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Fort Strong is a former U.S. Army Coast Artillery fort that occupied the northerly third of Long Island in Boston harbor. The modernization of the fort during the Endicott period of expansion in U.S. coast defense resulted in the installation of five 10-inch guns (in two batteries), two 4-inch guns, and 10 3-inch guns (two in each of five batteries). Before WW1, a large station for handling submarine mines and an anti-aircraft battery of 3-inch guns were also added to the fort's defenses. At its peak, before WW1, the fort was probably manned by over 1,000 soldiers. During WW2, two batteries of 3-inch guns (Basinger and Stevens) defended channel minefields, but the big guns and other 3-inch batteries (save for the AA guns) were decommissioned. Declared surplus in 1947, the fort was redeveloped in 2005-2009 for a children's summer camp.〔The camp was designed to serve youth from the City of Boston and straddled the former parade ground of the fort. Building the camp involved demolition of almost all the wooden structures of the fort and raised the elevation of the former parade ground by several feet.〕 Formerly, it was also known as Long Island Military Reservation. Endicott period batteries which were located here: *Battery Hitchcock (1899–1939) *Battery Ward (1899–1939) *Battery Drum (1899–1917) *Battery Smyth (1906–1921) *Battery Stevens (1906–1946) *Battery Taylor (1906–1942) *Battery Basinger (1901–1947) ==Antecedents== The fort had its antecedents in the pre-Civil War period and the Civil War itself.〔Camp Wightman, a Civil War training camp, was located on the island in 1861. At the end of the Civil War, the government decided to keep Fort Strong which had been located in East Boston, and move it to Long Island. It was officially designated in 1867 as being located there. The name is said to be a dedication to Massachusetts Governor Caleb Strong. See Snow, Edward Rowe, "Sailing Down Boston Bay", 1941. cf. p.24, ''Fort Strong on Long Island''.〕 Until 1899, the fort was named the Long Island Military Reservation. From 1874 to 1876, the fort had a battery of 10 cannon, called the Long Island Head Battery, on the northeast tip of the raised northern portion of the island. Remains of this battery can still be found, concealed by heavy brush, about 100 ft. north of Battery Ward, the easternmost concrete battery on the tip of the island (see the map of the "Obsolete Battery" at right). In 1893, as part of the Endicott Board's recommendations, construction began at the fort on a series of massive concrete gun batteries to defend the harbor approaches. A large barracks building for the soldiers and a series of quarters for officers and NCOs were also constructed, as well as structures for mining operations and support functions at the fort. A quick look at the map will show how Fort Strong's central location made it so well suited for harbor defense. Its principal armament (the 10-inch guns) could engage any ship attempting to enter either the northern or southern approaches to the harbor, while its smaller rapid fire (3-inch) guns could fire directly over all approach channels and the mine fields that criss-crossed them. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fort Strong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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