Fort Foster, now part of Fort Foster Park, is a historic fort active 1901–1946 on the southwest tip of Gerrish Island in the

Kittery Point Kittery Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Kittery, York County, Maine, United States. First settled in 1623, Kittery Point traces its history to the first seafarers who colonized the shore of what became Massachusetts Bay ...

area of

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. 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 park includes beaches and trails. Battery Bohlen and Battery Chapin were the major parts of the fort.Fort Foster at NorthAmericanForts.com
/ref>

History

The land was acquired by the U.S. federal government in 1872 and the fort was built from 1898 to 1901 as part of the large-scale Endicott Program. Other forts of this era in the Coast Defenses of Portsmouth included

Fort Constitution Fort William and Mary was a colonial-era fortification in Great 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 ...

and Fort Stark.Fort Foster at FortWiki.com
/ref>Berhow, p. 205 The site was a sub-post of Fort Constitution and was named for

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

-era Brevet Major General

John G. Foster John Gray Foster (May 27, 1823 – September 2, 1874) was an American soldier. A career military officer in the United States Army and a Union general during the American Civil War, he served in North and South Carolina during the war. A recons ...

of New Hampshire. Fort Foster originally had two gun batteries: Battery Bohlen with three 10-inch (254 mm) M1895

disappearing gun 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 bac ...

s and Battery Chapin with two 3-inch (76 mm) M1902 guns on pedestal mounts. Battery Bohlen was built in 1898-1901 and Battery Chapin was completed in 1904. Battery Bohlen was named for Brigadier General

Henry Bohlen Henry Bohlen (October 22, 1810 – August 22, 1862) was a German-American Union Army, Union Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General of the American Civil War. Before becoming the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War, he f ...

, killed in the Civil War, and Battery Chapin was named for Brigadier General Edward Chapin, also killed in the Civil War. In 1909 a secondary control station for an underwater minefield in the harbor was added; Battery Chapin was built primarily to defend this 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. After the

American entry into World War I The United States entered into World War I on 6 April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British and an a ...

in early 1917, many guns were removed from coast defenses for potential service on the Western Front. Most of these weapons were not sent overseas or did not see action. All three 10-inch (254 mm) guns of Battery Bohlen were removed for potential use as railway artillery in October 1917, and were returned to the fort in September 1919. During World War II Fort Foster's heavy guns were superseded by a new 16-inch (406 mm) gun battery at

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

. The 10-inch guns of Battery Bohlen were scrapped in 1942. However, new construction also took place at Fort Foster as part of the general improvement of US coast defenses that began in 1940. In 1940 to 1944 the Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth were garrisoned by the 22nd Coast Artillery Regiment. A new mine control station and mine casemate were built near the former 10-inch battery, along with two new gun batteries at a different location. Battery 205, begun in 1942, was to have two 6-inch (152 mm) M1 guns on shielded

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 protection ...

carriages with a bunker for ammunition and

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 ...

, but construction was suspended in 1944 and the battery was never armed. A six-story

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 battery, coastal batteries, or adjust the aim of guns by spotting shell splashes. Fire control to ...

was constructed to spot targets for this battery. Anti- Motor Torpedo Boat Battery (AMTB) 952 was also built at Fort Foster in 1943, with an authorized strength of two fixed 90 mm guns and two towed 90 mm guns. The remaining batteries were deactivated in 1946 and the fort was closed in 1948. The site was used as a recreation area for

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

personnel from then until the 1950s. It was transferred to the Town of Kittery's Public Works Department and later expanded by another land purchase.

Present

The buildings are closed except the Mine Observation Tower, now a public restroom. An admission fee is charged for access. There are swimming beaches and views of the entrance to

Portsmouth Harbor 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 to the Atlantic Ocean. The drai ...

Whaleback Light Whaleback Light is a historic lighthouse marking the mouth of the Piscataqua River in Kittery, Maine. It is located on a rocky outcrop offshore southwest of Fort Foster and south of Wood Island in Kittery. The present tower was built in 1872. I ...

Portsmouth Harbor Light Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located within Fort Constitution in New Castle, New Hampshire, United States. History The station was established in 1771 and was the 10th of 11 light stations established prior to the Ameri ...

and

Gallery

File:FortFosterBunk01.jpg, Mine casemate built in World War II File:FortFosterFCT01.jpg, Mine control station built in World War II File:Observation Tower.jpg, World War II-era observation and

for Battery 205

References

* *

External links

*
Geology of Fort Foster Park beaches
({{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201083143/https://www1.maine.gov/dacf/mgs/explore/bedrock/sites/mar13.pdf , date=2017-02-01 )
List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
Buildings and structures in Kittery, Maine Forts in Maine Parks in Maine Protected areas of York County, Maine

History

Present

Gallery

See also

References

External links