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![]() map copyright © 2004 AFN |
FORT NORFOLK FORT BOYKIN Base-End Towers ( T ) Each of the above sites |
![]() "I Defend the First Gateway" |
Other major bases from the World War II period included: (1) Camp Eustis [Fort Eustis] (2) Langley Field [Langley Air Force Base] (3) Fleet Combat Training Center [NAS Oceana - Dam Neck Annex] (4) Oceana Naval Air Station (5) Naval Operations Base [Norfolk Naval Station & Norfolk Naval Air Station] (6) Norfolk Naval Shipyard (7) Nansemond Naval Ordnance Depot [Tidewater Community College] (8) Military Marine Terminals [Norfolk International Terminals] (9) Camp Ashby - Prisoner of War Camp [residential & commercial] N 36°50.643 W076°07.209 |
![]() 246th Coast Artillery |
Coast Artillery (1920's - 1930's): 12th - Fort Monroe/Fort Wool 51st (155mm Towed) - Fort Monroe/Camp Buchanan PR 52nd - Fort Monroe 61st (Anti-Aircraft) - Fort Monroe/Fort Sheridan IL Coast Artillery (1940's): |
![]() Third District Command |
![]() Third Service Command |
![]() Coast Artillery School |
Searchlights: There were two searchlight positions on Fishermans Island, two on Smith Island, one near Fort Custis, one at the Cheapside Tower on the Eastern Shore, four at Fort Story, four along the Virginia Beach oceanfront, one at Oceanview in Norfolk, and three at Fort Monroe, and two at Fort Wool. |
![]() Coast Artillery Corps |
Minefields & Nets: 418 controlled mines were laid. Two lines across the main channel off Cape Henry, and two lines across the main channel near Thimble Shoals Lighthouse. 365 contact mines were laid by the Navy reaching from Cape Charles to the Army's line near Cape Henry. In addition, an anti-motor torpedo boat net was installed, connected at Willoughby Spit and the northern part of Old Point Comfort. The HECP at Fort Monroe controlled the gate to the net. A second net was intalled at the entrance to the York River. |
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"Always Prepared" 52nd Coast Artillery (Railway) |
"The Way to the Stars is not Easy" 61st Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) |
USGS
Satellite Images of Hampton Roads Harbor
courtesy of Microsoft TerraServer
See also North American Fortifications
I wish to thank the Director of the Old Coast Guard Station Museum for helping me make this website a reality.
Potomac River Defenses
for Washington D.C.
Baltimore Harbor Defenses
Harbor Defenses of the Delaware
North Carolina Coastal Defenses - Cape Fear
North Carolina Coastal Defenses - Outer Banks
Contributions of historical material and photographs are greatly appreciated!
This website is an ongoing project. We are always learning something new,
and we would like all to share in any new information that is gathered.
Thank you, and enjoy!
This is the same site that was once hosted on Geocities.com
until Yahoo! pulled the plug in October 2009.
Nothing else has changed.
NAUTICUS - The National Maritime Center
Battleship USS Wisconsin BB-64
USCG Atlantic Area & Fifth District Headquarters
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Colonial National Historic Park
The Old Coast Guard Station Museum
Chesapeake Chapter, US Lighthouse Society
Other Related Links
Council on America's
Military Past (CAMP)
Civil War Fortification Study Group
Company of Military Historians