Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is a

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

Peaks Island Peaks Island is the most populous island in Casco Bay, Maine. It is part of the city of Portland and about from downtown. The island is served by Casco Bay Lines and has its own elementary school, library, and police station. It is the only ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, in

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...

. Completed in 1942 as part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it is located on on the oceanside area of the island, formerly part of the Peaks Island Military Reservation. It is named for Harry L. Steele, who 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 ...

officer during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was armed with two 16-inch MkIIMI guns and, with a 12-inch gun battery at

Fort Levett Fort Levett was a former U.S. Army fort built on Cushing Island, Maine, beginning in 1898. Located in Cumberland County, Maine, in Casco Bay near Portland, Maine, the fort was heavily fortified with guns for coastal defense. Conceived unde ...

on Cushing Island, replaced all previous heavy guns in the

Harbor Defenses of Portland The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginni ...

.Berhow, p. 202 It was built to protect Casco Bay, particularly Portland harbor, from

Kennebunk Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census. Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the 1799 Kennebunk Inn, many historic shipbuilders' ho ...

to Popham Beach in

Phippsburg Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. It is within the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. A tourist de ...

. According to Kim MacIsaac and historian Joel Eastman in ''An Island at War'', “Battery Steele is not only the largest gun battery built on Peaks Island, but also an example of the largest battery ever built anywhere in the United States.” In 1995, after decades of non-use, the Peaks Island Land Preserve, a community land preservation group, formed to purchase the area and forever preserve it as a public space. On October 20, 2005, the property was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Other coast defense structures on the island include

fire control tower A fire control tower is a structure located near the coastline, used to detect and locate enemy vessels offshore, direct fire upon them from coastal battery, coastal batteries, or adjust the aim of guns by spotting shell splashes. Fire control to ...

s and the counterweight for a disappearing

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

tower (it "disappeared" when folded down).

Associated batteries

Battery Steele was part of a comprehensive program begun in 1940 to replace obsolete coast defenses, many of which dated from the Endicott Program of 1885-1905. In the

, the only large-caliber (8-inch or larger) pre-war battery still in use by 1944 was Battery Foote at Fort Levett, Cushing Island,

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

d like Battery Steele to resist air attack and armed with two 12-inch guns on long-range carriages. Another two-gun 16-inch battery, Battery Construction Number (BCN) 101, was planned for the Cape Elizabeth Military Reservation near Two Lights State Park, but was cancelled as the threat to the US East Coast from surface ships was nearly non-existent by 1943. Smaller batteries were also built during World War II. Three two-gun 6-inch batteries were built in Casco Bay, but only one of these was armed. The armed battery was Battery Cravens (BCN 203), also on Peaks Island, now part of a private residence. The other two were BCN 201 in Two Lights State Park and BCN 202 on Jewell Island.FortWiki article on Peaks Island Military Reservation
/ref> Older 6-inch gun batteries retained in service in Casco Bay included two two-gun batteries at Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island and Fort Levett on Cushing Island. Three older 3-inch gun batteries were retained at Fort Williams near

Portland Head Light Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a headland at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, ...

Fort Preble Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950. ...

in South Portland, and

Fort Lyon Fort Lyon was composed of two 19th-century military fort complexes in southeastern Colorado. The initial fort, also called Fort Wise, operated from 1860 to 1867. After a flood in 1866, a new fort was built near Las Animas, Colorado, which ope ...

on Cow Island. Three new two-gun 3-inch batteries were constructed during World War II, on Peaks Island,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, and Great Chebeague Island. Positions for a total of ten Anti- Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) batteries with 90 mm guns were constructed in Casco Bay. Each battery was authorized four 90 mm guns, two on fixed mounts and two on towed mounts; the actual number of guns on hand for each battery may have varied. The guns were dual-purpose, able to fire against air or surface targets. The batteries were at Long Island (2), Great Chebeague Island (1), Bailey Island (1), Peaks Island (2), Jewell Island (2), Fort Levett (1), and Fort Williams (1). All US coast defenses were abandoned and most of the guns scrapped shortly after World War II.

References

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External links

Battery Steele, Peaks Island, Portland, 1942 - 1948
Maine Historic Preservation Commission *
Coast Defense Study Group

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
Battery Steele article at FortWiki.com

Peaks Island Military Reservation at FortWiki.com

Gun types at FortWiki
{{National Register of Historic Places Steeleor Steele Casco Bay Peaks Island, Maine Military in Portland, Maine United States Army in World War II Government buildings completed in 1942 Military installations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Maine Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine 20th century in Portland, Maine

Associated batteries

See also

References

External links