Historic California
Posts, Camp Stations and Airfields
Fort Miley: Battery
243
Example of the 6-inch
rifle used at Battery 243
Battery Construction
No. 243
by Justin M. Ruhge
The authorization for this two-gun 6-inch
battery, Construction 243, at Fort Miley, was dated March 27,
1941. Construction did not begin until January 1943. The engineers'
work was completed and accepted for use and care by the troops
in February 1944. The battery was completed, including its carriages
and shields except for the guns themselves. At the close of World
War II, the guns had still not arrived but the battery was not
abandoned. The Army wished to retain some 6-inch batteries to
protect minefields. The two guns were mounted in April 1948,
the last seacoast guns to be installed at San Francisco. The
magazines for these guns were casemated. The guns themselves
were on barbettes and protected by cast steel shields.
All that remains of them today are the
concrete platforms, one of which has been converted to a flagstaff
foundation. The casemated magazine was later used by the U.S.
Navy who took over the task of protecting minefields in 1949.
Report of
Completed Works - Seacoast Fortifications
An
Artist's Rendering of a Standard Two Gun 6-Inch Battery Showing
Layout Details. Artwork by Gerald W. Butler.
Taken From of 1940 by Robert D. Zink, The Six-Inch
Part of the Modernization Program,Coast Defense Study Group Journal, Vol. 8, No.
2, pgs. 21-39, May 1994.
