WWII Coastal Defenses of the U.S.!!! | History Traveler Episode 101 

My Dad was stationed there and other Forts down the Eastern coast during WWII. He updated all the search light and anti-aircraft guns to Radar directed. He had some cool stories

The tower is for observation and fire control for the big guns. The top part would house a huge binocular type device that would give range to the target. Then it would be relaid to the various guns, elev., distance, etc. After the guns would fire, they would watch the splash, and adjust accordingly. It's called ranging the shot. The Army uses 1760 yrds as a mile. Naval mile is 2000 yrds

They're called"disappearing guns" . My grandfather was stationed at Ft. Washington MD and was a battery commander, so to speak. He was there pre WWI. Married my grandmother there too

I have to chime in here with everyone else, only about my "home city" of the two forts of Boston Harbor (originally 3, but Fort Winthrop on Governor's Island blew up in the mid 20th century before being covered by Logan Airport)- Fort Warren in the outer channel, on Georges Island, and Fort Independence on Castle Island, all were renovated during the Endicott Period. All combined with the forts in Portland as part of that Atlantic protection net. I was very lucky to research and write my Master's Thesis for Grad school on this topic. A couple of great books on the topic are "Fortress America: The Forts that Defended America" (Kaufmann & Kaufmann, DaCapo Press 2004) or ""A Legacy of Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System" (John R. Weaver, Redoubt Press, 2001) Great job JD!

Your videos are superbly produced and your content is interesting, engaging, and informative. If you’re ever up in the NH Seacoast area again there is just so much history here. From 1623 to the present , there has been and is a presence of a rich military history throughout the 17 miles of New Hampshire coast. From ft Constitution to Battery Seaman at Odiorne Pt, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Prison, ft Stark, USS Albacore museum and the American independence museum . These are just a few of the parks, installations and museums that make this area maybe not unique, but certainly of some historical significance. Thanks again for the great work you continue to create.

Don’t know how I missed this fascinating episode. I have to chuckle, I’m unaware of anyone who gets more excited by overgrown decaying concrete and steel than you. Of course I am fascinated by the impact that walking the actual ground of historically significant sites can elicit. That’s why I enjoy your channel.

You're living the life I wish I could live sir! I love studying & visiting historical sights.

Absolutely amazing!! I had no idea that German u-boats were that close to mainland United States. My mind is blown!!! Thank you for the education.😊😊😊

Excellent job. Your camera work is wonderful. I'm no professional but I love the shots you take, it gives a great perspective of the location you are exploring.

In the 1970s my Boy Scout troop used to camp near some similar gun emplacements on Sandy Hook in New Jersey. When I visited the fort (Fort Hancock), ironically with my son on a scout trip, I was told that all of the large gun emplacements on the bay side had collapsed into the bay!! Great memories!

Superb videos! Im Swedish but I have relatives who fought on both sides in WWII. My grandfather on my mothers side, flew transportation aircraft. On my fathers side a Glen P Cook flew recon over France. Exceptionelly well made videos which grabs your interrest straight from the start! Beeing a huge BoB fan brought me here. Keep up the great work!

This episode was fantastic. We are so separated from battlefields here in the US so It was really cool to step back in time and see what we were preparing for. Well done. Also, welcome to New England. Gotta get you up here more often.

I knew, in theory, that we had some sort of coastal defense. It's amazing the similarities between the German atlantic wall fortifications and what you took us through today. I imagine there are other locations still around as well.

This was a fantastic history lesson. I really appreciate your camera work. You have the best channel on RU-vid. Thank you for what you do.

Brilliant video thank you. Really enjoy your work. I live in the UK and it never ceases to amaze me how comparatively little the good people of the USA know about this aspect of their own History. I know there was and probably still is a lot of scepticism over how likely a Nazi invasion of the United States could have been. Well from what I’ve learned over the years, back in 1944, there was no guarantees that D Day would have been a success. Eisenhower, on the eve of June 6th, famously writing his press release describing how the landings were not successful and he would take full responsibility. Had the second (or western front) collapsed, then certainly the whole of the UK and the eastern seaboard of the US would have come under direct attack from enhanced V2 ballistic missiles. The Nazis were close to developing the technology to reach eastern US cities with larger warheads. The concept of a Long range bomber (Amerikabomber) had begun shortly after Germany declared war on the United States in 1941 and had seen five prototypes under construction, as noted by Albert Speer in his post war diaries made during his imprisonment. These were to be specifically used in a direct strike against the eastern US. Fortunately the Western allies were successful in Europe and these Scenarios never got the chance to play out. Had the UK not prevailed, then the US would have almost certainly faced a direct threat from the Axis powers or an entire Europe under Soviet control, who would have had the entire Nazi scientific and technological infrastructure at their disposal. Makes for great debates.

Happy to see it hasn't beer defaced.

Your video/camera work is amazing. You may want to look at Fort Tilden (Queens, NYC), Fort Totten (Queens, NYC), Fort Wadsworth (Staten Island, NYC), Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn, NYC), and Fort Schuyler (Bronx, NYC) for a set of your videos. There were rumors of a tunnel from Fort Wadsworth-to-Fort Hamilton and a tunnel from Fort Schuyler-to-Fort Totten. Fort Tilden has a stretch of battery casements that resemble Hitler's Atlantic Wall in Normandy, France.

Oh man I wish I could have gone with you on this one. I grew up in the San Francisco area where these gun emplacement were everywhere. I explored every one of them I could get into. Later I moved to Portland Or. and explored all that the mouth of the Columbia River had to offer. I have been in love with coastal defense history latterly all my life. Hope to get out to Mane at some point. Thanks for showing me all the places I just can't get to right now in ALL your videos. This channel is amazing!

I lived right near there for 10 years and never knew it was there! One of my favorite places, Portland Head Light, where you started the video. The old forts in Boston were great too, I haven't been back there in years. I hope you will do a few on Boston. Kepp up the great work.

If you ever get out to the Pacific NW, you should explore Fort Casey, Fort Worden and Fort Flagler. Together they were known as the "Triangle of Fire," a trio of strategically placed fortifications that defended the entrance to the Puget Sound. Used during WW I and II.

Your cinematography is outstanding and your music hauntingly wonderful. Another great video about a place I never knew existed. Thanks.

Very cool. Didn’t know that existed. Thanks for teaching me something new today.

I love your History Channel. I've seen things on here I never even knew existed. Keep up the great work

We have similar emplacements here in Baltimore, Md, particular at Ft. Howard, which was nicknamed "The Bull Dog at Baltimore's Gate". Interesting fact part of the land was later used as a VA hospital which has since closed, as well as housing POWs during WW2. During Viet Nam the Army built a small Vietnamese village on the land to train SF troops in counter-counterinsurgency warfare (The US Army intel school was based in Baltimore till the late 70s at Ft. Hollibard). Lastly, the Ft. is also located near the area called Northpoint, which is where Maryland millita forces fought a decisive delaying action against British regulars during the war of 1812 when the British attempted to attack Baltimore.

I betting the mount in the top of tower was for range finder and info was phoned to gun emplacement.

I would love to see those batteries restored to their original condition. That would be so cool. Two possibilities for the pedestal base in the top of the tower. It could have been a mount for an optical range finder so the observers could pass range and azimuth to the gunners, or it could have been a mount for a pair of those giant naval binoculars. I'd bet on the range finder. Great episode. Thanks.

We're all lucky that your phobia of heights doesn't translate to the open sea! Thanks, JD.

Wow, fantastic. Had no idea that this installation was in place, most of these are not discussed in education. Thank you for showing the light of day to this subject. What a great video, what an exceptional job you have done here. And the best part as usual is we are fumbling in learning of this place along with you. Again I must say exceptional. Be safe and take care.

I found your tour of Cushing Island very interesting. I had never heard of it. Back in the early 60s, I was stationed at the Brunswick Naval Air Station which is located a little northeast of Portland. I was with a patrol squadron (VP-26). We flew P-2V patrol planes.....and one task was anti-sub warfare. Thanks for the tour and history of Cushing Island.

Thank you for visiting! As a Maine resident it's always nice to see visitors getting to experience Maine. Great video as always!

There are three old forts meant to protect the Puget Sound here in Washington state, that have the same architecture as in your video. These three installations; Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, and Fort Casey are now Washington State Parks that are beautifully maintained. All three have old military homes that can be rented with trails and camping that are very popular. If my memory holds, I believe there is a Battery Endicott at one of the forts.

I think this is one of the best episodes you have done. Amazing

Great great episode. Other then living up there, very few have prob seen what you’ve shown us. I am a huge WW2 buff, and I have never seen a lot of this. Great piece of history.

Very interesting, amazing and cool! It stands to reason if one thinks about it at all but I've never thought about it. Thank you for taking us along. There are so many places I knew nothing about nor did my dad that I've so close to without knowing it! Again, thank you!

So amazing!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Thank you for sharing your knowledge and travels of these historical places!! Thank you as well for not cursing. I completely enjoy your videos!! 🇺🇸🙏❤🗽🙏❤👍

Awesome again my friend. People need to see what went on. 👍👍👍

I live on the west coast of Oregon. We have these structures at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon and Washington sides of the river. They were built shortly after the Civil War. They have cleaned them up and you can roam around through them.

Your one of the few people that when I watch a video you post everything else I stop, this one was amazing; I had no clue about this and study WWII a ton.

Fort Adams in RI is the biggest I think for pre WWII. I have been there several times. We got similar structures regarding WWII in San Diego, San Pedro and San Francisco. They are very fascinating and puts in perspective of what we have today. Thank you and that was awesome!

Your videos always inform us about little known historical facts regarding our country's history.

I live in New Jersey, near Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook. There are so many old buildings that are in such disrepair, and I learned (finally) from this video what they are and what they might look like inside. Fort Hancock has old missal silos (I think that’s what they’re called) and so much history. I wish the buildings there were taken care of better so this part of history could be preserved. Thank you again for another great video!

Another stellar video! Great job brother!

I visited there nearly 20 years ago. It’s such a wonderful place.

Great Episode! Glad you made it up here to New England...hopefully you'll be able to come back and check out Lexington and Concord sometime!

I remember visiting old WWII coastal batteries at Santa Rosa Island in Florida as a kid. I and my friends also used to mess around at Fort Fremont outside Beaufort, SC as teenagers. Cool stuff!

Wonderfully interesting Videos and always look forward to the next one.You really know your stuff when it comes to War History!!!

This is my favourite WWII Urbex channel lol

First off, I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable of Maine history, but I had NO idea this place existed! Thank you for pointing this fascinating place out to me. If I can tolerate Portland to get to the boat I’ll go down and check out this cool part of Maine history.

Excellent...You explain the locations very well......Thanks....

There are actually quite a few of the old Endicott batteries still around the U.S. I've been to several, and they are super cool. There are several in Delaware, Ft Monroe in Hampton Virginia, Fort Moultrie outside Charleston, Tybee Island outside Savanah, Fort Monroe in Mobile and others that i can't remember off the top of my head. We even got to see several U-boat watch towers driving down the Atlantic highway from Lewes Delaware to Ocean City Maryland. They definitely deserve to be preserved and visited

Excellent Adventure , never new this Military post existed. Cool island defense... I love past history and abandoned buildings 🏚 Thank You for sharing 🇺🇸

Wow. That observation bunker on top of battery Foote really reminds me of the observation bunker on pointe du hoc in Normandy. Fascinating stuff. On to the next place JD

Great video... very interesting! l climbed up a 100 foot forestry tower in Alberta Canada. From the top you could see 35 miles in any direction giving a total view of 70 miles. The ladder was totally exposed though... no covered stairwell!😬

Wow! Awesome, awesome. Another place that I will never be able to get to. Thanks for this.

Wow, that was cool! Nice to see it hasn't fallen victim to the two legged 'elements' (taggers and so on).

the part to see that nature is taking over is facinating to me!!

From Vermont. Been coming to Maine all my life. Just got back from a boat tour of Portland. Saw those same Forts. Very cool!! You know there was a battle in Portland harbor during the War of the rebellion in 1864. Would be cool to dive on the shipwrecks in Portland. Thanks again JD love your channel 👍👍

Had to come on and comment because my heart was pounding while you were in Battery Foote! I just knew someone or something was going to jump out!

Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel first? lol...Awesome. Very cool video. Once again, I learned something new. I had no idea these defenses existed.

My dad was in the Coastal Artillery during WW2, he was sent to the Pacific though to Guadalcanal just after the initial fighting ended. Only now did I realize he could have served on the east or west coast and been stateside during the war. Instead he did 5 years of camping on various Islands....Lucky guy, LOL.

Fort Wetherill on Jamestown, RI has similar structures and a lot of (now) plated up tunnels, some leading to sheer cliffside! Now I realize all the concrete semi-circles were for the guns!

There is also an extensive bunker and coastal defense system on both sides of the Golden Gate. They even converted some of them into missile silos during the Cold War. My dad tells of sitting in class out in the avenues (Sunset District) and watching them do target practice with a barge being towed behind a navy vessel during WWII. Her said they didn't hit the targets very often.

That was pretty awesome tour. There are a few more, not as big on the south coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Some are at the site of late 18th and 19th century forts. History behind these are truly fascinating. Thank you for sharing!

Very cool, I knew they existed but never actually saw a picture of one much less a tour. Kudos to you for going through those creepy hallways.

Another great one sir. I originally lived in PA until I enlisted in Army and never took advantage of seeing historical stuff on east coast. I have to go back!!! Thank you sir

This is totally fascinating. Never have I ever even heard of this. Wow what an incredible vlog 👍🏻😎

What you are looking at @ 23:49 is the exhaust for the diesel generators that provided electricity to the battery.

Love all the videos that you post. After watching, I then go on google maps and explore the areas that you talk about. Keep it up and I'm positive work you are doing will be enjoyed by future generations to come.

Love Portland and it's history, keep up the good work you do!

I have been around this by boat and looked at it from Portland Headlight, which you started from. You had a great view of Ram Island Ledge Light. I had no idea that the batteries were so extensive. Thanks for this,

My late Aunt had a house on Great Diamond Island in Portland harbor and the stories I used to hear of ships like the USS Missouri steaming past the island were amazing! And the stand on the top level of the observation tower was likely for optics to watch the harbor.

At Battery Foote, those pipes on the left of the centre main doorway would have been ventilation pipes, possibly for inlet out exhaust . I’m not sure what the big steel rings just inside each doorway might be other than as reinforcement points for chains to secure the steel doors from being forced open perhaps. Those tunnels are big enough to move vehicles through with troops, ammunition, food etc. there would be anything from ammunition storage to kitchens and mess halls, hospitals rooms to shower blocks inside. All of that requires ventilation when those doors are closed during an invasion. I dare say you’d find smaller bunkers, machine gun nests etc dotted all throughout the tree line too.

I agree that a trip to Portsmouth Naval Prison would be an excellent episode. There are several books on the subject and many in the Marine Corps that were stationed there are probably still around to share their experiences.

Absolutely amazing at how something like that was built. Another awesome episode, keep up the outstanding work.

If you are ever in Washington, around Port Angeles, there are defenses all along the coast of the Strait of Juan De Fuca between the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula and Canada that are pretty creepy and being lost to the forest and erosion. I explored one, on one occasion, but didn't have a light to go inside. Your videos are so inspiring and beautiful. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing this very interesting and informative article with me ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .

THIS PLACE NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF BIG TIME....WELL DONE BUDDY

That was really cool. Smart of you to bring a drone along. That was some great footage. I only wish there were more photo inserts of what it once was. Still, great sleuthing!

You find some of the coolest places!!

The storage room where he says that he hopes he doesn't die is for gunpowder storage, you can tell by the red clay bricks on the wall they were put there to keep the moisture out after it was discovered that the concrete wasn't good at is good at keeping the room dry.

The aerial view gave me goosebumps !

Long Beach/ San Pedro area has intact coastal defence artifacts including the Observation point at the top of the Blackstone building, a couple of old Panama mounts and of course Fort MacArthur lower reservation

I would love to be able to see this place in person !

I'm thinking a better flashlight might help keep the boogie man away!!!! Great job as always, and still in awe of your selection of music! And your wonderful sense of adventure! "I don't know what it is, but it's cool." Love it!

So neat ! Thanks for the tag along

If you’re ever in the mid-Atlantic area, visit Fort Miles in Lewes, Delaware. The coastal defense fort protected the mouth of the Delaware Bay and the approaches to the ports of Philadelphia, Wilmington and access to the Delaware River. They have a completely restored 16 inch shore battery inside a huge sand dune. The display includes a 16 inch gun that was aboard the USS Missouri at the time of the Japanese surrender and a piece of the superstructure removed from the USS Arizona after the Pearl Harbor attack. They also have other artillery pieces displayed, a completely accessible fire control tower and lots of other thing WWII period things. All done by volunteers.

My guess to the purpose of the tower is to spot the fall of shot from the gun battery with the 12 inch guns. Thet pedestal mount would have a range finding apparatus most likely.

You need to go to Hawaii and see Battery Randolph at Fort DeRussy. Battery Randolph was part of the coastal defense of the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1900's. Also, Battery Randolph has been converted to a military museum.

Let’s not forget Montauk Point,NY. Camp Hero with gun emplacements it was just opened to the public a few years back. Also part of the Manhattan project. PS awesome channel. Thankyou for sharing.

Great video. We fellow explorers love to watch you explore. My niece is actually moving to Portland, Maine in January after her Marine Corps enlistment ends.

Whenever you're in NJ, go to Cape May. There's an old battery along the beach that's seen better days as well as a WWII look out tower. Across the bay in DE is another WWII coastal battery as well. Check em out.

Truly awesome!! I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE.THANK YOU SO MUCH.👍👍☺👵

Note to self: Bring a small LED flashlight as part of my gear bag. Great video!

Cool look into the structures and grateful it didn’t turn into “found footage” of a missing history guy!

If you get to Seattle visit Fort Ward State Park. It’s a coastal defense fort very well preserved.

Going to guess the tower is a central gunnery control tower - we have similair left over in the UK on some of th old sea forts

Hard to beat Fort Derussy on Oahu, great little museum. There are also a couple of bunkers on Diamond Head and an interesting bunker complex at the Kualoa ranch.

I was stationed in Maine for 3 years at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. You need to check it out especially the prison building

Again, very interesting to watch.

You should come over to RI. Jamestown still has its costal defenses from WWII. A German sub was also sunk off the coast of RI.