Fort Heath

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For Fort Heath of the Old West, see Forts in Nebraska.
Fort Heath
Part of Harbor Defenses of Boston
location: Winthrop Highlands[1]:{{{3}}} at Grovers Cliff[2]
Ft-Heath-AP-c1921-SEly.jpg
Southeastward view with the face of Grovers Cliff along foreground shore, large rectangular white area[specify] on west (right). Pictured items not on the 1921 map include the roads through the barracks area connecting to the off-post intersection that is now the Highland Av & Pond St intersection (right).
Fort Heath is located in Massachusetts
Fort Heath
Fort Heath
Location in Massachusetts
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

(former survey marker)
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

  • "Grover's Cliff, military reservation, flagpole, 1919"
Type coastal artillery site and radio/radar station
eponym: General William Heath (Continental Army)[3]:{{{3}}}
namesake: Fort Heath Apartments
Site information
Owner private and municipal
Condition private apartment complex
and municipal park
Site history
Built c. 1898
In use 1898-1966
Demolished 1947 - buildings[citation needed]
1969 - control site
tbd - nuclear bunker
mid-to-late 1990s - FAA radar & building
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Cold War

Fort Heath was a US seacoast military installation for defense of the Boston and Winthrop Harbors with an early 20th-century Coast Artillery fort, a 1930s USCG radio station, prewar naval research facilities, World War II batteries, and a Cold War radar station. The fort was part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston (Coast Defenses of Boston 1913-1925) and was garrisoned by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. The fort's military structures have been replaced by a residential complex, including the luxurious Forth Heath Apartments, and recreation facilities of Small Park, which has both a commemorative wall and an historical marker for Fort Heath.

Fort Heath map of "FEB. 17, 1921" with added modern annotation to "roughly" indicate a former survey marker in the roof of the southernmost of the "BC" buildings (top--6 small adjoining blocks).
This disappearing carriage at Battery Alexander or Battery Bloomfield at Fort Hancock, NJ (above) was the same model (M1896) as at Ft Heath, and the recessed gun pits were similar. The 12-in gun (top) is an M1888.[4][5]

Grover's Cliff Military Reservation

The Grover Cliff geodetic survey station marker was emplaced in 1847 (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., lost by 1922),[6] and the military site was renamed Grover's Cliff Military Reservation.[7]:{{{3}}} November 1890 planning for the military site was for 3 artillery rifles and 16 mortars,[8] and by spring 1898 Lieutenant Sewail was in charge of construction.[1]:{{{3}}} A spur of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad was built to the site by March 29,[9] bids for lumber were received in April,[10] and the "Winthrop Mortar Batteries" of the regular army[11]:{{{3}}} (Battery F and Battery M) were ordered to Grovers Cliff in May 1898[12] for the 16 mortars, with the batteries encamping May 16 on Cherry Street.[11]:{{{3}}} Constructed during the Endicott modernization period for fortifications, "the first concrete foundation for one of the disappearing guns at Grovers Cliff" was complete in May 1898,[13] and in 1900 the installation was renamed Fort Heath.[7]

Battery Theodore Winthrop

Battery Theodore Winthrop construction was complete by 1901 with three 12-inch M1888 guns on M1896 disappearing carriages, the heaviest guns in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps at the time.[14] "Major Morris of the Seventh Heavy Artillery"[15] was the initial commander,[12]:{{{3}}} and "Batteries P and O of the Regular Army" manned the guns.[16] Additional land was considered in 1901 for a Fort Heath garrison[17] (temporary barracks were on the west side in 1921),[18]:{{{3}}} and the fort was inspected by the Ordnance Department in 1902.[19]

Fort Heath was a secondary station for a 1907 naval exercise,[20] and in 1908 the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia had a Fort Heath unit.[21] In 1908 the fort had a "range-finders house" and a sea wall was considered[22] (constructed on the south shore by February 1921).[18]:{{{3}}} In 1917 a "duct line" between Fort Banks and Fort Heath was contracted to New England Telephone and Telegraph,[23] and for 3 batteries—Winthrop and Battery Kellogg & Battery Lincoln at Ft Banks—Ft Heath had the primary base end stations and the Battery Commanders' stations[24] (a commander's station was atop the Ft Heath parapet).[25]

After the 1925 renaming of the Coast Defenses of Boston to the Harbor Defenses of Boston,[26] the fort's ammunition hoists were authorized for disposal in January 1932.[citation needed] A federal survey marker (MY0121—GROVERS)[clarification needed] was set in the roof of the southernmost of the three fire control buildings at the fort in line at the northern end of Battery Winthrop. The marker on the "BC" (battery control) structure is roughly indicated on the 1921 map. Gun #3 (the most westerly[clarification needed] one) of Battery Winthrop was about 120 ft. southeast of this marker, and the line between this gun and Gun #1 (the most easterly one) was 270 ft. in length.[not in citation given]

Coast Guard radio station

The United States Coast Guard radio station at Fort Heath (call sign "NMF") opened on November 12, 1931, and was initially used for testing "traffic…relayed from Point Bonita, California." The station had three 50-foot masts in 1934 (e.g., "Heath Northwest Radio Mast")[27] but as a trial for determining if Navy facilities could instead handle USCG radio traffic, the "station at Winthrop" closed from 1934 to 1936.[28]:{{{3}}} Subsequently operating "until 1939 when the site was taken over by the Army", the USCG equipment "relocated to a former intelligence monitoring station at North Truro, Massachusetts."[28]

A. A. Battery No. 4

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Antiaircraft Artillery Battery No. 4 was designated in 1935 after the 3rd gun pad was constructed in 1934 for 3" AAA guns.[7]:{{{3}}} The three emplacements were south of a radar[specify] and west of the "Theo. Winthrop"[18]:{{{3}}} foundations, and the three guns were approved on January 8, 1942, to be moved to Fort Ruckman.[7]:{{{3}}}

Navy Field Test Station

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Main article: United States Navy Field Test Station, Fort Heath

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The United States Navy Field Test Station, Fort Heath, established by 1938 included a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research facility for "Fire Control Systems"[29]:{{{3}}}:240 (cf. Army Signal Corps research at the Twin Lights station at the New Jersey Highlands).

AMTB Battery 945

Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 945 at the eastern tip of Fort Heath (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. covered the northern harbor approaches with a pair of 90 mm Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) guns, and the HHB 3rd Battalion of the 9th Coast Artillery (United States) activated at Fort Heath on June 1, 1941.[30] From September–November 1941 the camouflage training school for the First Coast Artillery District was conducted by the Corps of Engineers at Fort Heath.[31] Gun #1 (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.)[32] was north of the second gun,[specify] and Battery 945 was declared surplus on December 28, 1943[citation needed] (a very large apartment building is on the Battery 945 position.)[not in citation given]

The Missile Master nuclear-hardened bunker (green) was the largest structure of the Fort Heath radar station.

Cold War radar station

The Fort Heath radar station was a NORAD Control Center of the USAF and US Army from 1960-9 for coordinating interceptors of the Boston Air Defense Sector and Project Nike surface-to-air missiles of the Boston-Providence Defense Area. The station also had an FAA ARSR-1A Air Route Surveillance Radar, and the "control site" was demolished in 1969[33] (the bunker remained in 1971),[34] and after a Rhode Island AN/TSQ-51 had opened by July 1, 1970,[35]:{{{3}}} Project Concise closed the remaining Nike batteries in 1974.

Small Park

The FAA operated the ARSR-1 until the mid-to-late[specify] 1990's,[36] and by 2005, the "Fort Heath property" of tbd acres (tbd hectares) acquired by the town had been converted to a municipal park[37] (the fort land is a Formerly Used Defense Site MA19799F184300).[38]

External images
image icon 1938 map with AAA emplacements
image icon 155 mm cannon under construction
image icon AMTB Battery 945

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ [full citation needed] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
  4. ↑ Berhow, p. 138
  5. ↑ Fort Hancock article at FortWiki.com
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8oo-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=7FkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3993,3099248&dq=grover's+cliff&hl=en
  10. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CIs-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=7FkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3406,5970252&dq=grovers-cliff&hl=en
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Grovers+Cliff%22&tbs=nws:1,ar:1&source=newspapers
  14. ↑ Berhow, pp. 138, 158
  15. ↑ Berhow, p. 425
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[need quotation to verify]
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7fBBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w7gMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2907,4488071&dq=fort-heath&hl=en
  20. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EgNAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MaQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1826,676067&dq=batteries+regular-army+heath+-health&hl=en
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Fort Ruckman. Coastdefense.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/mhds/main.asp?SID=204413329&MHDId=&orderId=&datumId=&townId=&stationId=hea&quad=&ACTION=GC_VQ_PTS&sort=7
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[full citation needed] Report describes the transformation using the 2010 Jerry L. Wahl model applied to the WW2 grid coordinates of Gun #1 supplied by Paul Grigorieff from the 1945 Army Engineers' report[specify] on the Boston Harbor Defenses.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ http://www.HistoricAerials.com image
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. NOTE: The annual July 1 maps in McMaster's report show 6 AN/TSQ-51 Missile Mentors in 1966 at former AN/FSG-1 sites, with Ft Heath instead shown with the following: an AN/FSG-1 Missile Master in 1964 (near a separate Massachusetts BIRDIE), then a Ft Heath BIRDIE in 1966 & 1967, a Ft Heath Missile Mentor in 1968 & 1969, and no Ft Heath AADCP in 1970 (a Rhode Island Missile Mentor was depicted in 1970; but not in 1971.)
  36. ↑ Note: In the mid-to-late 1990s the FAA assumed control of the JSS ARSR-4 at the North Truro Z-10 SAGE radar station in Massachusetts.[citation needed]
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ http://www.denix.osd.mil/arc/upload/97_TablesB3.pdf
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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See also

External links

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