WWII Marks

[+Shorelander]

I'm coming to the end of my time here in Massachusetts (soon to move back to Illinois) and I've been trying to get in all the places I've been itching to get to. Yesterday I took a trip to the Boston Harbor Islands - specifically Peddocks Island, site of Fort Andrews, fortified in 1897, downgraded in 1927, built up again during WWII, and then deactivated in 1946.

 

I found two marks on the site (more on that later), and came to the site of a third: MY4557 (D P MC COOK 1940). First described in 1940 and recovered in 1943, the description is as follows:

THE STATION IS THE INSTRUMENT CENTER FOR BATTERY D.P. MC COOK, WHICH IS NEAR THE NE CORNER OF FORT ANDREWS, ON PEDDOCKS ISLAND, IN BOSTON HARBOR. IT IS ABOUT 50 YDS. NE OF THE CONCRETE HOUSE WHICH IS THE INSTRUMENT CENTER FOR BATTERY BUMPUS. NO REFERENCE MARKS WERE ESTABLISHED. THE TRIANGULATION STATIONS LISTED BELOW ARE ALL GOOD AZIMUTH MARKS FOR THIS STATION.

Here's a picture of the site now:

 

My question is what do they mean by "instrument center"? Oftentimes I'll see something like this description, from MY4628 (B 1 OVER 6 CUSHING WHITMAN):

THE STATION IS LOCATED ON THE SUMMIT OF THE SW ONE OF TWO HILLS IN THE NW END OF PEDDOCKS ISLAND, FORT ANDREWS, AND IS THE CENTER OF THE INSTRUMENT UNDER THE HIGHEST ROOF OF THE CONCRETE FIRE-CONTROL BUILDING. STATION IS MARKED BY A CROSS ON A PROJECTING PLUG ON THE ROOF DIRECTLY OVER THE INSTRUMENT. THIS IS A TRAVERSE STATION.

But for MY4557, they don't mention any marker. There's no MARKER or SETTING listed on the datasheet, either. Was this some sort of intersection station? I looked all over the concrete floor where I thought it'd have been set, but there was nothing there - no disk, no plug, no nail, no drill hole; not even a place for an instrument to be set, as far as I could tell.

 

And, uh, well. About my only finding two stations. The trail I was taking to the radio station turned out to be not a trail at all but a 60-year-old overgrown road, and I, uh, lost the trail of it and got lost in the forest on the island. I had to call the ranger for help. I was a bad outdoorsman yesterday. I learned my lesson, though.

Edited July 9, 2007 by Shorelander

[68-eldo]

What they are referring to is the instrument that targets the ships.

 

This is referred to as Gun Fire Control or most of the time just Fire Control. I was shipboard fire control so this coast artillery is not my forte exactly but is similar.

 

The guns are located at one point called the Battery. Obviously this is where the guns are loaded and pointed toward the target. At another location is the fire control station. This can be miles away or on top of the battery. It has “the instrument” which is used to get the bearing and range to the target. This information is sent to the plotting room where the gun angles for firing are computed.

 

What you are looking for is a pedestal that the instrument was mounted on. It would be in the center of the room with windows to look out in all directions seaward. Most likely there is a center point like a pin or a hole for a pin for the instrument to be mounted on. Frequently these are mounted in towers but looking at Google Earth it looks like this one is in a room on top of the battery.

 

One type of instrument looks like this:

 

 

For more information on Coast Artillery go here.

[+Shorelander]

OHHHHH!!!! That makes SENSE! I've been reading and wandering around fire control stations several times now, and all this time I thought that meant flame-type fires, not ready-aim fires!

 

If I get a chance to return, I'll see if I can find anything. There was literally nothing of the sort up on top of the building where I was. There were what I thought to be gum emplacements on either side of the little tower (photo here). The instrument wouldn't be below, right? There would be no view in most directions, so that wouldn't work. Might there have been some large metal plate on the ground to which the instrument was affixed that was removed when the area was abandoned? Like I said, I didn't see anything in the center area of the concrete that would indicate anything had been affixed to it.

 

Edit to add:

I assume this is the kind of tower you were talking about?

Edited July 10, 2007 by Shorelander

[68-eldo]

I won’t rule out that tower as a Fire Control Station, but I think it is more likely a Battery Commander’s Station.

 

This tower is a fire control Station.

 

 

Notice the pillar in the center. The instrument is mounted on the pillar and is not connected to the tower. That way people moving around on the tower will not create vibrations in the instrument.

 

If MY4557 was in this type of tower it is most likely destroyed. However in my area many of the fire control stations are in concrete “pill boxes” half buried in the ground on a hill side.

 

Google Earth locates this benchmark right on top of Battery McCook and since the mark is horizontally adjusted your GPSr should take right to the location.

[Papa-Bear-NYC]

...

 

There were what I thought to be gum emplacements

 

...

 

This is a funny slip. Remember that Woody Allen movie where he goes in to rob a bank. He gives the teller a hand written note: "Give me your cash I have a gun". The teller says "does that say GUN or GUM? It looks like GUM", the next teller comes over to look and says "Yes, definitely GUM, not GUN". Next scene he's in jail.