Battery Potter
USA /
New Jersey /
Atlantic Highlands /
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ Atlantic Highlands
World / United States / New Jersey
museum, military, ruins, artillery battery, historic landmark
Constructed between 1890 and 1894 the massive Battery Potter contained the worlds first (and only) steam-powered hydraulically lifted disappearing gun batteries, which were armed with two 12-inch model 1888 breech loading rifles upon their completion.
Utilizing a then state-of-the-art system of elevators to physically lift the guns above and below the parapet for firing and reloading, the castle-like dimensions and size of Battery Potter were required to house the enormous steam boilers and elevator systems required to move the gun mounts from the powder and shell magazines below to their firing positions above. Achieving a paltry rate of fire around 2 & 1/2 minutes per round, the guns and their batteries were quickly made obsolete by newer counterweight-driven disappearing gun batteries which were installed in newer, cheaper and smaller batteries within the fort.
Named on March 30, 1903 in honor of Brigadier General Joseph H. Potter, U.S. Army, who served with distinction in the war with Mexico and the Civil war and who died December 1, 1892 at Columbus, Ohio, the battery continued in operation until Battery Arrowsmith was completed in 1906 and allowed the hasty deactivation of the guns in Battery Potter. It's guns, lifting systems and boilers were removed in 1909 and much of the battery's internal spaces were used for munitions storage, but during both World Wars the battery was used as an observation and fire control tower monitoring the approaches to New York Harbor for enemy shipping, primarily U-Boats.
Abandoned after the Second World War, the battery fell into disrepair but its sound construction allows it to be open on select days during the spring and summer months for guided tours of its massive internal spaces as part of the Fort Hancock Historic District of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
www.nps.gov/gate/historyculture/potter.htm
www.fortwiki.com/Battery_Potter
Utilizing a then state-of-the-art system of elevators to physically lift the guns above and below the parapet for firing and reloading, the castle-like dimensions and size of Battery Potter were required to house the enormous steam boilers and elevator systems required to move the gun mounts from the powder and shell magazines below to their firing positions above. Achieving a paltry rate of fire around 2 & 1/2 minutes per round, the guns and their batteries were quickly made obsolete by newer counterweight-driven disappearing gun batteries which were installed in newer, cheaper and smaller batteries within the fort.
Named on March 30, 1903 in honor of Brigadier General Joseph H. Potter, U.S. Army, who served with distinction in the war with Mexico and the Civil war and who died December 1, 1892 at Columbus, Ohio, the battery continued in operation until Battery Arrowsmith was completed in 1906 and allowed the hasty deactivation of the guns in Battery Potter. It's guns, lifting systems and boilers were removed in 1909 and much of the battery's internal spaces were used for munitions storage, but during both World Wars the battery was used as an observation and fire control tower monitoring the approaches to New York Harbor for enemy shipping, primarily U-Boats.
Abandoned after the Second World War, the battery fell into disrepair but its sound construction allows it to be open on select days during the spring and summer months for guided tours of its massive internal spaces as part of the Fort Hancock Historic District of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
www.nps.gov/gate/historyculture/potter.htm
www.fortwiki.com/Battery_Potter
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Potter
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°28'0"N 74°0'7"W
- Floyd Bennett Field Park 17 km
- Salt Marsh Nature Center 17 km
- Greenbelt Conservancy of Staten Island 18 km
- Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden 22 km
- Museum Mile 36 km
- Greenwood Gardens 41 km
- Teaneck Creek conservancy 46 km
- Frelinghuysen Arboretum 54 km
- Fosterfields Living Historical Farm 57 km
- Untermyer Park & Gardens 57 km
- Fort Hancock Historic Core 0.4 km
- Sandy Hook Proving Ground 0.4 km
- Gunnison Beach 1.3 km
- Horseshoe Cove 3.1 km
- Sandy Hook 3.2 km
- Sandy Hook Bay 3.5 km
- Inner Approaches to New York Harbor 8.4 km
- Lower New York Bay 8.5 km
- Queens 23 km
- Monmouth County, New Jersey 28 km
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