Fort Ward ( Washington ) Fort Ward is a former United States Army coastal artillery fort , and later , a Navy installation located on the southwest side of Bainbridge Island , Washington , along Rich Passage . History . Early . During the 1880s , the Endicott Board , convened by Secretary of War William C . Endicott made sweeping recommendations for new or upgraded coastal defense installations and weapons systems . As the 20th century approached , American military strategists realized that heavy , fixed artillery required a very different training program than lighter , mobile field artillery . Fort Ward was originally known as Beans Point and was established in 1890 as one of several U . S . Army Coastal Artillery Corps installations , including Fort Flagler , Fort Casey and Fort Worden , built to defend Puget Sound from enemy warships . Its primary objective was to protect the nearby Bremerton Naval Shipyard . In 1903 , the U . S . Army officially designated Beans Point as a seacoast fort and named it Fort Ward in honor of Colonel George H . Ward . Activity in and around the fort continued as new buildings were constructed and new troops arrived . The coastal artillery batteries located at Fort Ward were : Battery Vinton had two 3 " model 1897 guns . These guns guarded an underwater mine field placed across Rich Passage . The guns were removed on July 19 , 1920 , never having been fired for defense , and were shipped to France . In the 1920s , Fort Ward was placed on inactive status , but a small number of men were still stationed there . In 1928 , the fort was essentially left abandoned . The fort remained abandoned for several years , until 1935 , it served as a state - operated " fresh air camp " for inner city children from Seattle . Before and during World War II . In 1938 , the U . S . Navy took over Fort Ward from the U . S . Army , and confiscated several surrounding properties and evicted the owners . The U . S . Navy found the fort to be attractive after tests had shown that it was an outstanding location to eavesdrop on radio communication transmitted from the Far East , chiefly Japan . In August 1939 , the U . S . Navy relocated the Astoria , Oregon intercept site to Fort Ward . This was the beginning of the development of Fort Ward as a top - secret military listening post . In August 1940 , the U . S . Navy had five sites with diplomatic targets which were all linked directly , or indirectly through U . S . Army communication circuits , to Washington , D . C . via radio and landline communications . These sites were Winter Harbor , Maine ; Amagansett , New York ; Cheltenham , Maryland ; Jupiter , Florida ; and Fort Ward — Bainbridge Island , Washington . Rhombic antennas were installed on the Parade Ground , and the old post exchange / gymnasium building was converted into a top secret listening post code - named " " Station S " " . Inside " " Station S " " , men and women worked 24 hours a day , listening in on Japanese naval communications , which were transmitted in the Japanese Morse Code . This building is now a private home . The listening post activities were so top secret that personnel on the base were instructed not to look at the building when they walked by it . Meanwhile , the Navy developed a " cover story " for what was happening at Naval Radio Station Bainbridge Island . The story — that it was one of the few Naval Reserve Radio Schools in the nation — received a full page of coverage in the Seattle Times on January 11 , 1941 . Some of the sailors pictured in the article actually worked at " " Station S " " after their training . Photos show the sailors copying Morse code in a classroom , setting up a Morse Code - sending machine , and marching from their school building to noon mess . In March 1941 , a commercial teletype line between the installations at Winter Harbor , Maine , Amagansett , New York , and Fort Ward was inaugurated . Communications between Washington , D . C . and its far - flung resources in the Pacific continued to be primitive . Messages and intercept logs , reports and professional correspondence , if classified , were painstakingly enciphered by the radio intelligence officer himself using special equipment and instructions . If transmitted as messages on manual Morse code circuits or landlines , they were delivered to the communications center where they were again enciphered . The Fort Ward command also oversaw the construction of the Navy ' s largest radio transmitter at Battle Point , with a tower 300 feet taller than the Space Needle . This was used to send messages to Navy Command at Pier 91 in Seattle . The first chapter of David Kahn ' s book tells about how " " Station S " " intercepted the communication from Tokyo to the Japanese Ambassador that instructed him to break off negotiations just before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 , 1941 . During World War II , a submarine net was placed across Rich Passage . In November 1942 , Fort Ward also assumed control of naval intelligence assignments previously tasked to the Royal Canadian Navy . During World War II , the U . S . Navy radio station operations consisted of : After World War II , personnel on the base ( which was transferred back to the U . S . Army in 1956 ) continued to listen in on radio transmissions — first Korean and then Soviet . Activity continued at the radio station until 1956 . Post World War II . The U . S . Army abandoned all operations in 1958 . Upon this second deactivation , the Washington State Park System negotiated for acquisition of part of the fort in 1960 , which became Fort Ward State Park . In 2011 , it was transferred to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District and became Fort Ward Park . The naval radio transmitting station located at Battle Point was deactivated on March 31 , 1959 , and the equipment was removed in 1971 . The location is now Battle Point Park , administered by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District . Over the years , some of the buildings have been converted into homes , and the area , the parade ground of the community of Fort Ward has been designated a National Historic Site , the only one of its kind on Bainbridge Island . Many of the homes are also listed on the City of Bainbridge Island ' s Historic Register .