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Facts about (Fort Wetherill State Park):
Overview ofFort Wetherill State Park- Facts,Trivia,and Historical Information :
Fort Wetherill is situated on the eastern shore of Conanicut Island near Jamestown in Newport County about two miles form the City of Newport. A fort on this site was first erected in the summer of 1776 and later abandoned to the British. After the Revolution, a stone tower mounting eight guns was erected under the direction of Major Tousard, who also supervised the building of Fort Adams. This was called Fort Dumplings.The modern fortifications were begun in 1896 and in1900 named in honor of Captain Alexdaner Wetherill, U.S. Infantry, killed in action on July 1, 1808 at San Juan, Santiago,Cuba. The present site of Fort Wetherill covers an area of 61.60 acres, more or less.Fort Wetherill was part of the inner gun defense of Narragansett Bay. Along with Fort Adams, Getty and Kearney, it defended the mine fields and submarine barriers and covered the Bay to a line from Point Judith to Sakonnet Point. Of the four major caliber batteries in the inner defense, two are at Fort Wetherill. They are Batteries Wheaton and Varnum. Batteries Edgarto and Green are at Fort Adams. As of August 13, 1945 Battery Wheaton had two 12 inch disappearing guns and Battery Varnum had two12 inch barbette mounts (non-disappearing). Other batteries at Fort Wetherill are Dickenson, Crittenden, Walbach, Zook, and Cooke.The guns at Batteries Wheaton and Varnum had a range of 17,300 yards but the maximum range that a target could be tracked was 11,000 yards due to masking of the observation stations. Therefore, it was possible for a hostile vessel to pass the defenses without coming under fire of these batteries. That is not to say that a vessel could not be fired upon by another post.Battery Dickenson had two 6 inch pedestal mounts and Battery Crittenden had two 3 inch pedestal mounts. Cooke had two 3 inch pedestal mounts. Walbach had two 10 inch disappearing guns and Zook had three 6 inch disappearing guns. A standard search light (searchlight #8) was located at Fort Wetherill. It was used as a mine field light for the Eastern Passage. The underwater defense project that was approved by the Secretary of War, January 17, 1929, provided for eight groups of mines in the Eastern Passage and four groups of mines in the Western Passage. The groups in the Eastern Passage were controlled from Fort Wetherill. The groups in the Western Passage were controlled from Fort Getty.In a proposal dated in August of 1945, Fort Wetherill was titled Antiaircraft Battery No. 3. Fort Wetherill was to be provided with three 3-inch fixed A.A.guns, three portable A.A.searchlight units, a height finder with three sound locators, a director, a directing point, junction box, and twelve A.S.50 cal. machine guns. All antiaircraft ammunition was to be stored in Battery Walbach.
Services,Activities,Amenities,Attractions in (Fort Wetherill State Park):
Restrooms , Phone , Parking , Fireplaces , Picnic Tables , Boat Ramp , Scenic Overlooks , Fishing , Boating , Hiking , Scuba Area
Contact Information:
Address:Fort Wetherill, Jamestown, Rhode Island 02835
Phone No:(401) 423-1771
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