Devil's Slide Fire Control Station

 Second World War 1939-1945, military

The reservation was located near San Mateo County's Half Moon Bay. The site was used as a triangulation station and observation site for Batteries Townsley (Fort Cronkite), Richmond P. Davis (Fort Funston) and 129 (Fort Barry).

Devil's Slide was one of a series of observation posts during pre-radar days and was a part of the Harbor Defense of San Francisco. Military personnel would use binoculars and compasses to search for ships at sea and relay the coordinates, by phone, to a central post or gun emplacement, in an effort to locate the ship's position by triangulation using information received from other observation posts. Improvements to the site included three observation pill-boxes, one electric generator bunker, one communications and command bunker, and an observation tower. Construction began in 1943, and included three concrete observation posts, fortified command and support bunkers. The site was also equipped with an SCR-296 radar (Set 10) later in the War.

On 25 October 1959, the reservation was transferred to the Navy who in turn disposed of it in 1983. The site is currently privately owned.

www.militarymuseum.org/DevilsSlideMilRes.html
www.corpsfuds.com/php/siteindex.php?site=J09CA0789&stat...