CDSG Representive Site Visit Reports Fort Story

Fort Name: Fort Story – Lower Chesapeake Bay Harbor Defenses
Current Site Name: Fort Story
Dates of Visit: 10 March 2007

Site Use: Army Transportation, Marine Corps Recon, Navy EOD, Coast Guard (new lighthouse), Virginia Harbor Pilots Association (tower next to the new lighthouse)

Is the site open to the public? Yes, depending on Homeland Security Defense conditions. Vehicles of the general public are subject to inspection at the gate Dates and Hours: daily, daylight hours only (military ID and DoD stickers can get you in at any time)

What type of programs are offered at the site?
Living History: None
Tours: none
Museum Shop: tiny gift shop at the old lighthouse

Restoration Projects: The Army has been redeveloping various areas and structures.

Are there events that the Site would like to have advertised in the CDSG Newsletter? No

What is the overall condition of the Site: Good. The base is undergoing major re-development for replacement housing. Old run down areas being cleared out.

What is the condition of the Individual Elements? (see list below)
TACTICAL STRUCTURES:
Battery Pennington-Walke: Fair but mostly buried, magazines good but a few were razed long ago
Pennington Plotting Room/RR Tunnel: Good
14-inch RR emplacement near gate: buried
12-inch RR emplacement: buried
Battery 120 (Ketcham): Good
Ketcham Plotting Room: Good
Battery 121: Good
121 Plotting Room: Good
Battery 224 (Worcester): Good, gun blocks buried – interior being renovated for future use
Battery 225 (Cramer): Good – interior being renovated for future use
Battery 226: Fair
Battery 5 (155mm): gun block 1 recently unearthed
Examination Battery: magazine only
AMTB 21: Good, gun blocks buried
AMTB 22: gun blocks and BC foundation in the surf, may be visible at low tides
Battery U (155mm): broken up on the beach, sometimes buried
World War I batteries: both in surf and no longer visible
Three Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements: two are fair, one broken up on the beach
Mine Casemate 1: Good – under old lighthouse
Mine Casemate 2: Good – interior being renovated for future use
Observation Post above MC – Good (Fire Control Tower recently demolished)
Harbor Defense Command Post: Good
Concrete foundations still exist for several other minor sites including auxiliary command posts and fire control towers. Several magazines are still intact.

BUILDINGS:
Many abandoned World War II buildings have been demolished recently. However, several still remain for now. Some still in use.
NIKE radar complex: Good, radars removed long ago. Site in use by USMC
NIKE barracks complex: Good, still in use by Army
NIKE missile complex: Fair, still in use by Army except launch site, which is sealed off

What is the protective status of the Site?
National Park: National Park Service owns Battle of the Capes Park and First Landing Cross
National Register: Cape Henry Lighthouses only
State or Local Historic Site: Old Lighthouse is operated by the Association for Preserving Virginia’s Antiquities

Current Site Owner: US Army, 11th Transportation Battalion, Fort Eustis<
Current Site Supervisor:
Other Contacts at the Site: Public Affairs Office
Mailing Address: Fort Story, VA 23459
Phone: 757-422-7101 ext 230
Internet: http://www.eustis.army.mil/Fort_story/history.htm

Is the Site or a responsible individual at the site a CDSG member? No, however Fielding Tyler of the Coast Guard Life-Saving Station Museum at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront is the best person to contact for Fort Story’s history.

What information can the CDSG provide to the management of the site? Information displays at each of the batteries would be helpful for public interests.

Is there anyone at the Site that would submit material for the CDSG Journal? No

Any Special Situations at the Site: (Damage, Imminent Destruction, Etc.) One of the Anti-Aircraft Batteries has been wrecked by the heavy surf over the years, as well as the 155 Panama mounts of Battery U. One AMTB is now in the surf. World War I gun emplacements have been washed away. The shoreline has seen severe erosion the past several years. Breakwaters recently put in have curbed the erosion and the beach sand has increased. The Parcel C Fire Control Tower (off-site) has been demolished a few years ago. The base is undergoing re-development, mostly new housing around the six-inch batteries. Old housing areas will be torn down.

ALL FIRE CONTROL/BASE-END STATIONS, SEACOAST RADAR, AND SEARCHLIGHT TOWERS LOCATED IN HAMPTON, NORFOLK, AND VIRGINIA BEACH ARE NOW LEFT TO THE HISTORY BOOKS. The only survivor is the Searchlight controller’s tower at the Dam Neck Navy base.

If individual batteries, base-end stations, buildings, etc. are in some way significant, please indicate: Old Cape Henry Lighthouse is the first built by the Federal government. It offers a spectacular view of the Cape Henry area.

Report submitted by Phil Payette, March 2007
http://www.geocities.com/hrforts/harbor.htm