The 251st Coast Artillery was a

coast artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

regiment in the California National Guard, constituted in 1924 as a harbor defense regiment for the 9th Artillery District and re-designated in 1930 as an

antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

regiment. It served in World War II in that capacity.

Lineage

The regiment was constituted in the National Guard in 1924, allotted to the state of California, and assigned to the Harbor Defenses of San Diego. Batteries were formed by redesignating several batteries of the extant 250th Coast Artillery Regiment on 1 November 1924, and the regimental headquarters was organized and federally recognized on 7 November 1924 at San Diego * Headquarters (new) * Headquarters Battery from Battery G, 250th Coast Artillery * Medical Detachment from Medical Detachment, 250th Coast Artillery * Battery A from Battery E, 250th Coast Artillery * Battery B from Battery F, 250th Coast Artillery * Battery C from Battery H, 250th Coast Artillery * Battery D from Battery I, 250th Coast Artillery * Battery E from Battery K, 250th Coast Artillery As a harbor defense unit, the 251st was the California National Guard's component of the harbor defenses (HD) of Los Angeles and San Diego (

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative ann ...

and Fort Rosecrans were the main forts); parts of the 3rd Coast Artillery Regiment were the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

components of these defenses. It was redesignated and reorganized as the 251st Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) on 1 January 1930.The regiment was inducted into federal service 16 September 1940 at home stations,Gaines National Guard, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment boarded ships for Hawaii on 17 November, and arrived at Fort Shafter, Hawaii on 23 November. The regiment was the first National Guard unit based in the continental United States deployed overseas during World War II.Stanton, p. 417 It moved to Camp Malakole on 27 January 1941 and was assigned to the air defense of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

It was engaged during the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

on 7 December 1941; three members of the regiment (Sergeants Henry Blackwell, Jr., and Warren D. Rasmussen, and Corporal Clyde C. Brown) were killed when the two rented

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

aircraft they were taking on a sightseeing trip were shot down by incoming Japanese planes. The regiment departed Hawaii for

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

on 22 May 1942 The 3rd Battalion was constituted 27 May 1942 at Nadi, Fiji. The arrival of the regiment in

was reported on 1 June 1942, "more than doubling the anti-aircraft defenses of Fiji." It moved to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

23 November 1943, and to Bougainville 4 December 1943, where it was assigned to XIV Corps Regiment broken up at Bougainville 1 March 1944 as follows- * HHB as HHB 251st Antiaircraft Artillery Group * 1st Battalion as 746th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion * 2nd battalion as 951st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion * 3rd Battalion as 140th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Gaines and Stanton list 3rd Battalion as disbanded 1 March 1944, Stanton lists 140th AAA Gun Battalion as existing stateside 10 July 1943 to 25 January 1945) The 746th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion moved to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on 9 January 1945, returned to San Francisco Port of Embarkation 13 January 1946, inactivated 15 January 1946 at Camp Stoneman, California. The 951st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion moved to the Philippines on 9 January 1945, returned to San Francisco for inactivation 26 December 1945. The 251st Antiaircraft Artillery Group departed Bougainville on 11 December 1944, stopped at Lae,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and Manus,

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

, arriving at

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

, Philippines on 9 January 1945. Moved to Manila 8 March 1945; returned to San Francisco 26 December 1945 and inactivated at Camp Stoneman 29 December 1945.Stanton, p. 452 Later the regiment became an air defense artillery regiment, and was equipped with the

Nike-Hercules The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range anti-aircraft, air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclea ...

missile. Elements which were to become part of the 251st Air Defense Artillery were under control of the Regular Army's 47th Artillery Brigade (Air Defense), part of Army Air Defense Command. The brigade's command post was at the Fort MacArthur Direction Center in

San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

. In May 1959, the 720th ADA Battalion was redesigned as the 4th Missile Battalion (Nike-Hercules) 251st Artillery, California Army National Guard. The lineage of the regiments headquarters company continues on in the form of the headquarters company of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Distinctive unit insignia

* Description A Gold color metal and enamel device in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Or, six pallets couped Gules, a ship of Cabrillo’s time Argent; on a canton Azure a fleur-de-lis encircled by a garland of laurel of the first. Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Red scroll inscribed “WE AIM TO HIT” in Gold letters. * Symbolism The shield is red for Artillery. The six pallets couped produce a diminished bordure effect on the shield and represent the six batteries comprising the Regiment at the time of its organization. The ship is a representation of the ship of Don Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo, a Portuguese, who discovered San Diego Harbor. The charges on the canton, the fleur-de-lis encircled by a garland of laurel, are taken from the coat of arms of the 250th Coast Artillery, as Batter B of the 251st Coast Artillery, California National Guard, is a descendant of Batter F of the 250th Coast Artillery, California National Guard which served during World War I as B Battery of the 65th Coast Artillery (US). * Background The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 251st Coast Artillery (Harbor Defense) on 9 January 1928. It was amended to add the motto on 16 June 1928. It was redesignated for the 746th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 7 January 1952. The insignia was redesignated for the 251st Artillery Regiment on 16 February 1961. It was redesignated for the 251st Air Defense Artillery Regiment on 10 July 1972.

Awards

In 1936, the regiment was awarded the Coast Artillery Association Trophy.

Campaign streamers

World War II 251st CA (AA): Central Pacific and Northern Solomons 251st AAA Group: Luzon, Philippines

References

*
Gaines, William C., ''Historical Sketches Coast Artillery Regiments 1917-1950'', National Guard Regiments 197-265

Gaines, William C., Coast Artillery Organizational History, 1917-1950, ''Coast Defense Journal'', vol. 23, issue 2
*

External links

* {{Artillery Regiments (United States)

251 __NOTOC__ Year 251 (Roman numerals, CCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, in the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Etruscus (or, less frequently, year 1004 ''A ...

Military units and formations established in 1924 Military units and formations disestablished in the 1940s 1924 establishments in the United States