg, disappearing gun firing, similar to Battery Butterfield File:Fort Casey Disappearing gun.jpg, gun M1895 on disappearing carriage M1901, similar to Battery Barlow File:6in Rifled Gun No 9.jpg, gun M1905 on disappearing carriage M1903, generally similar to several of Fort H. G. Wright's batteries File:16-inch-Casemated.jpg, casemated gun, similar to Battery 111 File:Coastal artillery gun at Fort Columbia State Park.jpg, gun on shielded barbette carriage, similar to Battery 215 File:Fort Monroe-0091, Battery Parrott (3931724572).jpg, 90 mm gun on T3/M3 coast defense mount, similar to AMTB batteries

References

*
Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, ''Coast Defense Journal'', vol. 23, issue 2, p. 9
* *

External links

* ttp://cdsg.org/fort-and-battery-list/ List of all US coastal forts and batteriesat the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
{{Coord, 41, 15, 13, N, 72, 01, 49, W, display=title H. G. Wright Closed installations of the United States Army Southold, New York Buildings and structures in Suffolk County, New York Long Island Sound 1898 establishments in Connecticut Military installations established in 1898 1947 disestablishments in Connecticut Military installations closed in 1947