Battery Lewis Atlantic Highlands
|
Battery Lewis was built in 1942 to compliment an identical battery built at New Yorks Fort
Tilden. Battery Lewis housed two 16 inch naval guns, capable of firing 16 inch
projectiles. Never fired in an attack, Battery Lewis only let its two guns fire once. After
many days of public warning and multiple announcements the guns were fired as a test.
Many houses in the surrounding area had windows shattered and reports state that the
firing of the guns could be heard in nearby Staten Island, New York. After the firing the
guns would remain silent for seven more years until Battery Lewis was declared surplus
and following that the removing of the guns. Sitting on the highest point on the East
Coast from Southern Maine to the tip of Florida the Atlantic Highlands was a valuable
position to defend the New York harbor during WW2.