Fourth Cliff Military Reservation was a World War II coastal defense site located near
Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate () is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census.
History
The Wampanoag and their neighbors have inhabited ...
, USA. It is now a recreation area for
Hanscom Air Force Base
Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Fiel ...
.
History
The Fourth Cliff Military Reservation was built on private land during World War II, and was organizationally part of the
Harbor Defenses of Boston. It consisted of an early radar,
fire control towers, and artillery batteries and today, a combination of three one- and two-bedroom recreational lodging facilities. One battery of two
6-inch guns was built here, on shielded
barbette
Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships.
In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...
carriages with a magazine and fire control bunker between them. It was known as Battery 208 and was completed in November 1944. A
16-inch gun battery, Battery 106, was planned for the Flowers Hill area but was never built. The guns were scrapped and the fort abandoned as a coast defense installation in 1948.
[Berhow, p. 206]
The site today
It is a seaside recreation area located in Humarock (near Scituate) on Massachusetts' South Shore. Fourth Cliff is in a superb location, sitting high on a cliff at the end of a peninsula, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the scenic North River on the other. The site today consists of various buildings, a bunker, two fire control towers, a recreation hall, four 3-bedroom cottages, eleven 2-bedroom chalets, two townhouses, four efficiency units, eleven RV sites, a pavilion and spaces for tent camping. It is now operated by
Hanscom Air Force Base
Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Fiel ...
as a military recreation area. The site is open only to service members, their families, guests, and Department of Defense civilians.
See also
*
Seacoast defense in the United States
Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armies o ...
*
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps
The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...
*
List of military installations in Massachusetts
This is a list of current and former military installations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Current military installations in Massachusetts Joint facilities
;Bases
* Joint Base Cape Cod (state designation, not federally recognized)
References
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*
External links
Hanscom AFB official siteHanscom AFB support services siteList of all US coastal forts and batteriesat the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
{{FmrMAForts
Installations of the U.S. Army in Massachusetts
Installations of the United States Air Force in Massachusetts
Fourth Cliff
Scituate, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Plymouth County, Massachusetts