Butler Point Military Reservation was a coastal defense site located in Marion, Massachusetts as part of the defenses of the Cape Cod Canal.
| Butler Point Military Reservation | |
|---|---|
| Part of Harbor Defenses of New Bedford | |
| Marion, Massachusetts | |
 A 155 mm gun on a Panama mount. | |
  Butler Point Military Reservation Location in Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates | 41°40′36″N 70°42′59″W / 41.67667°N 70.71639°W |
| Type | Coastal Defense |
| Site information | |
| Condition | partly buried |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| Built by | United States Army |
| In use | 1942–1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Fort Rodman |
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History
editThe Butler Point Military Reservation was built on land purchased in 1942. Its mission was to protect the southern entrance of the Cape Cod Canal from possible air and naval attack. It was mirrored at the northern entrance by the Sagamore Hill Military Reservation. It never fired its guns in anger, but it did play an important part in the defense of the canal.[1]
In 1942 the reservation had an unnamed battery of two 155 mm towed guns on "Panama mounts", circular concrete platforms for this type of gun. This battery was withdrawn in 1943 when an Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) battery of four 90 mm guns called AMTB 934 was built. This battery had an authorized strength of four 90 mm guns, two on fixed mounts and two on towed mounts, plus two towed 37 mm M1 guns or 40 mm Bofors M1 guns.[2]
The site was disarmed in 1946.[2]
Present
editThe two Panama mounts remain, but are partly buried.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Southeastern Massachusetts - Harbor Defenses of New Bedford and Buzzard's Bay". American Forts Network. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ a b c Battery 155 - Butler Point at FortWiki.com
- Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2015). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Third ed.). McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.
- Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis: Leeward Publications. ISBN 978-0-929521-11-4.
External links
edit- List of all US coastal forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website