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Fort Banks (Massachusetts)
Fort Banks was a U.S. Coast Artillery fort located in Winthrop, Massachusetts. It served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1890s during what is known as the Endicott period, a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology.〔Other Coast Artillery forts defending Boston that were built or modernized during this period include Fort Warren on George's Island, Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island, Fort Strong on Long Island, Fort Dawes on Deer Island, and Fort Ruckman in Nahant.〕 Today, the Fort Banks Mortar Battery is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The fort was active during World War II as the site of the Harbor Defense Command Post (HDCP) for the Boston Harbor defenses,〔The HDCP was located in the central above-ground magazine rooms of Battery Lincoln, just west of the end of the 1896 east-west magazine corridor (see plan below).〕 and was greatly expanded with numerous temporary structures (see 1938 map at top left). Because of its campus-like appearance and the fact that it was located on land, close of Boston, the fort was known as "The Country Club" by Coast Artillery soldiers pleased to be posted there. Fort Banks was named for Nathaniel P. Banks, a Civil War general, the 24th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
==Construction==
In 1892 construction began on the fort's four mortar pits, each of which was to hold four of the huge, new 12-inch coast defense mortars, each capable of firing a half-ton projectile over six miles out to sea, effectively commanding the northern approaches into Boston Harbor.〔At the time, these mortar batteries were considered to be the "wonder weapon" of harbor defense. They could fire special hardened shells in high arcs, enabling these shells to plummet down and pierce the relatively light deck armor of even the heaviest battleships of the period. Furthermore, the mortars were mounted within pits surrounded by tall earthen berms, making them all but untouchable by the relatively low-angle fire of attacking ships lying offshore.〕 Construction on the mortar emplacements was completed in 1896,〔Extensive modifications were made to the mortar batteries in 1910–1917. See the section on Design below.〕 making this the oldest Endicott period fort in Boston's harbor defenses. The two eastern mortar pits were designated as Battery Sanford Kellogg and the two western ones as Battery Benjamin Lincoln, making these the first Endicott gun batteries to be completed in Boston and the first 12-inch coast defense mortar batteries to be completed anywhere in the U.S.〔At the time construction began on Ft. Banks, no one had ever built a similar coast defense mortar battery nor fired one of the M1890 mortars in such an emplacement. Fort Warren on Georges Island is the oldest fort in the Boston harbor defense system, having been constructed before the Civil War, but the first of its modern armaments were not completed until 1899. See U.S. Army Engineers, "Reports of Completed Works," various dates.〕 The mortars were taken out of service in 1942, and in 2007 the fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places〔The definition of the historic site is somewhat unusual. It is a three-dimensional site that includes the original boundaries of the four mortar pits (one of which is now completely covered by a new apartment structure), and also extends throughout the still-surviving bi-level shell and powder magazines beneath ground. Even though the site in fact contains two mortar batteries, the name of the NRHP site only refers to one battery.〕
The four mortar pits were laid out in a design known as an "Abbot Quad,"〔For a description of all the types of U.S. coast defense mortar batteries, battery plans, and a discussion of their differences, see "Analysis of Seacoast Mortar Battery Design Types (1890-1925), by Thomas Vaughan, Version 1.0. Stoughton. MA 27 February 2004.〕 which contained the 16 mortars in a sort of "square-of squares." This arrangement was designed such that if all the tubes were aimed in parallel and fired at the same time, in a huge salvo, they would bracket an attacking ship with fire, somewhat like a huge shotgun blast. Since each shell could weigh over half a ton, a 16-mortar salvo of over 8 tons of explosives was hoped to be a decisive deterrent to ships approaching the northern channels into Boston Harbor.〔Another two batteries of similar mortars were installed a few years later at Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island. These batteries were designed to protect the southern approaches to the harbor, through the channel between Georges Island and Hull, also known as Nantasket Roads.〕 In fact, the Army had planned to build two 16-gun Abbot Quad arrays at Fort Banks, but ran out of budget before being able to complete that project.〔There is evidence that the modifications to the four mortar pits which are detailed in the plan shown below were adopted by the Army as a "next-best" strategy for expending available construction funds.〕
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