Battery Leary (Los Angeles, California)

 military, fortification

Battery Leary - Merriam was constructed during the years 1916-1919 under the fortification program outlined by the Taft Board Report of 1906. Although constructed as a single two-gun emplacement, each gun was originally designated as a separate tactical battery, hence the two names. Later, the battery was considered to be a single tactical unit.

These 14-inch disappearing guns could fire a 1560 pound projectile fourteen miles out into the Catalina Channel. However, full caliber firing practice was rare because of the damage caused by the firing concussions to near-by residences.

Even though the disappearing carriages of Battery Leary-Merriam were considered to be obsolete by the early 1920s, they remained in active service until they were replaced by new ordnance in the mid-1940s. In 1943, the ammunition and fire control equipment for this battery was removed and the interior spaces were heavily modified so the battery could be converted into the Harbor Defense and Harbor Entrance Command Post. In 1956 Battery Leary-Merriam underwent another conversion, this time to serve as the Integrated Fire Control site for the NIKE Air-Defense launch site at Whites Point. The battery continued in this roll until the end of the NIKE program in 1976.

Today the battery is not open to the general public, and much of the area surrounding it is off limits and is used by the United States Coast Guard and the Southern California Marine Exchange. This unique public-private partnership works to provide services to ships operating in the waters off Southern California and also serves as the maritime equivalent of an airport control tower for the waters of the surrounding area.

www.ftmac.org/Leary-Merriam.htm