Coastal artillery at Hampton, Virginia at Fort Monroe

Battery Alongside of the Stone Fort at sunset

Fort Monroe was built to protect the Chesapeake Bay at Hampton, Virginia from invasion by a foreign country.  The need for a fort overlooking the Chesapeake Bay was justified after the war with the British known as the War of 1812.  This war resulted in the lyrics that became the national anthem.  The construction of the seven sided stone fort was authorized after the British marched through Washington, DC in 1814.  The work began in 1819.  The stone fort ended up being the nation’s largest stone fort.  The fort was built with a moat surrounding the structure.  The stone fort was completed in 1834 but the completion of the stone fort was not the end of construction at Fort Monroe.  Several batteries were built alongside the stone fort as coastal artillery changed.  Companion fortresses at Fort Wool and at Virginia’s Eastern Shore were made so the guns could cover the sea far out from the shoreline.  During the Endicott period in military weapon development seven batteries of disappearing guns were built to defend the area at Fort Monroe. These batteries were installed primarily in 1897 to 1901.  The disappearing gun was fitted with a giant hinge assembly that allowed the gun to rise above the wall of the battery and then sink down behind the wall after the gun was fired.  This was the reason the gun was named the disappearing gun.

Fort Monroe continued to have coastal artillery until 1945.  The fort at Corregidor had similar coastal artillery that was used in the Pacific theatre of World War II.  At the time of 1945 it was decided that coastal artillery was outmoded and the shore batteries were taken away from Fort Monroe.