| Battery Kingman Sandy Hook, NJ |
| By World War I, battleship guns out-ranged disappearing gun batteries. To out- range battleships, the Model 1917 Barbette carriage, was introduced. This carriage allowed 12-inch guns to fire at a high angle over twenty miles in any direction. During 1917-1919, the Army built two Barbette gun batteries on Sandy Hook’s bay side where they couldn't be seen by enemy warships. Named Battery Kingman and Battery Mills, they each mounted two 12-inch caliber guns. With the introduction of warplanes, the U.S. Army quickly added anti-aircraft guns to protect its coast artillery forts from enemy air attack. By World War II, Fort Hancock had several anti-aircraft gun batteries located at or near its older gun batteries. Batteries Kingman and Mills were also modernized during this war. Their guns were protected from aerial bombing by the addition of thick concrete walls and roofs called casements. However, the awesome weapons and changing tactics of World War II finally made the concept of defending harbors with heavy artillery obsolete. Information above can be found here |
