Cape Charles Air Force Station
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2012) |
Cape Charles Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°07′58″N 075°57′11″W / 37.13278°N 75.95306°W |
Type | Air Force Station |
Code | ADC ID: P-56, NORAD ID: Z-56 |
Site information | |
Controlled by |
|
Condition | mostly demolished |
Site history | |
Built | 1950 |
Built by | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
In use | 1950-1981 |
Demolished | 1980s |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 771st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Fort John Custis | |
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Part of Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay | |
Site information | |
Controlled by |
|
Condition | partly demolished, 16-inch gun battery remains |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
Built by | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
In use | 1941–1948 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Garrison information | |
Garrison |
|
Cape Charles Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south of Townsend, Virginia. It was closed in 1981. From 1941 to 1948 it was Fort John Custis of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. Since 1984 the site has been in the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. For this article's purposes the term "Fort John Custis" includes the nearby Fisherman Island.[1]
History
World War I
After the
World War II coastal defense installation
The military history of this station resumed in 1941 when the United States Army established Fort Winslow at this location as a
Shortly after the base was established construction began on Battery 122, later named Battery Winslow. This was for two
At least ten
The batteries on the mainland at Fort John Custis during World War II were as follows:[2][3]
Name | No. of guns | Gun type | Carriage type | Years active | Condition in 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winslow (Battery 122) | 2 | 16-inch (406 mm) Navy MkIIMI gun |
barbette M4 | 1943–1948 | Intact, 16-inch Mark 7 gun on site |
Battery A, 286th CA Bn | 4 | 8-inch (203 mm) Navy MkVIM3A2 gun | railway M1A1 | 1942–1944 | demolished |
Battery B, 286th CA Bn | 4 | 8-inch (203 mm) Navy MkVIM3A2 gun | railway M1A1 | 1942–1944 | demolished |
Battery 228 | 2 | Not armed, slated for 6-inch (152 mm) gun T2-M1 |
shielded barbette M4 | 1943–NA | Buried |
The batteries on Fisherman Island during World War II were as follows:[2][3]
Name | No. of guns | Gun type | Carriage type | Years active | Condition in 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battery 227 | 2 | 6-inch (152 mm) gun M1905 |
shielded barbette M1 | 1943–1965 | Guns to Fort Pickens, Florida, intact |
Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) 20 | 2 | 3-inch (76 mm) gun M1902 |
pedestal M1902 | 1942–1944 | Guns from Battery Lee, Fort Wool, partly buried |
AMTB 24 | 4 | 90 mm (3.54 in) gun | two fixed T3/M3, two mobile | 1943–1946 | |
Battery 155 | 4 | 155 mm (6.1 in) gun |
Panama mounts | 1942–194? |
From 1940 through October 1944, HD Chesapeake was garrisoned by the
On 30 August 1944 the 286th Coast Artillery Battalion (Railway) and its railway guns were withdrawn from the fort.[8] On 20 April 1944 most of the 246th Coast Artillery Regiment was inactivated, with the remainder transferred to HD Beaufort, North Carolina.[7] On 1 October 1944 the 2nd Coast Artillery Regiment was reorganized as the 2nd and 175th Coast Artillery Battalions.[9] On 1 April 1945 those battalions were reorganized as elements of HD Chesapeake Bay.[6]
After the end of World War II the army scrapped almost all of its coast defense guns, including all but two of those at Fort John Custis, and inactivated the fort. The
Cold War radar installation
The United States Air Force acquired the Fort Custis site from the army in 1948 as a temporary Lashup radar site, being designated L-15 and initially called Fort Custis.
L-15 was upgraded in 1952 and redesignated as Cape Charles Air Force Station in December 1953,
In 1955 an
In addition to the main facility, Cape Charles AFS operated several unmanned
- Temperanceville, VA (P-56A/Z-56A): 37°51′38″N 075°33′28″W / 37.86056°N 75.55778°W
- Bethany Beach, DE (P-56B/Z-56B): 38°31′35″N 075°06′26″W / 38.52639°N 75.10722°W
- Elizabeth City, NC (P-56C/Z-56C): 36°14′46″N 076°15′20″W / 36.24611°N 76.25556°W
In 1963 the site hosted
Present
Today, the former Cape Charles Air Force Station has mostly been demolished, and is now part of the
Air Force Units and Assignments
Units
- Constituted as the 771st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 14 November 1950
- Activated on 27 November 1950
- Redesignated as the 771st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 October 1959
- Redesignated as the 771st Radar Squadron on 1 February 1974
- Inactivated 30 September 1981
Assignments
- 503d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 27 November 1950
- 26th Air Division, 6 February 1952
- 4710th Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
- 85th Air Division, 1 March 1956
- Washington Air Defense Sector, 1 September 1958
- 33d Air Division, 1 April 1966
- 20th Air Division, 19 November 1969 – 30 September 1981
See also
- Seacoast defense in the United States
- United States Army Coast Artillery Corps
- Harbor Defense Command
- List of coastal fortifications of the United States
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Virginia Eastern Shore - Fort John Custis". American Forts Network. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ a b c Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay at cdsg.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Fort John Custis at FortWiki.com
- ^ Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, Coast Defense Journal, vol. 23, issue 2, pp. 6-8, 25-27
- ^ "World War II Towers & associated structures (Page 2)".
- ^ a b Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, Regular Army regiments, 1917-1950, Coast Defense Journal, vol. 23, issue 2, p. 5
- ^ a b National Guard Coast Artillery regiment histories at the Coast Defense Study Group
- ISBN 0-88365-775-9.
- ^ Stanton 1991, pp. 455, 483, 489.
- ^ a b Lashup 1948–1952 at Radomes.org
- ^ "Chapter II: American Strategy for Air and Ballistic Missile Defense". History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945–1955: Volume I (PDF). p. 61. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 Archived 2016-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980).
- Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L., Searching the Skies[dead link], The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
- Information for Ft. Custis radar site at Radomes.org
- Information for Cape Charles AFS, VA at Radomes.org
- Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields, Cape Charles Air Force Station, Kiptopeke, VA