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Fort Levett

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Coordinates:43°38′35″N70°11′43″W/ 43.64306°N 70.19528°W/43.64306; -70.19528
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Fort Levett
Part ofHarbor Defenses of Portland
Cushing Island, Maine
12-inchcasematedgun, similar to those at BatteryFoote,Fort Levett
Fort Levett is located in Maine
Fort Levett
Fort Levett
Location in Maine
Coordinates43°38′35″N70°11′43″W/ 43.64306°N 70.19528°W/43.64306; -70.19528
TypeCoastal defense
Site information
Ownerprivate
Controlled byprivate
Open to
the public		no
Site history
Built1898
Built byUnited States Army
In use1898-1948
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
1909 view of two 12-inchdisappearing gunsof Battery Bowdoin and Ram Island Ledge.
12-inch disappearing gun, similar to those at Fort Levett.

Fort Levettwas a formerU.S. Armyfort built onCushing Island, Maine,beginning in 1898. Located inCumberland County, Maine,inCasco BaynearPortland, Maine,the fort was heavily fortified with guns forcoastal defense.Conceived under theEndicott Programin 1885 and begun in the wake of theSpanish–American War,Fort Levett was manned during both world wars.[1]It was part of the Coast Defenses of Portland, later renamed theHarbor Defenses of Portland,a command which protected Portland's port and navalanchoragefrom 1904 to 1950. The fort's name is sometimes misspelled "Leavitt".

History[edit]

Fort Levett was built on 140 acres (0.57 km2) ofCushing Island,and the coast artillery fortification was visited by severalSecretaries of War,includingJacob M. Dickinsonin 1909.[2]The fort, whose call letters were FV, was part of a network of forts guarding Portland Harbor andCasco Bayunder theCoast Defenses of Portland(Harbor Defenses after 1925), which included Levett,Fort WilliamsonPortland Head,andFort McKinleyonGreat Diamond Islandas well asFort Preble.Fort ScammelandFort Gorges,once strongly fortified and guarding the harbor entrance, were decommissioned earlier than the previous three forts, and were not modernized after the 1870s.[3]The forts were built by theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers,maintained by the Army'sOrdnance Department,and after 1907 were manned by theUnited States Army Coast Artillery Corps.

Namesake[edit]

Fort Levett was named for English explorer CaptainChristopher Levett,an early explorer of theNew Englandcoast and the first European to settle what is todayPortland, Maine.[4]King Charles I of Englandgranted Levett 6,000 acres (24 km2) to found a city the explorer proposed to callYork,after his English birthplace. Levett founded a plantation in 1623, leaving a group ofYorkshiremenand women behind, and he returned to England. The settlement subsequently failed, and the colonists were never heard from again. Levett never returned to Maine.

Construction and armament[edit]

Fort Levett's construction began in 1898 (on land acquired in 1894) and was largely completed in 1903. The fort initially comprised five batteries. Battery Bowdoin was named forJames Bowdoin,former governor ofMassachusetts(which included Maine in his day), and had three12-inch M1895disappearing guns.Battery Kendrick was named for Henry Lane Kendrick, an Army officer and professor atWest Point,and had two10-inch M1895disappearing guns. Battery Ferguson was named for Major William Ferguson, killed in action against Native Americans in 1791, was completed in 1906, and had two6-inch M1900 gunson pedestal mounts. Battery Daniels was named for Lieutenant Napoleon Daniels, killed in action against Native Americans atCrazy Woman's Forkin 1866, and had two3-inch M1898 guns(also called 15-pounder guns) on retractable masking parapet mounts.[5][6]The fort also briefly had several6-pounder rapid-fire gunson field mounts.[7]

In addition to its artillery, the fort also operated as awireless telegraphstation.[8]In order to furnish its base with water, the army dug four wells on Cushing Island. The island presented other challenges as well. In full view of the battery of artillery was a large summer hotel. "This hotel", noted aWar Departmentreport, "is so near that the guns can not be fired without causing much damage to the building. The occupants of this hotel, if it is allowed to remain there, will be practically in the fort, while the soldiers who garrison the fort will live in barracks at a considerable distance from their guns."[9]Although the owners of the hotel wished the army to purchase it to billet its men, the army resisted the offer, and chose instead to erect its buildings nearby.[10]The army subsequently erected cook tents and frame buildings at the fort. The fort had a base field hospital for the soldiers. All of the initial post buildings were completed by 1905. The fort was a sub-post of Fort Williams, and by 1910 was in caretaker status, with only a small garrison for maintenance, as there was no immediate threat to the area.[5]

World War I[edit]

In 1915, withWorld War Iraging in Europe and with rapidly improvingdreadnought battleshipsproviding an increased threat, the Board of Review recommended that Fort Levett receive a new, modernized battery as part of a program to increase the range of coastal forts. The battery was named Battery Foote in 1919, after ColonelStephen Miller Foote,a Coast Artillery officer who died that year. Battery Foote had two12-inch M1895 gunson new, high-angle M1917barbettecarriages for increased range and was completed in 1920. This type of battery was initially built in the open, relying on camouflage for concealment, and was incredibly vulnerable to air attack, as were the older disappearing batteries.[5]The two 10-inch guns of Battery Kendrick were ordered dismounted as part of arailway artilleryprogram in 1917, but were not shipped out and were soon remounted.[5]

Fort Levett was operationally manned during the war, but probably not until theAmerican entry into World War Iin 1917. After World War I the two 3-inch guns of Battery Daniels were removed as part of a decommissioning of several types of guns. At some point between the wars the fort reverted to caretaker status.[5]

World War II[edit]

In June 1939 aquartermastersurvey showed that most of the 28 buildings at Fort Levett were in "poor" or "uninhabitable" condition. In June 1940 the post was in similar condition and still in caretaker status, but things were about to change.[5]Shortly after theFall of Francein mid-1940 the United States manned its coast defenses, activated the National Guard, and developed a coast defense modernization program that was partially implemented during the war. DuringWorld War IItheHarbor Defenses of Portlandwere garrisoned by the8th Coast Artillery Regimentof theRegular Armyand the 240th Coast Artillery Regiment of theMaine National Guarduntil late 1944, when the Coast Artillery was reorganized and reduced in strength.[11]At Fort Levett, by June 1941 the older buildings had been rehabilitated and 26 temporary buildings had been added or planned, increasing the fort's capacity from 124 to 758 men.[5]The basis of the World War II modernization program was to add new16-inch gunbatteries, retain long-range 12-inch batteries such as Battery Foote, and also add new long-range6-inch gunand90 mm gunbatteries. The disappearing gun batteries that had served for 25–45 years would be scrapped. The 16-inch battery that anchored the Harbor Defenses of Portland wasBattery SteeleonPeaks Island.Battery Foote wascasematedagainst air attack during the war, and a four-gun 90 mm Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat(AMTB) battery designated AMTB 962 was added. The other batteries of Fort Levett were scrapped by 1943 except the two 6-inch guns of Battery Ferguson, which were retained until after the war.[5][6]

Postwar[edit]

With the end of World War II in 1945 all US coast defense guns were scrapped by 1948, and subsequently the obsolete Fort Levett was sold by the government, which asked $177,000 for the property.[12]It was bought by a group of Cushing Island residents in 1957. In 1970 the main barracks building was razed, and the remaining structures were restored. Forts Levett and McKinley ultimately became private condominium associations.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Joyce K. Bibber and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr.,Postcard History Series: Portland,Arcadia Publishing, 2007ISBN978-0-7385-5033-6
  2. ^"Dickinson on Visit to Our Army Posts".The New York Times.July 5, 1909.
  3. ^The New International Encyclopedia,Vol. XIV, Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1903
  4. ^A Handbook of New England,Porter Sargent, George H. Ellis Co., Boston, 1917
  5. ^abcdefghFort Wiki article on Fort Levett
  6. ^abBerhow, p. 202
  7. ^Public Documents of Massachusetts, Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Vol. X, Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1904
  8. ^Navy Department,Bureau of Equipment (October 1, 1908)."List of Stations Belonging to the U.S. Army".List of Wireless-Telegraph Stations of the World.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  9. ^Annual Reports, United States War Department, Vol. III, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1905
  10. ^Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations, Sundry Appropriation Bill for 1905, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1904
  11. ^Berhow, pp. 467–471
  12. ^"Education: Science Island".Time.May 2, 1960.
  13. ^Creating Portland: History and Place in Northern New England,Joseph Conforti, Published by UPNE, 2007,ISBN9781584654490

External links[edit]

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