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Fort Casey

Park on Whidbey Island, Washington, US

Field	Value
name	Fort Casey Historical State Park
photo	Fort Casey Disappearing gun.jpg
photo_caption	Fort Casey disappearing gun
photo_width	280
photo_alt	Gun emplacement
map	USA Washington#USA
map_caption	Location in the state of Washington
map_width	280
relief	1
location	Coupeville, Washington, United States
coordinates
coords_ref
area	999 acre
elevation	20 ft
established	1955
administrator	Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
website

Fort Casey was a 19th-century defensive fortification built on Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington, to deter invasion from the sea. It is preserved as Fort Casey Historical State Park, a Washington state park and historic district within the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve.

Admiralty Inlet was considered so strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the 1890s that three forts—Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island, and Fort Worden at Port Townsend—were built with the intention to create a "triangle of fire" against invading ships. This military strategy was based on the theory that the three fortresses would thwart any invasion attempt by sea.

History

Fort Casey was named for Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Engineers. Designed as part of the massive modernization program of U.S. seacoast fortifications initiated by the Endicott Board, construction on Fort Casey began in 1897. In 1901, the big guns on disappearing carriages, which could be raised out of their protective emplacements so that the guns were exposed only long enough to fire, became active. However, the fort's batteries became obsolete almost as soon as their construction was completed.

The invention of the airplane in 1903, and the subsequent development of military aircraft made the fort vulnerable to air attack. In addition, the development of battleships designed with increasingly accurate weaponry transformed the static strategies of the nineteenth century into the more mobile attack systems of the twentieth century.

Most of Fort Casey's guns and mortars were removed during World War I, when they were mounted on railcars to serve as mobile heavy artillery. Some of these weapons were returned to the fort after the war, and were scrapped during World War II as 16-inch guns and other weapons at other forts superseded them.

The two 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages currently mounted at Fort Casey were transferred from the Philippines in the 1960s, along with two three-inch guns. The 10-inch guns are M1895MI (No. 26 and No. 28 Watervliet) on disappearing carriages M1901 (No. 13 and No. 15 Watertown) at Battery Worth, Fort Casey (originally at Battery Warwick, Fort Wint, Grande Island, Philippines). The three-inch guns are M1903 (No. 11 and No. 12) on barbette carriages M1903 (No. 6 and No. 7) at Battery Trevor, Fort Casey (originally at Battery Flake, Fort Wint).

Park features

Fort Casey is a 999 acre marine camping park. The Admiralty Head Lighthouse is located within the state park. Three miles of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail wrap around the park.

Notes

References

Harris, Alfred W., Comment and Discussion, United States Naval Institute Proceedings, November 1968
Powers, William M., PHC USN, Comment and Discussion, United States Naval Institute Proceedings, June 1968

References

{{cite gnis. 1534139. Fort Casey
Berhow, p. 230, 233
"Fort Casey Historical State Park". Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.
"Fort Casey". Coast Defense Study Group.
McClary, Daryl C.. (November 11, 2005). "Triangle of Fire - The Harbor Defenses of Puget Sound (1897-1953)". HistoryLink.
"Fort Casey". FortWiki.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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