page_title: Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay
section_title: Endicott period
hierarchical_section_title: Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay / History / Endicott period
caption_attribution_description: Local Accession Number: PC 183 Description: Postcard photograph of 4 12 in. mortars at Fort Greble during World War I. Photographer: Unknown Source: Donated by Jean Brannum Nichols Size: 3x5 Medium: Print, Black and White Date: c. 1917- 1918
context_page_description: The Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as an Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Narragansett Bay in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay in 1925.
context_section_description: The Board of Fortifications was convened in 1885 under Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott to develop recommendations for a full replacement of existing coast defenses. Most of its recommendations were adopted, and construction began in 1897 on new forts to defend Narragansett Bay. Two underwater minefields in the East and West Passages also guarded the bay. The defenses of the East Passage were the new Fort Wetherill and new batteries at Fort Adams, south of the main fort. The West Passage was adequately defended for the first time with three new forts. These were Fort Getty on Beaver Head in Jamestown, Fort Greble on Dutch Island, and Fort Kearny in Saunderstown on the mainland, opposite Dutch Island. Fort Wetherill was the largest of the new forts in armament, and included the mine planting and storage facilities for the area.
  Heavy weapons for the East Passage included four 12-inch (305 mm) guns at Fort Wetherill (two on barbette carriages, two on disappearing carriages), with three 10-inch (254 mm) disappearing guns there, along with sixteen 12-inch (305 mm) mortars and two 10-inch (254 mm) disappearing guns at Fort Adams. The West Passage had three 10-inch disappearing guns and eight 12-inch mortars at Fort Greble, with three 12-inch disappearing guns at Fort Getty. Medium caliber weapons in the initial design were five 6-inch (152 mm) guns at Fort Wetherill (two disappearing, two on pedestal mounts), three 6-inch disappearing guns at Fort Greble, and two 6-inch pedestal guns at Fort Getty, along with six 6-inch disappearing guns at Fort Kearny. Each fort had at least one battery of 3-inch (76 mm) guns to defend the minefields against minesweepers.
  Generally, the heavy batteries were built first, followed by the 3-inch and then the 6-inch batteries. However, the Spanish–American War broke out in early 1898. Most of the Endicott batteries were still years from completion, and it was feared the Spanish fleet would bombard the US east coast. A number of batteries of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns were hastily built. Fort Adams received a one-gun battery with an 8-inch M1888 gun (203 mm) on a modified Rodman carriage, and a battery of two 4.72-inch (120 mm) Armstrong guns. Fort Getty received a single 6-inch (152 mm) Armstrong gun.
  Another Endicott-program fort was built in Rhode Island, part of the Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound. This was Fort Mansfield, on Napatree Point in Westerly. The fort was intended to guard the strait between Westerly and Fishers Island. It was one of the smallest Endicott forts, with two 8-inch disappearing guns and four 5-inch guns. However, an exercise in 1907 showed that the nearby beach could be invaded in a sector the guns could not cover, thus the fort was vulnerable to capture. The fort was placed in caretaker status in 1909 and disarmed to provide guns for World War I in 1917. It was abandoned and sold in 1928.
  The initial Endicott batteries were completed in 1907. Some of the Spanish–American War batteries were short-lived; Fort Getty lost its 6-inch Armstrong gun by 1900, along with Fort Adams' single 8-inch gun. However, in 1907 there was a re-alignment of 6-inch Armstrong guns. Fort Adams received a battery of three 6-inch Armstrong guns as a result. In 1913 these were transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
caption: 12-inch mortars at Fort Greble, Dutch Island.
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