Naval History Forums

After a quick visit to the USS Alabama, my brother and I drove to Dauphin Island, AL to visit Fort Gaines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Gaines_%28Alabama%29

It was the first time I had ever visited a coastal defense fort. Gaines was built before the US Civil War. It and Fort Morgan across the bay were instrumental parts of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

The giant masonry brick building is striking. Pictures do not quite do it justice. The only negative; which my brother and I thought was pretty big, was they put up Christmas decorations all around the fort. They definitely took away some of the feel for the place.

You'll easily notice the newer concrete works. In the late 1800's, the fort was updated with new quick firing batteries.

Honestly I did not have much time to see Fort Gaines since we had to catch the ferry to Fort Morgan. The historic site for Fort Morgan is quite more extensive. It is a true diamond defense fort. You never quite can tell because of its huge size. Fort Morgan is actually made of 4 batteries only the original dates to before the Civil War. The rest were built in the late 1800's. Also the original citadel inside the fort was demolished after the war. It sustained to much damage during the fort's bombardment and capture under Union Forces.

Battery Thomas was built to support 3 inch QF guns to fend off mine sweepers. It is the only location that gives you a good vantage looking into the original Fort Morgan.











The main Fort has surrounding moat and entrance way. Though when completed by the Confederates after the war start is was already outdated. It was not designed to fight against the new rifled & explosive shells of the era.













The double 12in QF gun battery built in the 1890's.






























This another battery outside the Fort. The did not have any information posted about it. It is closed to the public.




To finish off the day the Blue Angels out of NAS Pensacola were practicing over Fort Morgan which made the experience a lot more interesting and fun.

Very nice pic's! I've always liked old forts & army posts. There is a group devoted to Costal Artillery and they have a great website about Fort Frum, The "concrete battleship" that guarded Manilla in the Phillipines.

http://concretebattleship.vcwsg.org/